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New Embassy Suites - Monroe North


numstead

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While hardly upscale, I am a little surprised that Embassy Suites would be located there. When I think of Embassy suites I think a large 10 story building with an open atrium and located near an airport or in an upscale suburb. I think it would be unique for this market. Always good to see new brands in town howabout bringing back Raddison or for an actual upscale hotel Sheraton, Weston or  Hyatt. I think what downtown really needs is a mainstream hotel to compliment the Holiday inn. 

 

Downtown Omaha has an Embassy Suites right at the eastern edge of their trendy historic shopping district, the Old Market.  It's nothing to look at, though...and considering it's in Omaha's most heavily trafficked pedestrian area, it has a distinctly terrible urban form. http://goo.gl/maps/HnbIa  It's been there quite and I think was one of the first downtown hotels to move back into the neighborhood before the convention center and a lot of the other redevelopment downtown.  Now there are quite a few in the neighborhood.

I think there are definitely others located in downtowns.  The one I saw in DC had large lions out front. http://goo.gl/maps/tzORL

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I've stayed in a few Embassy Suites, one in downtown Chicago and that one in D.C. posted above. It did have the lions out in front, and was in this bizarre location where the old convention center had been torn down across the street so it was a blank open (humungous) lot surrounded by a very urban downtown D.C. .

 

I'd consider them "upscale" compared to a lot of other business class hotels. I wouldn't compare it to a Ritz Carlton or JW Marriott, but they are very nice.

 

Apparently this one is the new chain Embassy Suites Hilton, which by their website it only says there are two so far.

 

If you do a search for Embassy Suites downtown you get a bunch of returns. I'll bet ours will turn out much like the Denver one, if I had to guess at style/exterior materials. It looks fairly new.

 

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=embassy+suites+downtown&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.43287494,d.aWc&biw=784&bih=376&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=HYw-UZ-RNIrhygG_14HwBg

 

Many of those WOODTV comments are unbelievably ridiculous and ill-informed. It doesn't help that WOOD doesn't provide any backup information of any sort.

 

 

I don't know if this has been pointed out, but the old plan was 9 stories, and the new plan is 11 stories. Brass Works is 5. This thing is going to tower over everything in that area. If you compared it to another "blocky" building in Monroe North, Icon is 118 units, 108 feet tall, 9 stories.

 

They're saying the Embassy Suites will be 250 suites, with probably the first 2 or 3 floors being higher than standard ceilings for the lobby, restaurant(s), pool area, etc (just thinking of your above average business class hotel in an urban setting). 140 - 150 feet tall?

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I really wish someone would build on the lot across from the court house and Trust Building. That lot is prime for the picking. Every time I see that surface lot it kills me. Regardless, the Monroe north area is very nice and trendy and should make them a nice location. Is it going on the river?

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Personally, I thought the guy from Experience GR did a poor job in the Wood TV interview. I can understand the worries of canabalizing the current market, but since this is a new type of entry into the downtown market (all-suites), you'd think he would have come off a little more bullish. Maybe it was just me, but I don't think he didn't seem to be trumpeting it as another piece of the puzzle in revitalization.

 

Joe

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I really wish someone would build on the lot across from the court house and Trust Building. That lot is prime for the picking. Every time I see that surface lot it kills me. Regardless, the Monroe north area is very nice and trendy and should make them a nice location. Is it going on the river?

 

I totally agree. That lot has great views and plenty of space for development, parking, and a communal area. 

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I really wish someone would build on the lot across from the court house and Trust Building. That lot is prime for the picking. Every time I see that surface lot it kills me. Regardless, the Monroe north area is very nice and trendy and should make them a nice location. Is it going on the river?

 

No, it's on the vacant lot just North of the Brass Works Building (where Western American Mailers used to be). Right across the street is 6th Street Park, which is on the river.

 

Now the city just needs to look at getting rid of that waste of a parking lot in the park:

 

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=monroe+avenue+and+6th+street,+grand+rapids&hl=en&ll=42.975518,-85.671945&spn=0.002637,0.004351&hnear=Monroe+Ave+NW+%26+6th+St+NW,+Grand+Rapids,+Kent,+Michigan+49503&t=h&z=18

 

Maybe line Monroe Avenue with small shops (while retaining the majority of the park) to compliment the hotel's arrival.

 

post-2672-0-62758700-1363113221_thumb.jp

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You would think a hotel like this would encourage some growth...even if it's a few more restaurants and bars.

 

Does anyone know if the GR Stamp and Spring..other side of the alley from the new hotel...still has operations in that plant?

Didn't they move out to Alpine?

 

I agree...the north Monroe area is pretty cool as it stands now.  Just imagine if a few of the factories/empty building move in favor of more apartments/condos and some local ammenities such as a small grocer, bakery, etc...it could become very cool.

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You would think a hotel like this would encourage some growth...even if it's a few more restaurants and bars.

 

Does anyone know if the GR Stamp and Spring..other side of the alley from the new hotel...still has operations in that plant?

Didn't they move out to Alpine?

