Medical Mile/Michigan Street Developments

[GRDadof3]

8 minutes ago, GVSUChris said:

We had some friends were visiting us this weekend from Chicago, and they are relatively "meh" about GR, but they kept saying over and over again, "so what is going on here to cause all this construction? Is this like a tech town? Is this like a start-up town? Why are their cranes and construction everywhere?" It was an interesting perspective.

You didn't tell them it was our "churchiness?"

You do have to give credit to the Devos's, they continue to pour money into GVSU which is a driver for a lot of the construction. Studio Park wouldn't be happening if Celebration Cinema wasn't locally owned by the Loek's family. All the ancilliary construction (hotels and apartments) is just a spinoff of other investments being made and job and visitor growth. 

I don't really consider us a tech town. We have a growing startup scene but very few of them are making a big enough splash to create construction projects (except Acrisure maybe). 

[organsnyder]

We're definitely not a "tech town," at least not like a Silicon Valley, Seattle, or Ann Arbor. There are a couple of decent-sized tech-specific employers, but not many; most tech jobs are within non-tech organizations (Spectrum, Amway, Gordon Foods, Dematic, Wolverine, etc.). Those are still good jobs (at least many of them) and contribute to the overall vitality of the area, but it is a very different feel and attracts a different sort of worker—which is both good (more diversity, pragmatism, and humility) and bad (less focus on skills development).

[GRDadof3]

23 hours ago, GVSUChris said:

We had some friends were visiting us this weekend from Chicago, and they are relatively "meh" about GR, but they kept saying over and over again, "so what is going on here to cause all this construction? Is this like a tech town? Is this like a start-up town? Why are their cranes and construction everywhere?" It was an interesting perspective.

If you really want to feel like "holy crap" the city is exploding, come into downtown on 131 from the South, and then take I-196 Eastbound and up the hill. The hotel at Studio Park is getting up there in height, and with the cranes there and on top of the Amway, it's pretty impressive. And then you can see the new development on Bridge Street (which surprised me) and then the entire I-196 bridge is being torn down to the studs all the way to Union Square. Then you see the new condos on top of Belknap Hill, followed by the GVSU cranes. 

Pretty crazy. 

 

[GVSUChris]

15 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

If you really want to feel like "holy crap" the city is exploding, come into downtown on 131 from the South, and then take I-196 Eastbound and up the hill. The hotel at Studio Park is getting up there in height, and with the cranes there and on top of the Amway, it's pretty impressive. And then you can see the new development on Bridge Street (which surprised me) and then the entire I-196 bridge is being torn down to the studs all the way to Union Square. Then you see the new condos on top of Belknap Hill, followed by the GVSU cranes. 

Pretty crazy. 

 

Oh believe me, we curate every drive. They probably just think GR is a really crazy place to get from A to B at this point because we take so many random ways to drive past things en route. 

[GRDadof3]

The new gastropub "Friesian" is open. Anyone try it yet?

https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2019/04/new-restaurant-opens-along-grand-rapids-medical-mile.html

[TheLonesomeHobo]

5 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

The new gastropub "Friesian" is open. Anyone try it yet?

https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2019/04/new-restaurant-opens-along-grand-rapids-medical-mile.html

I went to one of the soft openings last week and stopped in tonight for the opening. Great food and drinks, and even better owners. Easily will become one of my go to spots in the city.

[thebeerqueer]

16 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

The new gastropub "Friesian" is open. Anyone try it yet?

https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2019/04/new-restaurant-opens-along-grand-rapids-medical-mile.html

I spoke with three friends that went to a soft opening last Thursday and they all raved about the food, especially the deserts. Looking forward to checking it out soon. 

[Sparty97]

2 hours ago, thebeerqueer said:

I spoke with three friends that went to a soft opening last Thursday and they all raved about the food, especially the deserts. Looking forward to checking it out soon. 

I also spoke with friends that went to the soft opening and the feedback was mixed.  Some people loved it (Burger and fries) while others complained about raw food (bacon, burger...).   I'm betting they get the wrinkles ironed out.  I think the roof top patio might help draw some people there in the summer.

