Wealthy Street Mega Thread

[gunnerdouzi]

On 1/14/2020 at 9:09 AM, GRDadof3 said:

Update on this project. I'm surprised they went all white on the exterior. 

 

Not sure if you've seen this recently but they added quite a bit of black to the face of the building.  Not all white anymore.  Looks nice!

[gunnerdouzi]

I saw Elk Brewing shared on facebook that they will soon be serving Pronto Pups from their Wealthy St location.  I am excited about this!

[ironyisadeadscene]

1 hour ago, gunnerdouzi said:

I saw Elk Brewing shared on facebook that they will soon be serving Pronto Pups from their Wealthy St location.  I am excited about this!

I used to frequent Elk often. They fired all their staff out of the blue. No one knows why. The staff turned out to be the reason we went, as we had developed solid relationships with them. Great staff. Once they were all let go, we haven't been back.

[GRyan]

23 minutes ago, ironyisadeadscene said:

I used to frequent Elk often. They fired all their staff out of the blue. No one knows why. The staff turned out to be the reason we went, as we had developed solid relationships with them. Great staff. Once they were all let go, we haven't been back.

Hah, I bet we've been there at the same time many times since I used to frequent it often as well. I actually was closer to the bartenders who got let go and it seemed like it was the owners trying to take more control over the wealthy st location since the management there had been doing their own thing for a while. It was pretty shady and caused a couple other bartenders to quit. Steve, the brewer at that location is still there though and is a great guy.

[ironyisadeadscene]

10 minutes ago, GRyan said:

Hah, I bet we've been there at the same time many times since I used to frequent it often as well. I actually was closer to the bartenders who got let go and it seemed like it was the owners trying to take more control over the wealthy st location since the management there had been doing their own thing for a while. It was pretty shady and caused a couple other bartenders to quit. Steve, the brewer at that location is still there though and is a great guy.

We used to go often for Wednesday night trivia! If you went for that, we became great friends with the old host, who his firing from that company was BEYOND shady. It's a cool little place, but I was sad to see the employees let go. Even if they did go rogue, it seemed for the better.

[GRyan]

1 hour ago, ironyisadeadscene said:

We used to go often for Wednesday night trivia! If you went for that, we became great friends with the old host, who his firing from that company was BEYOND shady. It's a cool little place, but I was sad to see the employees let go. Even if they did go rogue, it seemed for the better.

Then we definitely have seen each other there, since I used to be there on Wednesday's for trivia all the time! I still like to go there from time to time especially to enjoy the patio in the summer, but the vibe of the place has definitely changed.

[ironyisadeadscene]

4 hours ago, GRyan said:

Then we definitely have seen each other there, since I used to be there on Wednesday's for trivia all the time! I still like to go there from time to time especially to enjoy the patio in the summer, but the vibe of the place has definitely changed.

Well, shoot. We were knights that say knee or something. 

[walker]

On 10/22/2019 at 2:37 PM, terra firma said:

Thanks GRD3.   We're happy with how it turned out for sure, our friends at McGraw Construction got it done ahead of schedule and on-budget.

To my amazement, NO tenants yet.   Plenty of prospects, but nothing 'done deal' yet.   

 We also think there could be a market for smaller buyers and so we are going to also list it as two separately available retail condo units.    Sizes approx. 1500 SF.   Perhaps there is an operator out there who would prefer to own than pay rent ?  There's nothing for sale really in the neighborhood, other than un-renovated stuff that is very expensive and requires intensive renovation--- those aren't really ideal for someone trying to run a shop and be a hobbyist-developer at the same time.  

Maybe someone would like a ready-to-go suite they could purchase?     

Let's go test the market.

eric

 

On 10/22/2019 at 3:26 PM, mpchicago said:

Looks a helluva lot better than the vacant lot and run down house that was there before.  Nice work Eric!  Are rents in line with the rest of the block or does the new build mean higher rents?  Just trying to get an understanding of why it may not be filling up as quickly as your other renovated buildings along the stretch.    Look forward to seeing this space filled in coming months.

It took awhile but it looks like terra firma found a tenant.  A bulk food store.  I wish them good luck:

WZZM: bulk-goods-store-opens-in-grand-rapids-looks-to-reduce-plastic  

[terra firma]

On 7/7/2020 at 5:58 PM, walker said:

 

It took awhile but it looks like terra firma found a tenant.  A bulk food store.  I wish them good luck:

WZZM: bulk-goods-store-opens-in-grand-rapids-looks-to-reduce-plastic  

Yeah, thanks Walker.  It's a really cool business model, in what I consider to be the right area for what they're doing.    I think they have a fairly big social media following, wish they had a bigger 'street presence' -- a sign or something, it is still a street-retail business after all.  When you drive by it's hard to know what's happening in there.    I wish them all the best of course and hope to see them succeed !

We do have another prospect looking at the other side of the building, but overall retail Leasing is pretty slow right now.  I'm hopeful.

[thebeerqueer]

The Premier homies are opening up their Wealthy Street location tomorrow!

 

https://thepremierstore.com/blogs/product/premier-fall-delivery

[mpchicago]

9 hours ago, terra firma said:

Yeah, thanks Walker.  It's a really cool business model, in what I consider to be the right area for what they're doing.    I think they have a fairly big social media following, wish they had a bigger 'street presence' -- a sign or something, it is still a street-retail business after all.  When you drive by it's hard to know what's happening in there.    I wish them all the best of course and hope to see them succeed !

We do have another prospect looking at the other side of the building, but overall retail Leasing is pretty slow right now.  I'm hopeful.

Anything you could do to help them get a proper sign terra ferma?   I think the building turned out well.

