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Amazon looking to build in GR metro


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On 3/18/2018 at 1:38 PM, GRDadof3 said:

Amazon is looking to build a million square foot+ distribution faciloty in gaines twp on steelcase owned land. Parking for 2700 cars, 55000 sf office attached. 68th and patterson. Stay tuned...

855,000 square foot footprint, two-story building with maximum height of 56 feet. To orient yourselves, this would be the far Eastern end of property where Steelcase's wood factory now sits, on 68th.

 

5aaeaf2c5f51b_Amazon-ProjectRapids2.thumb.JPG.371ee19163d60988462bc0f2ae15f6b1.JPG

 

 

They already built this exact building in Shakopee, Minnesota.

https://www.ryancompanies.com/project/amazon-fulfillment-center

Google Street View

 

From the street view you will see that most of the second story windows are fake.  Which will then become plainly obvious in the rendering submitted to Gains Township.

 

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On ‎3‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 8:04 PM, joeDowntown said:

Classic. From the article:

"I'm not saying I don't want them here. I don't want them across the street," said Jane Johnson, who bought her ranch-style home, at 7030 Patterson, two years ago.

"They need to find some place that is already zoned for it," Johnson said.

The 100-acre property is in fact zoned for a warehouse and distribution facility.

Edited by RegalTDP
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9 hours ago, Gorath said:

 

They already built this exact building in Shakopee, Minnesota.

https://www.ryancompanies.com/project/amazon-fulfillment-center

Google Street View

 

From the street view you will see that most of the second story windows are fake.  Which will then become plainly obvious in the rendering submitted to Gains Township.

 

How can you tell they're fake? 

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7 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

How can you tell they're fake? 

I think Gorath is referring to the left side of the building, where the windows change suddenly. I don't know for sure that they are fake, but it seems weird they wouldn't keep it consistent if they were real.

amazon warehouse.png

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On 3/24/2018 at 9:29 AM, Gorath said:

As Pattmost20 said.

You can see it much better from this photo.  The "fake window" to the right of the entrance is just painted on.

kvRQl78.jpg

Ah yes, I can see on the Project Rapids rendering what you're talking about. From just left of the American flag you can see they change to just black. It's still 55,000 square feet of office, maybe they do the painted on windows to make it look less like a bomb shelter. :)  Not sure what the big deal is...

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  • GRDadof3 changed the title to Amazon looking to build in GR metro
On 3/24/2018 at 12:12 AM, RegalTDP said:

"I'm not saying I don't want them here. I don't want them across the street," said Jane Johnson, who bought her ranch-style home, at 7030 Patterson, two years ago.

If you bought a property on that stretch of Patterson two years ago, you should have known exactly what you were getting into. If she was a fifty-year resident, I might have had some sympathy.

Edited by organsnyder
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  • 1 month later...
11 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

It's Amazon. They apparently took the Gaines Township leadership on a field trip to a Chicago Amazon distribution facility to show it off. 

Not sure if related but there's another huge industrial structure under construction on 68th across from Steelcase and an even larger one nearing completion we talked about on Patterson just south of M-6 which appears to have a number of bays.  68th St is becoming crazy busy with everything going on in this area but most importantly Railtown Brewing's new building is nearing completion.

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38 minutes ago, arcturus said:

Not sure if related but there's another huge industrial structure under construction on 68th across from Steelcase and an even larger one nearing completion we talked about on Patterson just south of M-6 which appears to have a number of bays.  68th St is becoming crazy busy with everything going on in this area but most importantly Railtown Brewing's new building is nearing completion.

Citra warrior for the summer beer win!!!

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21 hours ago, arcturus said:

Not sure if related but there's another huge industrial structure under construction on 68th across from Steelcase and an even larger one nearing completion we talked about on Patterson just south of M-6 which appears to have a number of bays.  68th St is becoming crazy busy with everything going on in this area but most importantly Railtown Brewing's new building is nearing completion.

Yes, the amount of commercial construction along M-6 has picked up tremendously again. I rarely drive that stretch but was out there the other day and noticed it particularly at the Byron Center interchange and near Broadmoor. 

