Smackdown #2: Grandville Ave vs. Commerce Ave!

[GRDadof3]

This is SMACKDOWN #2!!! If you missed the first cage match smack down, check it out HERE.

In today's match, in the Red Corner, we have Grandville Ave!!! Let's get a tally sheet going, shall we? In the past few seasons, we've seen this down-n-out middleweight become a true heavy-weight!

1) The total remake of a tired little ol building into Grand Woods Lounge!

2) The remake of a UP favorite by one of our favorite developers, Terra Firma, of the ICE HOUSE!!!

3) 100 Grandville got a little bit of a facade makeover!

4) The Intersection takeover of a tired old building!

5) Custer Office Environments makeover!

6) Renovation of a vacant old manufacturing building into Hopson Flats Apartments!

7) A preservation and reinvigoration of an old truck depot into Founder's Brewery!

8) The new ITP Transit Center (yes, more than a few seasons ago but I'm counting it! )

9) The expansion of the ballet center into the fantastic looking PMW Center for Dance!!

10) A total rebuild of the entire street!!

And in the Blue Corner, we've seen this small tucked into the middle street in Heartside kick and fight to be noticed, and now it's beginning to show! Let's hear it for Commerce Ave!!!

1) The injection of life into a vintage storage building into one of downtown's newest and exciting loft apartments, Loose Leaf Lofts!!

2) The transformation of a tired old garage into a church (yes, not exciting, but at least it's not vacant! )!!

3) The renovation of an ugly 80's block office building into River City Slims!

4) The beautiful preservation and renovation of the old post office into the Douglas J Aveda Institute!

5) The long awaited accreditation and expansion of Cooley Law School!

6) The addition of Grand Rapids' most expensive parking garage in the city's history, at $36,000 per parking space! Yowzers. But hey, Heartside said they needed parking, and the city responded!

7) ProCare's announcement that they will invest millions into fixing up a LONG vacant building at 61 Commerce into their new HQ's!!

8) The real fixer-upper of a beaten up old auto service garage at Commerce and Weston into a great looking commercial space! (Now they just need tenants. )

Wow! We're talking $$Hundreds of Millions in private investment into the city by small local developers and business owners, and philanthropic donations, creating jobs and downtown population, with not a benefactor name on any building to be seen! Woot!

Give em your votes, and cast your vote for who you think the next Cinderella Story will be.

[numstead]

Grandville is throwing the bigger punches right now, Commerce will overtake Grandville though.

[d8alterego]

With the apparent implementation of a BRT and continued development, I'd say Division is the next "up and coming" area.

[twoshort]

Grandville is throwing the bigger punches right now, Commerce will overtake Grandville though.

[GRDadof3]

Grandville is throwing the bigger punches right now, Commerce will overtake Grandville though.

[jbr12]

2) The transformation of a tired old garage into a church (yes, not exciting, but at least it's not vacant! )!!

[sfloria]

I voted for "another contender" because I would say that Cherry street is really seeing the most changes and really spread out. Take it all the way from the Cherry/Diamond/Lake intersection. Greenwell restaurant and bar, the ICCF new headquarters, Cherry Market is expanding, the condo coversion of Hillmount, St Mary's Heunstein (sp?) building, Hope lodge, new roundabout, Douglas J Institute, new Commerce parking ramp, rebuild of Grandville ave at Cherry and the Woods Lounge.

Both Grandville and Commerce branch off of Cherry so its a symbiotic relationship, but I've really been impressed driving down Cherry lately. Anyway, thats my vote.

[pr sc]

With the apparent implementation of a BRT and continued development, I'd say Division is the next "up and coming" area.

[Grandrapidsne]

I would have to say Division ave just about 75 percent of the road has been redone in the city limits of Gr and lots of development going on along it, Verne Barry,repaved 28th to franklin, Catholic Diocese project exct hands down division is leading the pack.

[tamias6]

I went with Grandville Ave. and for the second choice, Division Ave.

[quoteme3]

I gotta go with Grandville because with the overpass it couda ben passed over; and with edges as rough as Rocky the street is now newly bricked, as are the sidewalks with planters. Amazing transformation in just a few years. Can a new horse shoe be far behind? The old fire station is all rehabbed, tho empty, it stands in time like a big statue.

Btw, wheres the new sculpture in front of the Rapid?? looking for some style points...

[GRDadof3]

I gotta go with Grandville because with the overpass it couda ben passed over; and with edges as rough as Rocky the street is now newly bricked, as are the sidewalks with planters. Amazing transformation in just a few years. Can a new horse shoe be far behind? The old fire station is all rehabbed, tho empty, it stands in time like a big statue.

Btw, wheres the new sculpture in front of the Rapid?? looking for some style points...

[snoogit]

Commerce is going to need more then a parking ramp and a church with indoor parking to get better... I really hope there's an effort to repave it, along with some of the smaller roads like Oakes, Williams, and Bartlet as well. Although the parking ramp coming east is nothing spectacular... Its like a giant grey monolith rising out of EQ3. While its neat to have a jazz club on commerce, I'm mixed on the results. lipstick on a pig maybe? I dunno. Commerce really depends on what happens on Ionia though. If 240 goes up expect some long standing surface lots on Commerce to dissapear. Loose leaf might be just far enough away to not affect Commerce as a whole much, but I think the real BIG potential is south of Wealthy. They really need to make parts of that area a ren zone, or something.

As for the streets doing the best? I gotta give it up to Division, and Michigan. You've got VAI Phase 2 along Division, as well as everything happening south of Fulton St. and Michigan is going to be a canyon once everything is done. It went from having a fairly plain burger king, and a stumpy parking ramp to perhaps the biggest transformation in the city.

[numstead]

I wonder what is in store for Commerce Ave? Inquiring minds want to know.