Hey, what's that (and other miscellanea)?

[mgreven]

Sorry...for some reason I didn't even think of Google-ing it.  =)

Interesting story - very cool history.  Wonder what the plans are?

[Allison Slater]

I think I hear the plans are to cover it back up again with new covering, which might be for the best. That facade is pretty well preserved and that may only be because it was covered up, and properly preserving that while keeping it visible would potentially be difficult. Best save that task for when things like that become cheaper.

Does make me wonder how many other buildings like this are hidden in plain view, though.

[ironyisadeadscene]

Saw this mini tower crane at the NE corner of the 28th Street/131 interchange.

Any idea what?

 

[GRDadof3]

17 hours ago, ironyisadeadscene said:

Saw this mini tower crane at the NE corner of the 28th Street/131 interchange.

Any idea what?

 

I saw that too yesterday. Looks like they're working on those industrial buildings? 

I found this article from 2013. regarding that property: https://www.mlive.com/byron-center/index.ssf/2013/03/sf_gilmore_inc_seeking_tax_aba.html

[joeDowntown]

I drove past DeVos Place tonight and they are building 4 large “boxes”. Concrete  landscape planters maybe? They weren’t there before. Anyone know what’s being built?

Joe

[NoDustBusterNoMore]

9 hours ago, joeDowntown said:

I drove past DeVos Place tonight and they are building 4 large “boxes”. Concrete  landscape planters maybe? They weren’t there before. Anyone know what’s being built?

Joe

Artprize installation perhaps?

[kwl]

45 minutes ago, mielsonwheels said:

Artprize installation perhaps?

It would be surprising. Walked past last week and it looks like they were doing some irrigation work below. Maybe just installing new landscaping. 

[Guest]

I was wondering the same thing.  Isn't that where the hotel was supposed to go?  Is that dead?

[GRDadof3]

3 hours ago, Floyd_Z said:

I was wondering the same thing.  Isn't that where the hotel was supposed to go?  Is that dead?

The hotel is supposed to go down further, closer to Reserve. I think it's only at the "feasibility" and "where do we find funding" stage anyway. 

[InSecurity]

On 8/23/2018 at 11:11 PM, joeDowntown said:

I drove past DeVos Place tonight and they are building 4 large “boxes”. Concrete  landscape planters maybe? They weren’t there before. Anyone know what’s being built?

Joe

I noticed that also. They removed the trees that were there so maybe replacing them with larger planters?

[joeDowntown]

Hexarmor is building a really nice building off Oak Industrial. They're basically taking the frame of this really old warehouse (formerly owned by Azzar) and turning it into a really cool modern office space. Wish I would have snapped a picture of the rendering on the sign. If you are driving east on 196, you can see a giant hole in the side of the building. The building HAS to be on the top 5 list for old, ugly warehouses (very few windows, aggregate rock). 

 

[mpchicago]

Nice to hear Joe!   I feel like that was originally built by Rapistan,  the predecessor to Dematic.   

Edited September 5, 2018 by mpchicago

[joeDowntown]

1 hour ago, mpchicago said:

Nice to hear Joe!   I feel like that was originally built by Rapistan,  the predecessor to Dematic.   

Could be! It's going to be quite a showpiece once done. Very transparent, multi-story, looked like they'll have decks on the second floor. It'll give a lift to a pretty dull area.

Joe

[GRDadof3]

26 minutes ago, joeDowntown said:

Could be! It's going to be quite a showpiece once done. Very transparent, multi-story, looked like they'll have decks on the second floor. It'll give a lift to a pretty dull area.

Joe

I posted that in the Amazon thread a while back. I think I was talking about manufacturing expansions? 

 

[ctpgr34]

4 hours ago, joeDowntown said:

Hexarmor is building a really nice building off Oak Industrial. They're basically taking the frame of this really old warehouse (formerly owned by Azzar) and turning it into a really cool modern office space. Wish I would have snapped a picture of the rendering on the sign. If you are driving east on 196, you can see a giant hole in the side of the building. The building HAS to be on the top 5 list for old, ugly warehouses (very few windows, aggregate rock). 

 

 

[Guest]

Not sure if anyone has seen them, but there are some new signs that say something to the effect of... "percentage of people passing with five or more feet"  and then shows a record and current percentage.  They seem a little odd to me.  Anyone know these percentages are calculated?  There's some on Monroe where it is almost impossible to pass with five feet due to the islands.

[thebeerqueer]

13 hours ago, Floyd_Z said:

Not sure if anyone has seen them, but there are some new signs that say something to the effect of... "percentage of people passing with five or more feet"  and then shows a record and current percentage.  They seem a little odd to me.  Anyone know these percentages are calculated?  There's some on Monroe where it is almost impossible to pass with five feet due to the islands.

I noticed that sign on Monroe last week. I seem to remember the GRPD had acquired a device to measure distance from their cruisers, similar to a speed radar device.  Additionally, as a cyclist who was hit on Monroe this summer, if there's not five feet to pass YOU DON'T PASS. I don't mean you specifically Floyd_Z, just in general. 

