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Gallery on Fulton


civitas

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On the flip side of that, what is wrong with the UICA's current location? It's basically on the Avenue of the Arts already and closer to the avant garde section of it than this would be. The current spot is a really great facility and they don't have to worry about becoming the mainstream draw they would need to become to support a cornerstone development.

I think their current location is too hidden to attract many patrons that are not intending to go there. The current facility (from what I have heard) is extremely costly to heat and the flat roof with north facing skylights, leaks. I would love for them to become a "mainstream" draw. Like maybe have more than 5 people attend a really good movie there. I would love to see the gallery filled every night of the week.

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I can't see how the move can't be anything but good for UICA (unless the expense of moving bankrupts them). Even with the addition of this development, that corner will hardly be "mainstream". You still have Tol's empty building and Dodd's Records across the street, and Azzar's boarded up mess kitty corner from it. Plus, you have the Division Ave stream of homeless passing by the front door throughout the day. It's not like Rosa Parks Circle by any stretch.

I know it will feel a lot different with the apartment tower there, but it has a long way to go.

TheHenry_146_pic_2959.jpg

(an illustration of a very similarly looking residential tower)

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I would love to see them increase the film part of it since they'll be on that corner. That would be as close to a downtown theater we can get for now. I feel like it's barely advertised that they show art films there now. I think the exposure would be good for them.

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Wow, two posts in a row for me...

Anyone see the rendering in the Press this morning? WHAT was that? It looks like a glass block attached to a parking garage. I was really cheering for this, but that new rendering makes me sad.

=(

It's hard to tell, but it appears to be a picture of a model, just showing the massing (notice the lack of any detail like balconies). Gawd I hope so. :sick:

2169083072_39c9248fcc_o.jpg

Loose ends may delay Gallery at Fulton

I had heard that they probably will go just beyond the Jan. 31st deadline.

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2169083072_39c9248fcc_o.jpg

Maybe I am missing something, but when did this project start to include a parking structure that was to be sold back to the city?

Am I looking the picture above correctly. Are we looking at the lot as if we are facing Southwest? If so it looks like the promident corner at Division and Fulton will be nothing more than a 3 story parking garage with UICA, other retail and the apartments at the corner of Comerce and Fulton :dontknow:

Edited by DwntwnGeo
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Maybe I am missing something, but when did this project start to include a parking structure that was to be sold back to the city?

Am I looking the picture above correctly. Are we looking at the lot as if we are facing Southwest? If so it looks like the promident corner at Division and Fulton will be nothing more than a 3 story parking garage with UICA, other retail and the apartments at the corner of Comerce and Fulton :dontknow:

The parking ramp was always part of the equation. Part of the agreement was that the old City Centre ramp has to be replaced. In fact, they were originally just going to rebuild the ramp alone, but decided to open it up for a developer/partner to put in a mixed-use development there as well.

The residential tower is at the Commerce/Fulton corner next to Mezze Cafe. The lower portion and UICA is at the Fulton/Division corner. Nothing has changed much about that aspect. What changes quite a bit is the design and cladding of the two portions. So in answer to your question, yes you would be looking Southwest from the park.

Looking South as if from the police station:

fultondivision.jpg

Looking West as if from the JA building:

fultondivision2.jpg

Other versions of the design:

481807734_094d6ab93f_o.gif

481808786_4f1415c044_o.gif

lookSW.jpg

lookSE.jpg

This design was somewhere in the middle of the process (my favorite):

2102748481_8fc4be1a07_o.jpg

Others:

20060127-PRS-Daytime_images_Page_1_300.jpg

pageImage_gallery.jpg

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The parking ramp was always part of the equation. Part of the agreement was that the old City Centre ramp has to be replaced. In fact, they were originally just going to rebuild the ramp alone, but decided to open it up for a developer/partner to put in a mixed-use development there as well.

The residential tower is at the Commerce/Fulton corner next to Mezze Cafe. The lower portion and UICA is at the Fulton/Division corner. Nothing has changed much about that aspect. What changes quite a bit is the design and cladding of the two portions. So in answer to your question, yes you would be looking Southwest from the park.

