Biggest Disappointment

[LowLax]

Nope, this one is Building D: http://www.midtownevillage.com/Properties/BuildingD.html

I don't think any of this is confidential, but I shouldn't say who I work for just to be safe.

[GRDadof3]

Nope, this one is Building D: http://www.midtownevillage.com/Properties/BuildingD.html

I don't think any of this is confidential, but I shouldn't say who I work for just to be safe.

So there will be two buildings of this project underway. That's good to hear

[snoogit]

Lyon & Ottawa!..WOW... thanks for clarifying the ol' switcherooo. I worked in the Old Kent bank bldg. on 111 Lyon at the time. I was watching the courthouse go up all the while thinking it was a different project.

I was very confused when I found out it was the courthouse. Was the original project slated to go on the exact NE corner of Lyon & Ottawa or at the SE corner where parking is now? Thanks.

Across from the Waters building on the parking lot.

[tringr]

What?? Nobody is adding Showgirl Galleria??

[woz]

My vote for most dissappointing GR project: 1960s Urban Renewal. But because it DIDN'T fall through.

It cut downtown up with expressways (Imagine if 196 circled downtown instead of cutting through it ... And who puts a U.S. highway that close to a river in an urban area?) and it destroyed our old city hall and courthouse.

Even if this mystery riverfront project falls through, I won't change my vote.

[MJLO]

Wow Woz, I never really thought about that. They took an entire section of Ottawa, probabally the most prime real estate on the entire western half of Michigan, and made it as mediocre as possible. That's really depressing. What's worse, it'll probabally be decades before they even consider changing the look of it. And then, the HPC will cry foul because we are destroying a part of our history by tearing down the worlds most boring oversized boxes!

[woz]

I don't think the HPC will do anything to stop the Federal or State government from rebuilding. But I don't see the banks investing in a new building just because their old ones are boring. If they did, I'd probably think about getting a new bank (one that behaved like a bank). The city/county complex is the most likely candidate for rebuilding, and they

[snoogit]

What?? Nobody is adding Showgirl Galleria??

That is probably moving somewhere else. It can't be postponed forever.

[Coleco]

The flip side to the comments about the freeway are that more residential neighborhoods could have been devastated (some were anyway) without the freeways cutting through downtown AND downtown as we know it might not be as desirable for developers and tenants without being at a crossroads of two major freeways.

[6th Gen local]

Biggest disappointment? I'd go with the plan for a football stadium on the old Butterworth dump from back in the 70's and 80's.

[snoogit]

Biggest disappointment? I'd go with the plan for a football stadium on the old Butterworth dump from back in the 70's and 80's.

Thats news to me, how big was it supposed to be?

[6th Gen local]

Thats news to me, how big was it supposed to be?

I'll do some research on it because I really don't remember much about it except for the goal posts and a sign that was on the property for years, viewable from I-196.

[6th Gen local]

Thats news to me, how big was it supposed to be?

50,000 seats apparently. Its mentioned in this article

[mejane]

That is probably moving somewhere else. It can't be postponed forever.

Mark London told woodtv yesterday there are no other prime locations

for his strip club downtown and that if the deal goes through he'll retire.

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4611296

[tringr]

If I remeber correctly, yesterday on the tv news somebody said that London recvd. a $100,000 option deposit. That is definitely the biggest indicator that this Project X is going to go through. I don't know what others got paid for their options, but if it is similar, then the $1 bil is money in the bank.

Unless, of course, this whole project is a ruse to get Lonond to sell his property and then the Project X never materialises. Conspiracy theory, i'm sure.

[snoogit]

50,000 seats apparently. Its mentioned in this article

Was GR thinking of bringing in a medium-large sized college to the area or something?

Its just big enough for a D1 football team, but too small for NFL.

[GrSportsGuy]

How the DeltaPlex ended up was a major bummer. When they proposed it, the initial design looked great. Then they ended up building an airplane hanger.

[Prankster]

How the DeltaPlex ended up was a major bummer. When they proposed it, the initial design looked great. Then they ended up building an airplane hanger.

The city of walker is still pi$$ed off at them for doing a bait and switch with the design. You are spot on with the comparison to an airplane hanger.

[mhelm]

The Deltaplex may be ugly but it sure beats the beat-up old Stadium Arena!

[grcitydog]

The Deltaplex may be ugly but it sure beats the beat-up old Stadium Arena!

Although replacing an ugly building with another ugly building has a net effect of zero - so much more should have been done.

[tringr]

Van andel was finished before Deltaplex was resurrected from Stadium Arena by the Langlois family in 1998.

Competing with Van ANdel Arena just wouldn't have been smart. They guessed that putting extra money into the Deltaplex may not have been smart.

The hockey team Owls and the Hoops weren't exactly the most stable tenants. But it sounds like it is doing good business as a general purpose venue nowadays. It still ain't pretty. Their own website has only a tiny picture of it's exterior. But, didn't they change the road around it to help out traffic?

[snoogit]

The Owls played there long before it was the delta plex. Although the Hoops were a disaster long before they moved into there. Its too bad they flopped so bad.

[tringr]

Anyone care to add Cabela's? Not me. How many high-paying good jobs was it going to bring? Penny-ante.

Some goes for the Project X, whether it goes through or not. Retail/entertainment is simply NOT going to improve the economy much. Not an engine driving real growth.

Anybody remember the Children's Mall up in the City Center? Remember the talk of a Nike Town? Went nowhere. That was a sad little project.

[snoogit]

I am not too upset that Cabella's fell through, and depending on Project X im not sure I would be upset if that fell through either.

[rallymatt]

Anybody remember the Children's Mall up in the City Center? Remember the talk of a Nike Town? Went nowhere. That was a sad little project.

Oh man, Mackies World?

That place was jacked up (I went to school inside it for a year and a half)