One thing they all agreed upon, the parking is a pain.  Like 7 Monks, they don't have their own parking lot (unlike Dukes, Bob's or Birch Lodge).  So, you need to hoof it a block or two.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.  Having 4 other bars (Duke's, Bob's, Birch Lodge, 7 Monks) within 100 yards of the Friesian either will help to make the block  a destination for people (ie. Ionia) or they will all fight over the locals that can walk there.

Edited April 18, 2019 by Sparty97

[GRDadof3]

2 hours ago, Sparty97 said:

I also spoke with friends that went to the soft opening and the feedback was mixed.  Some people loved it (Burger and fries) while others complained about raw food (bacon, burger...).   I'm betting they get the wrinkles ironed out.  I think the roof top patio might help draw some people there in the summer.

One thing they all agreed upon, the parking is a pain.  Like 7 Monks, they don't have their own parking lot (unlike Dukes, Bob's or Birch Lodge).  So, you need to hoof it a block or two.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.  Having 4 other bars (Duke's, Bob's, Birch Lodge, 7 Monks) within 100 yards of the Friesian either will help to make the block  a destination for people (ie. Ionia) or they will all fight over the locals that can walk there.

They need to get an automated car to run from some of the local lots to that section of Michigan. 

[Guest]

I saw the building behind Bagel Beanery on College was being torn down today.  Anyone know what's going on?

[mpchicago]

11 hours ago, Floyd_Z said:

I saw the building behind Bagel Beanery on College was being torn down today.  Anyone know what's going on?

The old Sambo's/doctors office?   I think MSU owns that property, and my guess would be more parking, sadly.  

[GRDadof3]

11 minutes ago, mpchicago said:

The old Sambo's/doctors office?   I think MSU owns that property, and my guess would be more parking, sadly.  

All the city's permit department says is:

To completely remove and dispose of the existing building on the site

[wingbert]

6 hours ago, mpchicago said:

The old Sambo's/doctors office?   I think MSU owns that property, and my guess would be more parking, sadly.  

Ummm... ixnay on the ambos-say.  We’re all woke now.

[HavingAhoot]

[Guest]

7 hours ago, HavingAhoot said:

Is this the weed store?

[droonus2000]

It’s definitely an improvement over a, I believe, vacant space.  Design is trendy. But I would rather both buildings be demolished and something that fills the whole site constructed.  

[GRDadof3]

GVSU. The parking ramp is beginning to rise above grade and can be seen from the highway side. It's gonna be a monster. 

 

[tamias6]

On 7/2/2019 at 7:43 AM, GRDadof3 said:

GVSU. The parking ramp is beginning to rise above grade and can be seen from the highway side. It's gonna be a monster. 

 

On my way back from my monthly coffee at Bagel Beanery  a few days ago I saw the steel structure of GVSU's/ Its definitely much bigger than I expected. That poor McDonald's to the east is going to look so hemmed in by the addition and the parking ramp going up. 

[54equalsunity]

On my way back from my monthly coffee at Bagel Beanery  a few days ago I saw the steel structure of GVSU's/ Its definitely much bigger than I expected. That poor McDonald's to the east is going to look so hemmed in by the addition and the parking ramp going up. 

That McDonald's should be torn down and used as filler in another location's Big Macs, and then never be spoken of again. It's too bad it's (presumably) such a profitable location.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[MJLO]

7 hours ago, 54equalsunity said:

That McDonald's should be torn down and used as filler in another location's Big Macs, and then never be spoken of again. It's too bad it's (presumably) such a profitable location.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
 

That location does well over $3.5 million in revenue/yr.  Above average by McDonalds standards.  Off the charts by typical restaurant standards.  They've been on that strip of land since 1973.  I wouldn't hold my breath on it going anywhere without a ridiculous price tag.

