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GVSU Downtown Development


GRDadof3

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I think he was asking where they will live :dontknow:

OIC. Moch's have a new apartment building planned for Grandville near the ITP Station, and if the LMD/Seward Apts get approved. Otherwise students will have to find apartments elsewhere downtown or in Allendale and bus it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

So I was driving by yesterday and I have a question about the glass being hung. Is anyone concerned that the "greenish" color will look extremely dated say in 7-10 years? It's the same color as some of the glass on the Bus Station it looked. While I don't mind it in small portions (like the bus station), having the whole building that color makes me wonder about the long term sustainability (if you want to call it that) of the color.

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So far the real thing is looking alot better than the renderings. The glass facade is looking really sleek. The fit and finsih is nice and tight as well. IN all addition will be a very nice welcome to GR's cityscape when done. Now if we could put US-131 underground we'd be able to see this in all of its splender, but then again I don't see a spare 12 billion dollars in the city's coffers.

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good lord, I don't think anyone anywhere needs another Big Dig. I'll live with 131 right where it is.

That building is looking pretty good. I just can't help but think that this building probably looked pretty good at one time as well:

231280612_f1f7774565.jpg

I just have a bit of a skeptical feeling about that type of skin on buildings. perhaps I'm just wrong. I don't know.

Edited by sparky05
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good lord, I don't think anyone anywhere needs another Big Dig. I'll live with 131 right where it is.

That building is looking pretty good. I just can't help but think that this building probably looked pretty good at one time as well:

231280612_f1f7774565.jpg

I just have a bit of a skeptical feeling about that type of skin on buildings. perhaps I'm just wrong. I don't know.

I think that quality and workmanship as upkeep plays a factor here. The Amway Grand Plaza's all glass tower, for example, was built in the 70's and its glass facade still looks good. The architecture of the building is good and looks to be well built. Plus since its a fairly highend hotel catering to those with with deep pockets, upkeep would be a must. Therefore the Amway is going to holdup over time. Xavior Hall on the other and is a fairly ugly building that is poorly designed and most likely poorly built. Also the building looks to be poorly maintained as well. So its going to look shoty. One other factor Xavior Hall is nearing the end of its life and will soon be demoed thus its maintainance would not be on the top of St. Mary's to-do list.

Edited by tamias6
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So I was driving by yesterday and I have a question about the glass being hung. Is anyone concerned that the "greenish" color will look extremely dated say in 7-10 years? It's the same color as some of the glass on the Bus Station it looked. While I don't mind it in small portions (like the bus station), having the whole building that color makes me wonder about the long term sustainability (if you want to call it that) of the color.

I was thinking the same thing...will there be a time in the not-so-distant future when people will drive by and say "look at that building, it is so 2006, I wonder what they were thinking?" Maybe it's just me, but that colored glass, just doesn't doesn't lend itself to a "classic" look. There is also some on the Meijer Heart Center and I don't really like it there either;it think it makes it look cheap.

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I was thinking the same thing...will there be a time in the not-so-distant future when people will drive by and say "look at that building, it is so 2006, I wonder what they were thinking?" Maybe it's just me, but that colored glass, just doesn't doesn't lend itself to a "classic" look. There is also some on the Meijer Heart Center and I don't really like it there either;it think it makes it look cheap.

I think the GVSU expansion and Meijer Heart buildings look terrible. What's with this K-Mart 1970's green? Do we have any architects in this town with taste?

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  • 1 month later...

good lord, I don't think anyone anywhere needs another Big Dig. I'll live with 131 right where it is.

That building is looking pretty good. I just can't help but think that this building probably looked pretty good at one time as well:

231280612_f1f7774565.jpg

I just have a bit of a skeptical feeling about that type of skin on buildings. perhaps I'm just wrong. I don't know.

Sparky, I share your skepticism. If they are going to go with the glass and reflected spandrel appearance, I would have done maybe a light or dark gray. IMO the green isn't working with the brick color. I think what makes these buildings look more dated is the lack of decent maintenance and the materials used back then. The building that tamias posted is a good example. I'm sure that building looked okay when it was just built, but the elements took their toll on that facade and it just doesn't look all that great anymore. Additionally, I'm not a big fan of architects using any bold colors on the facade. Blue is fine because we naturally think glass when we see it. Grays and blacks are good, and then of course there are the natural colors of brick, reinforced concrete, aluminum etc. Green is a bit borderline in my opinion. 20 years down the road people may find green to be an ugly color to use on the facade. Kind of like the public's aversion to orange brick nowadays. We'll have to see.

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  • 3 weeks later...

GVSU announces new $33 Million honors student center

The new building, yet to be named, would be similar to the Niemeyer Living Center, which provides honor college students with apartments near classrooms for a close-knit academic-centered community.

The project includes a main academic building of about 30,000 square feet and a residential wing on each side with a combined 200,000 square feet.

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