Downtown GR Uber Construction Photo Thread

[GRDadof3]

For those who wonder if work slows down in the Winter:

River House Condominiums Now able to reach 406'!

J.W. Marriott Hotel & Conference Center Still underway, but officially topped out at 256'

Healthcare Hill Multiple projects

Lemmen Holton Cancer Pavilion

Hauenstein Neurological Center Demo complete, ready for excavators

Grand Rapids Art Museum

ICON on Bond Condominiums

(Healthcare Hill in the background)

Metropolitan Park Apartments

Verne Barry Place - Avenue for the Arts

Douglas J/Aveda Institute

Hope Lodge

Uptown Village - Mixed Use

And for you locals.

And three big projects yet to kick off: the third tower of the Michigan Street Development, Van Andel Institute Phase II, and the Children's Hospital, all on Healthcare Hill. Sorry to the MidTowne Village guys. I'll catch you the next time I'm out.

"We constantly hear from visitors coming from out of town, and they see the cranes and they say, 'There's no city this size anywhere that has cranes like this all over town,'" said Duke Suwyn, commerce president of Grubb & Ellis Paramount. - WOODTV

[6th Gen local]

Great compilation dad! I wish you could have worked the word uber into the thread title though.

[NorthEnder]

Great compilation dad! I wish you could have worked the word uber into the thread title though.

It's such a great time to be involved with Grand Rapids!

I'm sure they said this 15 years ago, but I hope with all the new development, it spurns more development, as more people come into the area!

[tamias6]

Keep the construction boom going at this rate for atleast another 10 to 15 years and GR will look like a completly different city than the one we know and jabber about. I'm hoping for more Marriott and Riverhouse sized 'scrapers to infill DT followed by a 500' to 600' signature tower in the middle of it all to complete the boom period in a resounding finally.

[Michi]

Well, it already has a completely different skyline!

In addition to what is to come, what is the word on the big lot on the river that was suppose to have that "uber" large entertainment development? I hope it is still in the works and makings! Go Grand Rapids, go!

[dtown]

Id like to know what happened to that too. Great thread, and good use of "uber".

[DJL3CDP]

Nice Work GR Dad! Don't worry about the slight to us Mid Towne guys...we've had a lot of it this week!

[blueradon]

Wow...great photos. I haven't seen the metro park apartment construction in awhile, I think it shaped out quite well.

[GRDadof3]

Nice Work GR Dad! Don't worry about the slight to us Mid Towne guys...we've had a lot of it this week!

Here ya go DJL. First phase of MidTowne Village - Mixed Use

Not pretty, but making progress. Women's Health Center of West Michigan.

I'm surprised no one noticed that US Signal has taken over Design+'s space on Ionia (that I snuck in at the end).

[GRDadof3]

"It's time to build" - Grand Rapids Business Journal

Local contractors are saying competition is fierce and it's a buyer's market for their services. They're saying if you're a landowner or developer, now's the time to pull the trigger.

[GRguy]

Dang, Dadoff, all those cranes make us look like Dubai

[wolverine]

Wow, this thread felt good. I like what I see, and I look forward to what I will see.

[GRDadof3]

Some of those are even outdated, a month later. Two of those cranes have come down. Here are some updates since then.

Van Andel Institute Expansion

Peter Martin Wege Center for Dance expansion

Lemmen Holton Cancer Pavilion and the rest of the medical development

JWM

ICON on Bond from the newly reopened Ottawa Ave exit:

[RustTown]

Can anyone tell if the facade on Icon on Bond is a curtain wall brick vaneer panel construction, or if the facade is an applied masonry system with the bricks being put in individually? I can't really tell, but I'd guess the former, but it's a good enough job where it looks to be the latter.

It's always a good thing to see the positive and effective redevelopment of our inner-cities here in Michigan.

[GRDadof3]

Can anyone tell if the facade on Icon on Bond is a curtain wall brick vaneer panel construction, or if the facade is an applied masonry system with the bricks being put in individually? I can't really tell, but I'd guess the former, but it's a good enough job where it looks to be the latter.

It's individual bricks. You can really make them out in this picture sparky took a couple of weeks ago:

[RustTown]

Thanks. I'm surprised, because that's certainly more expensive. I didn't think developers on an apartment building, of all things, would take the extra expensive for aesethics. Good job for the Moch's in selecting the right team. I thought I'd never put "Moch" and "good job" in the same sentence.

[GRDadof3]

Thanks. I'm surprised, because that's certainly more expensive. I didn't think developers on an apartment building, of all things, would take the extra expensive for aesethics. Good job for the Moch's in selecting the right team. I thought I'd never put "Moch" and "good job" in the same sentence.

Ha. They're actually still condos (as far as I know).

[RustTown]

Oops, maybe I'm thinking about the conceptual second tower? I thought one of the towers were supposed to be rental units.

[dtown]

VAI-2 is going to be awesome looking. Cant wait...

[Skittlebites13]

Those are some great photos of the progress of downtown GR.

[GRDadof3]

Growing pains! This shot will look a lot different in a few years.

Jeesh!

ICON on bond

River House

Hopson Flats on Grandville

If anyone wants to add to this, feel free! I do it mainly for people who don't live in GR currently (poor souls).