[gunnerdouzi]

Not sure if this is new or not, but I noticed this morning that the building on the SE corner of Wealthy and Eastern has 'PENDING' on the For Sale sign that has been there forever.

[gunnerdouzi]

On 8/7/2020 at 10:01 AM, gunnerdouzi said:

Not sure if this is new or not, but I noticed this morning that the building on the SE corner of Wealthy and Eastern has 'PENDING' on the For Sale sign that has been there forever.

I didnt get a photo but I also noticed the fish building is pending now as well.  Anyone know what could be happening at these properties?

[mpchicago]

1 hour ago, gunnerdouzi said:

I didnt get a photo but I also noticed the fish building is pending now as well.  Anyone know what could be happening at these properties?

The building with the fish painting was supposed to be turned into a pottery studio.   It was announced about a year ago.   I'm sure Covid -19 put those plans on hold.

https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2019/08/pottery-studio-to-renovate-aging-grand-rapids-building.html

[terra firma]

On 8/10/2020 at 8:24 AM, gunnerdouzi said:

I didnt get a photo but I also noticed the fish building is pending now as well.  Anyone know what could be happening at these properties?

^^ "fish mural" building @ 710 Wealthy St.... that one is us.  We haven't closed yet, and we do not know who our eventual tenant will be--  purely speculative like the rest of our projects in this neighborhood. 

Historically, the building had two entry points and a center demising wall (read:  two-Tenant bldg.) and when we engage our architect that is the path we will take.

Due to the weird Covid-dampened retail leasing market, we will not be in any big hurry to start this one, but we know that eventually we'll wish we had .. thus we raised our hand for it.     

Any user ideas for us to pursue when we get rolling ?  What does the neighborhood  not have that it should ?

[ironyisadeadscene]

Barcaid. Bar with arcade games. Or a bar that specializes in yardgames

[gunnerdouzi]

Very cool!  Excited to see what you do with it and hope the mural is preserved in some way! @terra firma

I agree, a bar would be nice.  Arcade games and yard games would be amazing!  There isnt much night life in this section of the street.  If a bar is too difficult, I think a fast-casual restaurant would be nice.  As a local, I dont always want to get waited on but do enjoy eating out.

As a side note,  I really feel like we need a grocery store or fresh produce market - I consider that my biggest need.  Probably not doable in this space as it seems small, but I really would love to NOT give my money to  the Wealthy Market if I didnt have to when I need the odd grocery item or a case of beer.  I feel like the Tatum building would be about large enough for something like this?  Thinking similar to Bridge St Market if the space would allow.

[gunnerdouzi]

@terra firma another thing that this area seems to lack is a gym/exercise area.  There is Kula Yoga of course, but nothing else really for the active lifestyle.

To add to my comment about fast-casual restaurant, I feel like a bagel shop would be nice since there are so many coffee shops and even a bakery, but nobody selling bagels.  Something modeled after CBA in Chicago would be amazing.  Bagel Sandwiches galore. https://eatcba.com/

[Winston1206]

8 minutes ago, gunnerdouzi said:

@terra firma another thing that this area seems to lack is a gym/exercise area.  There is Kula Yoga of course, but nothing else really for the active lifestyle.

To add to my comment about fast-casual restaurant, I feel like a bagel shop would be nice since there are so many coffee shops and even a bakery, but nobody selling bagels.  Something modeled after CBA in Chicago would be amazing.  Bagel Sandwiches galore. https://eatcba.com/

Not on Wealthy, but if you haven't seen, Terra is opening a bagel shop on the old EA Brady's location. 

[grandrollerz]

What is EA Brady's? Or I guess where is it?

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

[RegalTDP]

3 hours ago, grandrollerz said:

What is EA Brady's? Or I guess where is it?

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
 

It's a butcher shop, used to be in the Kingsley Building in Eastown, now it's on Lyon Street next to Nantucket. 

Edited August 13, 2020 by RegalTDP

[terra firma]

On 8/11/2020 at 3:55 PM, ironyisadeadscene said:

Barcaid. Bar with arcade games. Or a bar that specializes in yardgames

that's a super cool idea.   one of my tenants (Max's south seas hideaway) also has a video arcade bar downtown GR, he's the right guy for the job, I will ask him 

[ironyisadeadscene]

1 hour ago, terra firma said:

that's a super cool idea.   one of my tenants (Max's south seas hideaway) also has a video arcade bar downtown GR, he's the right guy for the job, I will ask him 

What bar is that?? The downtown one?

People live drinking games and yard games. You get a bar with beerpong, beer-die, beersbee, laddergolf, bags, ect. Youre going to do well. Have it outside for the summer if possible, inside for winter with lots of windows and astroturf... make people think they're outside. I think you'll do well.

[terra firma]

55 minutes ago, ironyisadeadscene said:

What bar is that?? The downtown one?

People live drinking games and yard games. You get a bar with beerpong, beer-die, beersbee, laddergolf, bags, ect. Youre going to do well. Have it outside for the summer if possible, inside for winter with lots of windows and astroturf... make people think they're outside. I think you'll do well.

yeah downtown. it’s called Stella’s.   owner has several bar concepts,  i’m just a landlord not a bar owner.  his place w me is max’s south seas hideaway which is a tiki restaraunt— it is awesome

[ironyisadeadscene]

1 hour ago, terra firma said:

yeah downtown. it’s called Stella’s.   owner has several bar concepts,  i’m just a landlord not a bar owner.  his place w me is max’s south seas hideaway which is a tiki restaraunt— it is awesome

Ohhh, I thought you meant like a games room kinda place. Yeah, Stella's has arcades, but I wouldn't say its a true barcade. So I'd love to see one. And, like I mentioned before, yardgames.