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twoshort

By twoshort
in Grand Rapids

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Prankster Burg

Prankster

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Just to add my two cents to the discussion on Gallium - I had a chance to see the drawings for the whole Gallium project, and the hotel appeared to be just one component. It appeared to be part of a much larger project, which would have given the center of downtown a much needed facelift.

I don't profess to know Jack personally, but I can vouch that his intentions for downtown are of the same grand scale thoughts that we all have. It sure would be nice if the city staff was willing to work with him on this, and give the rest of the city a chance to see what he can do.

At least he doesn't have Logie to contend with this time.

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JackBBV Crossroads

JackBBV

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Sorry it took me a bit to get back to the forum and I also noticed I didn't answer all of your questions.

We are due to go back to the City Commission for a vote on the project next Tuesday (Dec. 6th). If we get past that step we still have several other government hurdles but this is the most critical one.

The designer we hired for the initial conceptual work is Chris Smith of CMS Architects (NY). We found him through a recommendation from a close friend of mine who worked at and is now a major client of both CMS and The Rockwell Group (NY). Chris has collaborated with Rockwell on a number of projects (a well known one is Nobu restaurant in NYC). My buddy highly recomended both firms, and we interviewed both, but we just felt we could get more of what we needed from CMS (more personal attention and a tad bit more progressive). Much of the work you would see in Rockwell's portfolio is work Chris was actually the lead designer on.

We're really more at the "themeing stage" which is what these firms are especially known for (meaning the layout and mix of the various components on the site). Who the lead building designer will be is something we can't talk about quite yet.

I don't have a model, just conceptual drawings and site layouts, but you're welcome to see them. We don't want them out there electronically until things are more final, including the designs being farther along. You can call me (or Lindsay Miracle) @ 774-9600 if you want to come see the designs.

Thanks for all the expressed support. One other way to be heard on any project you care about in the city is calls and e-mails to the City Commissioners and letters to the Public Pulse in the Press. Many of the Commissioners do pay attention to that because they care about what their constituents want.

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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I think a nicely worded letter to the editor mentioning support for the proposal, especially these important aspects:

Underground parking so as to not take up valuable (and dwindling) supplies of land downtown

Continued resurgence of the Monroe North area into a vibrant 24 hour neighborhood

Support for local developers and their efforts to pump millions into downtown, and not push them out by "playing favorites"

Re-evaluate "old think" ways of doing things for the city and look at cutting edge options for downtown development, that can be modeled for other sites around downtown

Creating a livable, walkable downtown that will continue to attract residents and employers

It might make the paper just before the Dec. 6th meeting. :thumbsup:

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GRGridGirl Hamlet

GRGridGirl

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Sorry it took me a bit to get back to the forum and I also noticed I didn't answer all of your questions.

We are due to go back to the City Commission for a vote on the project next Tuesday (Dec. 6th). If we get past that step we still have several other government hurdles but this is the most critical one......

I don't have a model, just conceptual drawings and site layouts, but you're welcome to see them. We don't want them out there electronically until things are more final, including the designs being farther along. You can call me (or Lindsay Miracle) @ 774-9600 if you want to come see the designs.

Thanks for all the expressed support. One other way to be heard on any project you care about in the city is calls and e-mails to the City Commissioners and letters to the Public Pulse in the Press. Many of the Commissioners do pay attention to that because they care about what their constituents want.

Oh, these posts are making more sense to me now......

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joeDowntown Metropolis

joeDowntown

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The Press said that Commissioners are leaning toward the parking structure. Everybody be sure to go push them over the edge. ;) This is exactly the kind of anchor Monroe North needs! I used to work in the Brassworks building and always loved the area, but it definitely needs more density. And that doesn't include Fort Moch South... ;)

Joe

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Prankster Burg

Prankster

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Looks like at least 3 of the commissioners are on board with it. A couple more seam to be close. The only one that is totally against it is Lynn Rebault, who is of the same mindset as Logie when it comes to Blue Bridge. But luckily, she is almost gone, and will be replaced by a person with fresh ideas, and hopefully not in Amway's back pocket like the old commission was.