[x99]

5 hours ago, thebeerqueer said:

I noticed that sign on Monroe last week. I seem to remember the GRPD had acquired a device to measure distance from their cruisers, similar to a speed radar device.  Additionally, as a cyclist who was hit on Monroe this summer, if there's not five feet to pass YOU DON'T PASS. I don't mean you specifically Floyd_Z, just in general. 

Most bicyclists are fairly respectful, but what of those who are not?  What if the oncoming traffic is very heavy and the cyclist hogs the lane?  The line of cars 40 cars deep is just supposed to continue to build up because the guy on the bike won't pull over?  I'm all for enforcement against people who needlessly get too close, but at the same time, they need to pass a strong ordinance against impeding traffic,  and pass out piles of tickets to guys huffing and puffing their way up Fulton hill in the middle of the lane during rush hour.  If I had a big diesel truck, I'd be really tempted to roll some coal out my tailpipe when finally getting around some of those guys....   Ah, I'm such a curmedgeon.  

[thebeerqueer]

14 minutes ago, x99 said:

Most bicyclists are fairly respectful, but what of those who are not?  What if the oncoming traffic is very heavy and the cyclist hogs the lane?  The line of cars 40 cars deep is just supposed to continue to build up because the guy on the bike won't pull over?  I'm all for enforcement against people who needlessly get too close, but at the same time, they need to pass a strong ordinance against impeding traffic,  and pass out piles of tickets to guys huffing and puffing their way up Fulton hill in the middle of the lane during rush hour.  If I had a big diesel truck, I'd be really tempted to roll some coal out my tailpipe when finally getting around some of those guys....   Ah, I'm such a curmedgeon.  

You'd approach the lane-hogging  cyclist the same way you would a car, when the oncoming traffic clears, you pass and curse in your car and move on with your day. It's that easy 

[Guest]

I give cyclists respect and five feet in the city.  Something that really irritates me is when there is a bike path not attached to the road and the cyclist still choses to ride on the almost non existent shoulder.  This mostly in the eastern suburbs like Cascade and Ada.  It's dangerous for everyone with the sharp curves and hills for traffic going both ways.  Also saw a guy do this on Monroe at Riverside with that brand new huge bicycle highway.  It really just kind of baffles me.

[thebeerqueer]

15 hours ago, Floyd_Z said:

I give cyclists respect and five feet in the city.  Something that really irritates me is when there is a bike path not attached to the road and the cyclist still choses to ride on the almost non existent shoulder.  This mostly in the eastern suburbs like Cascade and Ada.  It's dangerous for everyone with the sharp curves and hills for traffic going both ways.  Also saw a guy do this on Monroe at Riverside with that brand new huge bicycle highway.  It really just kind of baffles me.

That is annoying, if the bike lane is there, us it. 

As for the physically separated bike path on Monroe, the majority of people that I pass on that path aren't cyclists, even though there are bike symbols all over it. It's usually someone walking their dog with their headphones on not hearing me announce my coming up on their left. There's a perfectly good sidewalk on the east side of Monroe for all that walking nonsense. 

[GRDadof3]

15 hours ago, Floyd_Z said:

I give cyclists respect and five feet in the city.  Something that really irritates me is when there is a bike path not attached to the road and the cyclist still choses to ride on the almost non existent shoulder.  This mostly in the eastern suburbs like Cascade and Ada.  It's dangerous for everyone with the sharp curves and hills for traffic going both ways.  Also saw a guy do this on Monroe at Riverside with that brand new huge bicycle highway.  It really just kind of baffles me.

There are definitely areas in Ada and Cascade where I no longer ride on the road, and ride on the non-motorized path in those sections. It's not worth risking your life to make a point. If there's a big enough shoulder though, even on Fulton, I'm on the road. 

I also agree that as a cyclist, if you're "impeding" traffic by allowing 40 cars to get backed up behind you, you should do the right thing and get over and let traffic pass. Same thing if you were driving a backhow or other slow moving vehicle down the road with your hazard lights going. If suddenly you look back and you're causing problems, get over for a few minutes. 

At the same time, if you approach a cyclist from behind and can't pass with enough clearance because of oncoming traffic, as beerqueer said, you have to WAIT until traffic clears from the opposite direction. 

There are hardcore cyclists who may disagree with this but we don't all have to be fighting with each other all the time as a society. How about we give a little sometimes and maybe that generosity will be returned. 

 

 

[NoDustBusterNoMore]

I just flipped back through 10 pages of topic threads and couldn't find any place to put this, so I'm putting it here.

In a shocking twist, a Grand Rapids building is (potentially) getting TALLER! Not much, but still... 

188 Monroe NW (the building with Bull's Head Tavern) is getting two floors added on, raising it to about the same height as the building next to it. Looks like the additional floors will be metal panel or EIFS siding, but before anybody complains know this, the new floors will also be set back from the original buildings facade on Monroe by about 12-15 feet, so it's not going to be really visible from street level. Not saying I like the look, just that it's going to be somewhat hidden.

[jonrapley]

It will be visible to everyone in the Amway opposite lol but a taller building is a taller building

[thebeerqueer]

My first thought was someone was posting in this thread about that bright yellow/orange thing glowing in the sky that's searing all of our eyes because we haven't seen it in a month.