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New Embassy Suites - Monroe North

numstead

By numstead
in Grand Rapids

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joeDowntown Metropolis

joeDowntown

Posted
Posted

Nope. This is new. There have been several proposals for this property, but never this developer, and I don't it was ever considered for a hotel.

Other than the fact that you'd have to walk past the void that is the GR Press, Post office and back-end of DeVos Place, I think this is a great location for a hotel. With the park across the street, it'll never have a blocked view and is fairly close to the convention center.

Joe

I'm confused - haven't we already discussed this? Maybe i had heard rumblings of it someplace else, but i didn't think it was new news.
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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

Posted
Posted

Nope. This is new. There have been several proposals for this property, but never this developer, and I don't it was ever considered for a hotel.

Other than the fact that you'd have to walk past the void that is the GR Press, Post office and back-end of DeVos Place, I think this is a great location for a hotel. With the park across the street, it'll never have a blocked view and is fairly close to the convention center.

Joe

It's a much better spot than the ICON II spot, that's for sure.

tamias6, it's this site here:

456619818_a2734b3619_o.jpg

This would sit strategically right at the Northern end of the new streetcar line, if that gets built.

Oops, sorry Rizzo.

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torgo Town

torgo

Posted
Posted

Put together the first letter of every paragraph. Pretty funny Chris :thumbsup:.

Hah! Next time maybe Chris should just go to RSA to make it even more challenging for the UP detectives.

This sounds great (so far). More retail along Monroe and a mid-level hotel would be excellent additions to Monroe North.

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joeDowntown Metropolis

joeDowntown

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Honestly, no. I quickly targeted in on the site, and just had to get over the Breakfast hurdle (which was easy once I thought about the fact that it would be used to throw us off the scent).

I don't think it was mentioned in the article yesterday, but there were many references to Second Story Properties. Do they own the land right now, or do you think they're involved.

I still think this will be a Workstage project. I was out at their building the other day and they are doing some pretty cool stuff. This would make me think if they are involved in the design/construction, it will be a LEED building.

Joe

[inside joke: Link added for search engine optimization ;)].

Sure is. Awhile back, they were losing it to the bank. I don't know if they sold it or let it go.

So, Joe and Golscorer, were you guys right? Admit it...did you see HOTELATWAM?

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

Posted
Posted

I thought the sentence structure was a bit weird, but I never thought that Chris would do a sentence "acronym".

According to the article, the Rockford Developer working on this was also proposing this Hilton Garden Inn on the East Beltline near Burton, but scrapped the idea (competing licensing issue or something).

152519442_000160cdd8.jpg

But I feel pretty confident the new hotel won't look anything like this, based on their description of underground parking and on the 1st and 2nd floors behind ground level retail. Maybe they could look at incorporating part of the current WAM building into the design. Not all those buildings are "ratty" tamias6.

458019131_14b132759b_b.jpg

458019119_9251d9f5bc_b.jpg

In case the developers may be reading this thread, here are a few ways that the old can be successfully incorporated into the new. I would just flip if something like this were built there:

1250054936_3d11d0052b_b.jpg

1248921685_1ccaa2a2ab_b.jpg

1248923287_cedcc5ab4e_b.jpg

1248904585_67ca1ca4e0_b.jpg

This one has an Urban Outfitters. :whistling:

1249246197_de2ea0058d_b.jpg

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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GRDad,

Is that DC? If so, what part? Would love to see Monroe Norht have that kind of street wall density.

Yes, it's an area they call Penn Quarter in D.C., and those projects are around 6th and 7th Streets. They remind me a lot of photos I've seen of the Pearl District. Rows of 9 - 12 story mixed use projects with a continuous wall of ground-floor retail for blocks and blocks.

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tamias6 Town

tamias6

Posted
Posted

I thought the sentence structure was a bit weird, but I never thought that Chris would do a sentence "acronym".

According to the article, the Rockford Developer working on this was also proposing this Hilton Garden Inn on the East Beltline near Burton, but scrapped the idea (competing licensing issue or something).

...

But I feel pretty confident the new hotel won't look anything like this, based on their description of underground parking and on the 1st and 2nd floors behind ground level retail. Maybe they could look at incorporating part of the current WAM building into the design. Not all those buildings are "ratty" tamias6.

458019131_14b132759b_b.jpg

458019119_9251d9f5bc_b.jpg

.....

I forgot about the fancier facade of the building in the first image's center and in the second image. Maybe with a little sandblasting to remove that nasty white paint, that facade would be great for incorporating into a new structure.

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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Posted

Here's another one from that same area, called Jefferson at Penn Quarter. It actually won awards for historic preservation. The facades of the shorter portion are many of the historic buildings. So cooool.

1352882146_ed3aa421f4_o.jpg

(not my image, my night shots of this building did not turn out so well :( )

Hard to believe that complex has 2 or 3 floors of parking buried in there somewhere, isn't it?

A historic photo of the same corner:

1352875784_ae543aba50_o.jpg

Renovation Background Info - Urban Land Institute

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

Posted
Posted

Article and rendering in today's Press about the hotel. It's not on the regular MLive page, but the PDF is available HERE. The city responded warmly to a request to extend the Ren Zone for that site for another 15 years, due to the number of jobs that would be produced. The $28 Million hotel would include a rooftop restaurant (on top of the 3 story lower portion) and retail shops fronting Monroe. :yahoo:

Sorry for the poor quality, but you get the general idea. Not bad at all. Looks like many of the hotel rooms have balconies, which is pretty unusual for a hotel (except maybe in Florida).

1367836998_04888a245a_b.jpg

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cheshireguy Whistle-Stop

cheshireguy

Posted
Posted

Hooray!!!!!! :lol: If that is the product that will be followed through on, what a huge boost to that area! I love that design!!!! I was thinking that we would get a boxy-generic look that really resembled a hotel, but this is a huge, wonderful surprise!

Sorry for all the exclamations! I can't help it! Talk to ya later! Crap!

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