Speaking of new manufacturing facilities, HexArmor is building a big addition on their facility on Oak Industrial Drive that looks better than some of the apartment buildings being built. :P 

HexArmor-building-partial-exterior-rende

 

http://www.grbj.com/articles/90580-manufacturer-expanding-operation

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Well here you go.

'The Seefried executive said the firm plans to close on the land purchase from furniture manufacturer Steelcase Inc. by next month. The property deal includes the acquisition of nearly 100 acres along 68th Street SE between East Paris and Patterson Avenues.'

https://mibiz.com/item/25822-distribution-center-linked-to-amazon-gets-final-approval-from-gaines-township

Curious what road issues the township might have .  Quickest outbound route for deliveries heading westbound on M-6 is Patterson to 60th to Broadmoor.   

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Amazon is official:

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2018/05/state_awards_amazon_4_million.html

It seems strange that they were awarded tax incentives from MEDC to "keep them from building on competing sites in other neighboring states," when we know they're working on a 3rd and 4th facility possibly in the Detroit area, have 6 of these in Chicago, and 4 in Ohio already. 

 

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1 hour ago, GRDadof3 said:

Amazon is official:

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2018/05/state_awards_amazon_4_million.html

It seems strange that they were awarded tax incentives from MEDC to "keep them from building on competing sites in other neighboring states," when we know they're working on a 3rd and 4th facility possibly in the Detroit area, have 6 of these in Chicago, and 4 in Ohio already. 

 

Yeah I think that "competing sites' is just fluffy PR bull crap on this one.   Fulfillment centers in this case function much out of convenience like the big box stores do.  I'm sure they are targeting every metro over 1 million people.  Not to mention there are about 2.5 million people within a 70 mile radius, and it may serve parts of northern Indiana as well.  Any notion that this would have possibly gone to Wisconsin or Ohio is a bit disingenuous. 

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I'm assuming most of these jobs will be warehouse/picking/packing, but I wonder how many corporate/office jobs?   From what I've heard the warehouse jobs are grueling.

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12 hours ago, Floyd_Z said:

I'm assuming most of these jobs will be warehouse/picking/packing, but I wonder how many corporate/office jobs?   From what I've heard the warehouse jobs are grueling.

Warehouse jobs for logistics companies are heavy physical work.  A fulfillment center where the orders are everyday household goods, electronics and food goods will not have the same strength building properties. 

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On 5/25/2018 at 8:38 PM, Floyd_Z said:

I'm assuming most of these jobs will be warehouse/picking/packing, but I wonder how many corporate/office jobs?   From what I've heard the warehouse jobs are grueling.

55,000 square feet of office space.  Assuming 200 sf per person (when you factor in hallways, common areas, conference rooms, etc) that's about 275 people.  Total parking for 2700 cars, probably to handle peak season around Christmas but probably won't be full all the time. So 10 - 15% office maybe? 

These fulfillment centers are going up all over. Assume that one day there will be one fulfillment center wherever there was once a large regional shopping mall. So we'll have 2, maybe 3 someday. 

When I think about our household and how much we get from Amazon now, it's probably 2 to 1 of what we get at a big box retail or department store or anything you'd find in a "mall." Meijer still gets more money than our mortgage company and that probably won't change. :)

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I think they have around 100 of those fulfillment centers now just in the U.S.  Warehouse work isn't for everyone, but I would argue that the jobs are slightly better than the big box retail jobs that Amazon is taking a hit for putting out of existence.

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On 5/25/2018 at 8:38 PM, Floyd_Z said:

I'm assuming most of these jobs will be warehouse/picking/packing, but I wonder how many corporate/office jobs?   From what I've heard the warehouse jobs are grueling.

Are you talking about the same thing I saw where Amazon workers supposedly resorted to peeing in bottles?

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  • 2 months later...

Holy crap I thought this project was still moving through approvals. But there's about a mile long construction site with foundations going in already. Check it out along with Railtown Brewings new facility. The panorama pic I took is so big I can't get it to load...

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