[GRDadof3]

Don't fret with the JW now finished, there's still a lot of construction going on around downtown:

The Women's Health Center and the rebuilt section of I-196 at College Ave:

600 5th St:

Work continuing on ProCare's HQ on Commerce Ave:

Loose Leaf Lofts (also on Commerce):

Ted's "design" on Michigan now underway:

Continued demolition on Front in preparation for Plante&Moran's new offices:

Hope Lodge and the new Cherry St roundabout:

Cherry St looking up toward Heritage Hill:

Hauenstein Neurosciences Center and the roundabout:

Cranus Erectus:

Van Andel Institute Phase II:

Aeromed :

JW in its new environs:

VAI crane from Calder Plaza (yes, there are people on the plaza, on a weekend, on bikes even!!)

Lemmen Holton Cancer Center with VAI in background:

Medical office complex on Michigan (not the new med school ):

River House rise (and new glass wall sections):

The "Hill"

There are a few that aren't even captured in this collection, like the Children's Hospital, MSU Med School (hopefully beginning this year), Cathedral Square and a few others, so stay tuned!

[john_denver]

Good photos! It's also good to see construction projects still going on.

As I look at all these pictures I sometimes get the feeling of a city rebuilt. In some ways this can be true because the revitalization of one area may spurn the revitalization of another. This leads me to my question:

Is there any kind of statistical formula that measures the amount of a city that has been "revitalized"? Given a set boundary, x number of years (say back 3 years)...can this be measured? I am thinking this could be done by measuring the number of parcels that have been improved or maybe by sq. miles that have been improved...?

Obviously the most common way we measure growth is by a dollar figure. Can these improvements be measured in a different way, possibly by parcel?

For example: Say we have 100 parcels in the downtown business district. Of the 100 parcels, 20 are considered vacant, undeveloped or unused.

Within the past 3 years, 8 of the 20 parcels were developed and occupied. So obviously the number of used or developed parcels has risen from 80 to 88.

If anyone does measure this, It would be interesting to apply this to Grand Rapids during the past 3 or 4 years.

[GRDadof3]

Good photos! It's also good to see construction projects still going on.

As I look at all these pictures I sometimes get the feeling of a city rebuilt. In some ways this can be true because the revitalization of one area may spurn the revitalization of another. This leads me to my question:

Is there any kind of statistical formula that measures the amount of a city that has been "revitalized"? Given a set boundary, x number of years (say back 3 years)...can this be measured? I am thinking this could be done by measuring the number of parcels that have been improved or maybe by sq. miles that have been improved...?

Obviously the most common way we measure growth is by a dollar figure. Can these improvements be measured in a different way, possibly by parcel?

For example: Say we have 100 parcels in the downtown business district. Of the 100 parcels, 20 are considered vacant, undeveloped or unused.

Within the past 3 years, 8 of the 20 parcels were developed and occupied. So obviously the number of used or developed parcels has risen from 80 to 88.

If anyone does measure this, It would be interesting to apply this to Grand Rapids during the past 3 or 4 years.

Sounds like an interesting project for an UrbanPlaneteer to take on.

It does seem that in some ways, Grand Rapids is being completely rebuilt from scratch, and mainly along the periphery. The downtown borders keep expanding outward. I mean, look at MidTowne Village and that photo of the Women's Health Center. I never in a million years would have envisioned that hillside would be anything but a blighted residential area. Now it looks like an extension of all of the healthcare projects as you are coming in from the East (looking the other way). Same with the new Plante&Moran offices. I would have thought some of the other parcels in that business district along the river would have been developed before that parking lot was (but I don't know why it surprised me). And as quoteme3 mentioned about Grandville Ave. Less than a year ago, it was only the ITP station and a run-down firehouse. Now all of a sudden it's Hopson Flats, the ballet theater, Founders, the 202 - 208 Grandville projects and the street being completely rebuilt. How long have I driven on Grandville wishing it could be transformed, and there it is.

But you're right. A percentage of "land reused" as opposed to a "dollar value invested" I think would be more interesting to see.

[john_denver]

It does seem that in some ways, Grand Rapids is being completely rebuilt from scratch, and mainly along the periphery. The downtown borders keep expanding outward. I mean, look at MidTowne Village and that photo of the Women's Health Center. I never in a million years would have envisioned that hillside would be anything but a blighted residential area. Now it looks like an extension of all of the healthcare projects as you are coming in from the East (looking the other way). Same with the new Plante&Moran offices. I would have thought some of the other parcels in that business district along the river would have been developed before that parking lot was (but I don't know why it surprised me). And as quoteme3 mentioned about Grandville Ave. Less than a year ago, it was only the ITP station and a run-down firehouse. Now all of a sudden it's Hopson Flats, the ballet theater, Founders, the 202 - 208 Grandville projects and the street being completely rebuilt. How long have I driven on Grandville wishing it could be transformed, and there it is.

Yes, exactly what I was thinking! Also, just think of the number of blighted and/or vacant parcels in the Heartside that have been flipped!!!

Another way to think of this is what percentage of blighted and/or vacant parcels remain? The number is shrinking!