East Beltline Developments

[GRDadof3]

Let's hope this saga is almost over with.

 

http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2013/10/bankruptcy_trustee_for_village.html

[wingbert]

Let's hope this saga is almost over with.

 

http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2013/10/bankruptcy_trustee_for_village.html

 

Agreed.  Remember way back in the good old days when Benner was indignant, INDIGNENT I TELL YOU, that anyone would question his ability to pull this off?  He practically challenged anyone who doubted him to a fist fight.  Now he can't even file the required reporting to show his continued commitment to the project.  What a quitter and a douchebag.

[MJLO]

Yeah I met him because of a work thing a couple years ago and he told me he was the Donald Trump of Grand Rapids,  wasn't really impressed then either. 

[egrguy]

I certainly hope a new owner jumps in and gets the rest of this moving.

[joeDowntown]

I'm hoping they fast track this. With all of the reports of high occupancy rates on retail, this could be a slam dunk for a developer with real experience. It's basically construction ready (hopefully with a few upgrades).

 

Joe

[GRDadof3]

I'm hoping they fast track this. With all of the reports of high occupancy rates on retail, this could be a slam dunk for a developer with real experience. It's basically construction ready (hopefully with a few upgrades).

 

Joe

 

I actually think the approval on this project has expired, but someone with capital and a solid plan could probably get this through the planning commission pretty easily.

[MJLO]

http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2013/12/chapter_7_bankruptcy_threat_ab.html#incart_river

 

 

The Saga continues.  How can there possibly be any progress on this anymore?  How can he possibly at this point get any financing to complete it at this point?  Even if he could, does he possess the competency to lure retailers to make it sustainable??   Will someone let this die already,  he needs to give up and move on and admit he didn't have what it took to do a project like this.    

[joeDowntown]

Judge pushes Village at Knapp Corners into Chapter 7 liquidation. I really hope they expedite this. This property could be a huge draw for national retailers if the right party gets their hands on it: 

 

http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2014/06/judge_throws_village_at_knapps.html#incart_river

 

Joe

[wingbert]

Lesson learned.  We lost out on an experienced developer doing this right just north of this location because this hack insisted he had the juice to pull it off.  Unfortunately, everyone who said he didn't have the skills and experience and connections turned out to be right.  Every time I drive by there it makes me sad to think about how things could've been.

[MJLO]

Fortunately this will re-open those doors of possibility.

[burnz34]

Cool.

[joeDowntown]

To me, if the price is right, the project seems somewhat plug and play. I just hope whoever buys it has experience in the lifestyle area and can do it right. And fast.

Joe

[GRDadof3]

Whole Foods. Message me if you want to know what that's about.

[MJLO]

I'm really glad Steve Benners hand was forced in this.    Visser Bros.  Lormax Stern,  and the guy from Wolverine Gas and Oil teaming up to finish developing this.  180,000 sf of new retail and restaurants that will be "high end".  That seems small in square footage but I wouldn't consider myself a good judge.   Is that the scope of the original project?

 

http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2014/10/new_plan_for_village_of_knapps.html#incart_river

[GRDadof3]

I'm really glad Steve Benners hand was forced in this.    Visser Bros.  Lormax Stern,  and the guy from Wolverine Gas and Oil teaming up to finish developing this.  180,000 sf of new retail and restaurants that will be "high end".  That seems small in square footage but I wouldn't consider myself a good judge.   Is that the scope of the original project?

 

http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2014/10/new_plan_for_village_of_knapps.html#incart_river

 

 

The article says it's a bit smaller than the original plan. Sounds like they're moving away from the original "village" concept (?) which makes me wonder if they're going to tear out all of the infrastructure between D&W and PF Changs?

 

180,000 is not huge, but it's a pretty good sized shopping center. By the sounds of it, it reminds me of an open air shopping center we saw in Colorado this Summer called the Promenade Shops at Briargate. It did have a suprising number of high end retailers in what I would consider a strip mall setting.

 

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CC0QFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pm-lifestyle.com%2Flifestyle_center%2Fexisting%2Fbriargate%2Fshared_assets%2FBriargate%2520Leasing%2520Overview.pdf&ei=lgJFVLWlOI6oyASM34KYBA&usg=AFQjCNF5W8FXzaEdC3drU87-qg2-9XHyeQ&sig2=ClOeEK6LlVNiQz4ZH-SaYA&bvm=bv.77648437,d.aWw&cad=rja

 

I'll see if I can get a site plan.

 

Lormax Stern did do a bang up job on Centerpointe Mall, I have to say. I never thought that mall would come back from death.

 

Here's a center they have in their portfolio over in the Detroit area that has "high end" retail:

 

http://lormaxstern.com/shopping-centers/michigan/kercheval-place/

[egrguy]

I see why "high end" was in quotes. I didn't find it that high-end. I'm sure the inclusion of a Trader Joe's would make folks happy, but T-Mobile, Great Clips, etc are not moving the needle. Good to see someone with experience getting the project though, I would say the probability of success greatly increases.

[wingbert]

With that enormous money laundering operation Mega Church just to the East on Knapp, what this development needs is a Baker Book House.

[Kib]

With that enormous money laundering operation Mega Church just to the East on Knapp, what this development needs is a Baker Book House.

Maybe a Bank of Antigua branch?

[GRDadof3]

With that enormous money laundering operation Mega Church just to the East on Knapp, what this development needs is a Baker Book House.

 

OMG, bite your tongue man, or I will come find you and bitch slap you. There's already a Baker Book House-ish Christian-ey store at 3 mile and the Beltline. That's enough thank you. How about a development that actually pays property taxes, instead of getting a free ride on the backs of all us homeowners.

 

Why don't those Kent County Taxpayer Associations ever bring that up? Instead of going after poor people on buses.

 

Sorry, end rant.

[wingbert]

Sorry.  I meant to say what that corner needs is a Gold & Silver Exchange and a Money Store.

 

[MJLO]

Sorry.  I meant to say what that corner needs is a Gold & Silver Exchange and a Money Store.

 

 

Come now, you should at least throw in a Max 10 to add a little bit of balance.

[Veloise]

...

Lormax Stern did do a bang up job on Centerpointe Mall, I have to say. I never thought that mall would come back from death.

 

Here's a center they have in their portfolio over in the Detroit area that has "high end" retail:

 

http://lormaxstern.com/shopping-centers/michigan/kercheval-place/

^^That's in Grosse Pointe. Very high-end everything over there (and the rest of the Pointes). It's likely they actually needed a haircut place and a cell phone store.

 

For a cell tower search ring in that vicinity, I offered to apply for a DEQ permit and we could put up a faux lighthouse offshore. There are no buildings tall enough to afford any kind of coverage, no open land on which to build, and any zoning hearing would have been packed with folks calling their neighbors, "get over here and protest the ugly cell tower...whoops, dropped the call."

[GRDadof3]

Sorry.  I meant to say what that corner needs is a Gold & Silver Exchange and a Money Store.

 

 

With a dancing dollar bill y'all!

[GRDadof3]

Here's the new site plan. Like the most recent iteration of this project back when Benner was still fighting forward, the "village" concept has pretty much been done away with. Looks like they are going to keep the "street" though and build parking around it. Strange...

 

It might help with traffic flow from South to North, but I can't see a lot of people using those parallel parking spaces if they don't have to.

 

[Veloise]

I'd bet an ArtPrize T-shirt that Building "N" becomes a chain pharmacy (with a triangular, bi-directional logo feature high up) and it goes in without a private access drive from the adjacent roadways.