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Death to surface lots!

GRDadof3

By GRDadof3
in Grand Rapids

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civitas Burg

civitas

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It's in the article. You don't need a membership to read the Fox 17 Business Journal Reports each week. I'll put something in the Two West Fulton thread too.

"But the same cannot yet be said for the city-owned property at 201 Market Ave. SW. Those 15.8 acres, a key part of the controversial "mystery" development, went up for bid last month. But as of mid April, the city hadn't received a nibble on the riverfront property. The asking price for the land, known as the Public Works Island, is $35 million."

The article suggests that these RFP's are like term papers and developers won't respond until the due date. I would think, however, that if there was anyone interested they would be all over the city gathering information about the property. Not a nibble...hmmmm.

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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"But the same cannot yet be said for the city-owned property at 201 Market Ave. SW. Those 15.8 acres, a key part of the controversial "mystery" development, went up for bid last month. But as of mid April, the city hadn't received a nibble on the riverfront property. The asking price for the land, known as the Public Works Island, is $35 million."

The article suggests that these RFP's are like term papers and developers won't respond until the due date. I would think, however, that if there was anyone interested they would be all over the city gathering information about the property. Not a nibble...hmmmm.

I saw that and thought about that too civitas, and decided to skip it. The issue becomes: if I'm a developer from out of State that MAY be shopping for land in other metro areas, this is a pretty large chunk of land (size and price). I would not only have to come up with a site plan and preliminary designs, I would also have to come up with at least an inkling of specific users who may also be shopping for a new locale. Who is that going to be? To do all that in two months seems like it would be very difficult. As we've said before, the downtown market could not support an additional "millions" of square feet of commercial and/or residential space on spec, and the banks would never finance it.

That's why I'm focusing my energies on other exciting things going on downtown. :thumbsup: Sorry to piss in anyone's Cheerios, but to hold out any hope for something for that land any time soon is fool-hearty, IMO. We might be talking a decade to have it developed, not two months.

But we might be getting a little off-topic...Maybe warrants a new one?

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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Nice Rizzo! :rofl:

Let's all observe a moment of silence for the following surface lots: :P

Lot behind the old Israel's Store where the Marriott is going up

Lot in front of the Rivertown Plaza Building where the expansion and new ramp are going

Lot near the Eberhard Center where the new Engineering School expansion is going

Lot where Icon on Bond is going

Lot West of where the Towers Medical Building is located (days are numbered)

Lot around the Burger King on Michigan (now a crater)

Lot where the new YMCA is on Pearl

Lot where Tall House is planned

2 Lots where the new theater and retail/residential projects are proposed

Lot between the BOB and 50 Monroe (have they closed on that yet?)

Lot where Bank of Holland now stands

Lot where VAI - Phase II will go

Lot where the Art Museum is going up (regardless of opinions of the architecture)

That's a major good start.

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zenstyle Hamlet

zenstyle

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As a bicyclist and a member of the Vespiti, this delights me no end.

I passed by a USA Today newsstand this morning, headline reading: "Drivers switch to public transit." Well, well, well. With a confluence of rising fuel prices and shrinking surface lots, maybe, just maybe, the lightbulb will light up above the collective heads of our benighted citizenry.

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joeDowntown Metropolis

joeDowntown

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Amen, GRDad. If they build it, great. But we development buffs have so much to look forward to in downtown right now that I have also taken the "show me the money" approach.

I personally can't wait 'til VAI II starts. I think the building is going to look incredible cascading down the Michigan hill. And it's taking out a parking lot and an ugly old school, so I am on topic :thumbsup:

That's why I'm focusing my energies on other exciting things going on downtown. :thumbsup: Sorry to piss in anyone's Cheerios, but to hold out any hope for something for that land any time soon is fool-hearty, IMO. We might be talking a decade to have it developed, not two months.

But we might be getting a little off-topic...Maybe warrants a new one?

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  • 2 weeks later...
Rizzo City

Rizzo

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Wait, so its a rumor that people are interested in putting one of thoes things downtown? If I get to ride with my car in this contraption I would just come for the ride pay the money and have myself parked, that'd be cool.

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