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JackBBV Crossroads

JackBBV

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It is not illegal.

After we heard this argument we asked Miller Canfield, a law firm with specialists in state and municiple law, if there was any grounds to the argument. They came back with a written legal opinion that basically said it was a ridiculous position and it had no basis at all. They showed us how the argument the City staff gave means that virtually every transaction the City does could then be construed as illegal.

Thanks again to those of you that support our project.

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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It is not illegal.

After we heard this argument we asked Miller Canfield, a law firm with specialists in state and municiple law, if there was any grounds to the argument. They came back with a written legal opinion that basically said it was a ridiculous position and it had no basis at all. They showed us how the argument the City staff gave means that virtually every transaction the City does could then be construed as illegal.

Thanks again to those of you that support our project.

Thanks again Jack! Here's a link to today's article regarding the two sessions with the commission this week, with another on Monday?

http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ss...3960.xml&coll=6

Ya know, Lynn needs to go, IMO. Check out this quote from her:

"It's very troublesome to me," said 2nd Ward Commissioner Lynn Rabaut. "We're spending taxpayer dollars to build something we could build ourselves for almost half the price? And we're doing it because it's so much more than a parking ramp?"

:wacko:

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Rizzo City

Rizzo

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^Hay leave Rabaut out of this Dad! She supports light-rail! ;-) JackBBV, if you would share the legal opinion with us I would be more the glad to refrence it when I write a Public Pulse letter. If you can't I'm still going to write all the commisioners in support of your great development that will ignite Monroe North.

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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^Hay leave Rabaut out of this Dad! She supports light-rail! ;-) JackBBV, if you would share the legal opinion with us I would be more the glad to refrence it when I write a Public Pulse letter. If you can't I'm still going to write all the commisioners in support of your great development that will ignite Monroe North.

But there will be a lot more people to use light rail if they model future development similar to this with underground parking, as opposed to using up scarce land downtown for ramps. ;) I'm surprised that Lynn can't see that, unless she's just afraid of how it will be "perceived" by the public. Although they didn't seem to be too worried about giving $$ millions to the Alticor Hotel....

If this comes to fruition as a viable way to bury downtown parking, it would revolutionize the way things are looked at in the future. Just think, if you have to set aside 1/4 (or more) of the land downtown for parking, that's potentially either 100's of downtown residents, or possibly thousands of downtown workers, LOST for at least 20 years, depending on what could have been built instead. As Jack is arguing, the opportunity cost of that loss is HUGE. Also, the possible tax revenue is also pretty big. A residential project of 200 or so condos pumps hundreds of thousands of tax dollars into the city each year, if I'm not mistaken. If you can bury the parking ramps feasibly, than you can increase your downtown population by at least 25% (versus the alternative), which gives you much more density and also a more vibrant downtown.

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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What do you do when the ramp needs to be replaced in 20-30 years? How difficult will it be to rebuild an underground ramp with a building overhead?

/Just playing devils advocate

Good question Gary. I would think that most of the wear and tear that parking ramps receive is weather related (exposure to the elements, salt from vehicles, etc.) and the weight load of vehicles, similar to highway overpasses. The parking ramp levels would just have to be replaced in sections as work was warranted. Basements of normal high-rises don't usually have to be replaced very often (as far as I know). The only thing working against you then is the cars. And most of the parking ramp will be submerged and protected from the elements.

If I had to take an educated guess :P

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JackBBV Crossroads

JackBBV

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^Hay leave Rabaut out of this Dad! She supports light-rail! ;-) JackBBV, if you would share the legal opinion with us I would be more the glad to refrence it when I write a Public Pulse letter. If you can't I'm still going to write all the commisioners in support of your great development that will ignite Monroe North.

Hey Rizzo: The legal opinion is four pages long. I'm not a good tech person so I'm going to ask someone else here at BBV to scan in the document and create an attachment, in another posting, for you to view. The second page of the document is most specific about why their argument has no basis.

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