Saving the Comerica Bank Tower

[Kayak1]

Iknow that there was some budget issues when this project was looked at back in the winter/spring. They were going to get rid of the pool and do some other changes to get more leasable space. It was supposed to go out to bid this spring but I haven't heard anything about it.

[Eridony]

Iknow that there was some budget issues when this project was looked at back in the winter/spring. They were going to get rid of the pool and do some other changes to get more leasable space. It was supposed to go out to bid this spring but I haven't heard anything about it.

[Eridony]

Well I briefly spoke to someone involved with the project today and he said they hope to begin construction next month! Of course developers always seem optimistic about start dates, but that makes it sound like this project is going well. I guess they have taken "a lot" of reservations and he didn't mention a count but he said the project has "nearly 70" condo units. When they announced this project the number was 36, now it's almost double that. I guess smaller units are more desired right now. It's great though because that just means even more people living downtown. If the demand is that good I wish they would bump up their addition from two stories to three stories.

[RustTown]

Am I the only one who can't get the website to load? It locks up my internet connection. I wish they'd make it more simple.

Also, I keep seeing the tower described as 10 floors, but I only count 8. Are there two below ground floors?

[Eridony]

Am I the only one who can't get the website to load? It locks up my internet connection. I wish they'd make it more simple.

Also, I keep seeing the tower described as 10 floors, but I only count 8. Are there two below ground floors?

[Larry Spataro]

I don't have a problem with the site, but it is one of those sites that are needlessly fancy and therefore more resource intensive to run.

About it being described as 10 floors. I don't know who is writing these wrong numbers, but they really should look at a picture, it's not that many floors to count. I mentioned this a while ago in this thread:

[Larry Spataro]

Well, the city commission approved the brownfield designiation for this project tonight. The next step will be for the state to sign off, which should be a formality. Mr. Rooks said they plan on breaking ground this fall with occupancy by the end of 2009 or early 2010. He said there are ninteen reservations for the seventy units.

[wmresident]

As I mentioned before, watch out for these guys. The broker on this project is the same as a couple of Rooks projects in GR. Brad Veneklase is his name. He is the broker for Highpoint and his brokerage company is also owned by Rooks. He was just censured and fined by the Grand Rapids Association of Realtors for violating their ethics. He also had a lawsuit filed against him by Century 21 in Federal Court: http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-miw.../case_id-52979/

There's more coming down the pike on Rooks and his projects.... stay tuned.

[Eridony]

Nothing has changed on the site since my last update except for the addition of banners to the building.

Behind the scenes things are still moving forward though. Last I heard there were 19 reservations for units, but the number of units have increased from the original 36 to 70 so additional reservations are still needed to reach that 50% mark banks usually use for financing. I'm not worried though considering they have only just put up the marketing signs 19 reservations is pretty good.

Right now Rooks wants to start work on the building this fall and be done with it late 2009 or early 2010.