 

[GR_Urbanist]

The site is obviously out-of-step with the direction of the street, but yeah, back in the day Michigan St. past College was a sleepy residential area right at the edge of the country, it seemed, so the overt suburban look was completely normal and is still reflected by various other places going east, like the Goodwill (former Walgreens), KFC, Taco Bell, Wendy's, and the small Thai place (former Hot-n-Now?). I'm honestly amazed the old BK just a little west of there didnt hold out too, but they received a huge payout to leave, and they still had their Lk. Mich. Dr. location (and I think the Mich/Fuller one) to fall back on.

 

I honestly think if anything, a future project will likely be built over this location, with the drive-thru still intact and the dining area just extended to the street if we have a thing in GR where these place can sell the "air rights" above the building like they have in NYC.

[Guest]

I would think a lot of the fast food restaurants on Michigan do higher than average sales.  A few have been recently remodeled and I don't think they're going anywhere for awhile.  I think the typical leases are 10-40 years.  That Taco Bell has some of the worst slowest/service and is still busy.

[MJLO]

42 minutes ago, Floyd_Z said:

I would think a lot of the fast food restaurants on Michigan do higher than average sales.  A few have been recently remodeled and I don't think they're going anywhere for awhile.  I think the typical leases are 10-40 years.  That Taco Bell has some of the worst slowest/service and is still busy.

Typically fast food restaurants in W. Michigan are about average with the nation  for volumes.   The culture here is not over focused on eating out.  Ironically restaurants in the American south tend to be much busier by comparison.   The average McDonald's does about $3.2 million in volume.  The average fast food restaurant does about $1.5 by comparison.   Most lower tier brands won't break $1 million annually.   Also that lot isn't leased it's owned by McDonalds.  McD's business model is almost exclusively as the land owner.  The franchisee pays rent and royaltees to the corporation(the restaurant in question isn't a franchise, it's owned by the corporation).  The cases where McDonald's leases the properties it sits on are more rare. 

 

45 minutes ago, GR_Urbanist said:

The site is obviously out-of-step with the direction of the street, but yeah, back in the day Michigan St. past College was a sleepy residential area right at the edge of the country, it seemed, so the overt suburban look was completely normal and is still reflected by various other places going east, like the Goodwill (former Walgreens), KFC, Taco Bell, Wendy's, and the small Thai place (former Hot-n-Now?). I'm honestly amazed the old BK just a little west of there didnt hold out too, but they received a huge payout to leave, and they still had their Lk. Mich. Dr. location (and I think the Mich/Fuller one) to fall back on.

 

I honestly think if anything, a future project will likely be built over this location, with the drive-thru still intact and the dining area just extended to the street if we have a thing in GR where these place can sell the "air rights" above the building like they have in NYC.

It always surprises me how much everyone focuses on that restaurant when spectrum already owns every crap hole building on the south side of Michigan from the heart center, to the dry cleaners at Michigan and College.  I would hope they would tear down and invest in those properties before shelling out the $ to get Mc Donald's parcel.    I think the lot Mc D's sits on is actually smaller than most of the lots across the street since it's boxed in by that sub station behind it anyway. 

 

[GR_Urbanist]

Oh I could rant for days on Spectrum buying these properties and proceeding to use them for nothing more than to park and store stuff. I was driving by there yesterday and wondering how the city is just allowing them to keep this boarded-up service station(?) on this corner with no outline as to any concrete plans for redevelopment. I know they just recently bought it, but there needs to be some movement here on something. My fear is that the parking lot behind it is going to just be extended to the street if the city starts to ask too many questions.

 

Also, the intersection of College and Michigan is just a disaster, and I have no idea how that will ever be fixed for at least another decade to 15 years. All four corners, are occupied by auto-centric and pedestrian-phobic developments, most of them have gone through renovations recently, and are as good as there for at least 10 more years at least.

 

 

[whitemice]

On 7/9/2019 at 10:16 AM, GR_Urbanist said:

Also, the intersection of College and Michigan is just a disaster

This!  
There is a pedestrian & transit oriented road diet planned for Michigan east of College.  We'll have to see how ambitious that is.