 

I agree...the north Monroe area is pretty cool as it stands now.  Just imagine if a few of the factories/empty building move in favor of more apartments/condos and some local ammenities such as a small grocer, bakery, etc...it could become very cool.

 

I think the days of moving factories out of the city may be over. Studies recently show that industrial uses return far greater net returns for tax revenues than residential (residential uses more than it puts into the system). Turns out that one guy in Monroe North who used to rant about that, was right. What was his name? He had a blog...

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  • 2 months later...

The new plans look a lot like the old ones, which is good news. 11 stories, with what they are calling "nine different users" on different floors. A sports bar called Big E's is planned for the top floor, which sort of looks like a cruise ship deck (last image).

 

The six multi-colored boxes appear to be separate retail bays, which would be awesome. I'll get more info next week at the PC meeting.

 

8978815775_e6aec2c793_c.jpg

 

8980010346_9b725c155c_b.jpg

 

8980010486_8c0499aec0_b.jpg

 

8980213368_676e65840b_c.jpg

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looks awesome....the last image is the second floor, maybe the third image is where the bar is on the 11th floor? I wonder what kind of retail would be attracted to this? I could see a general convenience store and quick serve food and maybe something specialty like a camera store but there are 6 outlets which seems like a lot for that area. 

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looks awesome....the last image is the second floor, maybe the third image is where the bar is on the 11th floor? I wonder what kind of retail would be attracted to this? I could see a general convenience store and quick serve food and maybe something specialty like a camera store but there are 6 outlets which seems like a lot for that area. 

 

Yes, the last image is the 2nd floor. Sorry had them out of order a bit. You can make out what looks like a sweeping staircase in a two story foyer, with tables around the mezzanine. I believe some of that seating area is outdoor (where there's a large black line cutting through the seating area).

 

In the third image, to the right, it appears to be a rooftop garden area (the gray shapes). That will be quite a spot to see downtown, as it will be about 4 - 5 stories above Brass Works.

 

It's a pretty cool design, in my opinion. A lot of terraces and the facade undulates quite a bit. It won't look like a big box. Hopefully they don't value engineer the heck out of it.

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Yes, the last image is the 2nd floor. Sorry had them out of order a bit. You can make out what looks like a sweeping staircase in a two story foyer, with tables around the mezzanine. I believe some of that seating area is outdoor (where there's a large black line cutting through the seating area).

 

In the third image, to the right, it appears to be a rooftop garden area (the gray shapes). That will be quite a spot to see downtown, as it will be about 4 - 5 stories above Brass Works.

 

It's a pretty cool design, in my opinion. A lot of terraces and the facade undulates quite a bit. It won't look like a big box. Hopefully they don't value engineer the heck out of it.

 

Agreed, looks great!  And I think they added a glass elevator shaft in the front, which wasn't there before.  That would be a neat ride up to Big E's.

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Agreed, looks great!  And I think they added a glass elevator shaft in the front, which wasn't there before.  That would be a neat ride up to Big E's.

 

Oh, nice catch. That will have a nice view of the parking lot across the street. :) Who wants to form a group to brainstorm ideas for the park parking lot? Present to the city?

 

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=monroe+avenue+and+newberry,+grand+rapids,+mi&hl=en&ll=42.975583,-85.672438&spn=0.002981,0.005284&sll=42.973542,-85.672513&sspn=0.008431,0.021136&hnear=Monroe+Ave+NW+%26+Newberry+St+NW,+Grand+Rapids,+Kent,+Michigan+49503&t=h&z=18

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The article I read in GRBJ  leaves me a little confused about when they are going to start this project. They just asked for another extension. http://www.grbj.com/articles/77050-one-proposed-hotel-receives-extension

 

Interesting.

 

BTW, I'm documenting the parking lot use over the next few weeks. I'll try to do it every couple of days at different times, and on the weekend. I'll see if I can get parking receipts for that lot from the parking commission as well. Anecdotally, I never see it even close to half full, but I want to have the documentation to prove it.

 

 

9011498503_3cf1b458fe_z.jpg

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So now they keep the credit and do nothing. 2 years from now they will be back looking for it again. Keep feeding us that credit and we might do something....maybe.

 

 

That was me in 2011.

 

The article I read in GRBJ  leaves me a little confused about when they are going to start this project. They just asked for another extension. http://www.grbj.com/articles/77050-one-proposed-hotel-receives-extension

 

At least we got some drawings this time around.

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Interesting.

 

BTW, I'm documenting the parking lot use over the next few weeks. I'll try to do it every couple of days at different times, and on the weekend. I'll see if I can get parking receipts for that lot from the parking commission as well. Anecdotally, I never see it even close to half full, but I want to have the documentation to prove it.

 

 

9011498503_3cf1b458fe_z.jpg

Be sure to turn on your camera's time stamp.

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The design is reminiscent of the Embassy Suites in Hoover AL.  I stay there a couple times a month, i'd be excited to see that addition to that neighborhood.  I tried to put the Photo up but i'm a bit rusty feel free to google if you want to see it. 

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