Thanks for the clarification on the parking ramp. The posted renderings all seem to make sense to me as far as having the Apartment tower on the West end and UICA on the Fulton/Division corner with what looks like the parking put/hidden on the southern side of the lot. What is confusing to me was the new "block" like model that was posted today. In my opinion it looked like the entire Eastern half of the building was going to be the parking structure while the retail and apartments were all on the western edge. I hope this project turns out more like the renderings show than the model.

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This is a huge move in the wrong direction. That important corner with a parking garage and some infill retail? What a disaster. At least move the tower to the corner of Division to keep some importance there. I have heard of value engineering, but this plain slash and burn. If they can do no better than this, turn it back over to the city and start over. Delay would be better than bad.

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I totally agree. This latest design is just horrible. Boooooooooo! I looked at the picture in the actual paper just a minute ago and the "screening" on the parking ramp looks like chicken wire. The worst part is that the price tag keeps going up, yet the design keeps getting worse. The only thing I can say positively is that at least the tower portion doesn't look like a cake sitting on a table.

2169083072_39c9248fcc_o.jpg

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I also am appalled at this latest design. This is little better than what was there before! My only hope is that it is not the final design, but just a preliminary "sketch". If it is what is now planned, I have to agree with GRguy and say start over, it would be better to have nothing there for a while than this. The corner is too important to not go all the way with a quality building.

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2169083072_39c9248fcc_o.jpg

Alrighty then. I'm going to take the Grand Rapids Press building slap a story or two of one of the GRCC parking ramps on its roof. Then I'm going to stick the Gerald R. Ford Federal Building on top of all of that and call this Gallery at Fulton.

BOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! This has got to be undoubtedly the worst pile of Puke-itechure I have ever seen. The 5/3 Building is Chartres Cathedral in comparison. A Chimpanzee can design a better looking building than this. If we're going in this direction, the city planners would be absolutely brain dead to let this garbage of a design materialize smack dab in the middle of our city. :angry::sick:

[Edit] Hey almost forgot. While we are at it, let's slap a Wal-Mart sign on this and presto we have downtown retail.

Edited by tamias6
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You should all let the city commissioners know how you feel. They are reviewing this project again on Tuesday, Jan. 8th. I also wonder if the HPC has seen this latest version of the plans. They have to sign off on it as it sits in the Heartside Historic District.

http://www.grand-rapids.mi.us/index.pl?page_id=42

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I'm not sure why the developers would release this rendering after all the others have been circulating. Could this be an unreleased much earlier concept? It could have been sitting at the Press and used for this article. This has to be the Press' mistake. :dontknow:

Edited by Rizzo
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I'm not sure why the developers would release this rendering after all the others have been circulating. Could this be an unreleased much earlier concept? It could have been sitting at the Press and used for this article. This has to be the Press' mistake. :dontknow:

I sent an email to Jim Harger at the Press to find out how old this rendering is.

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To me, it still looks like a study on density more than the actual design. Plus, even if it is the finished product, we're not seeing the signage and other possible elements (facade) that may block the parking ramp.

Have faith people, Sam Cummings hasn't failed us yet (the RSC/SSP renovation of the YMCA is fantastic. I can't imagine that the same partnership would plop down something that is horrible).

Honestly though, minus some balconies, I wouldn't mind seeing a building much like the tower represented. Sleak and transparent. Just cover up that parking ramp. :)

Joe

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Have faith people, Sam Cummings hasn't failed us yet (the RSC/SSP renovation of the YMCA is fantastic. I can't imagine that the same partnership would plop down something that is horrible).

Honestly though, minus some balconies, I wouldn't mind seeing a building much like the tower represented. Sleak and transparent. Just cover up that parking ramp. :)

Do you mean the Fitzgerald? I think the jury is still out on that one, all I see is building with no windows. But I have to agree, this just can't be what it would look like. If the UICA comes through, they're not going to want a building that looks like an airplane hangar. And the historic people would tear it apart.

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