A good fish market?

[thetreesgirl]

Personally I would love to see some sort of fun- market styled place take over the old Baker furniture building on Monroe (by Ann Street) The building looks awesome and sits right on the river. Personally, I am amazed that the building hasn't turned into yet another condo project, as the property sits right on the river - the possibilities for that space could be amazing.

I drove around back of the building the other day just to explore and saw that it looks like the first floor on the SE corner of the building has new windows and a small office or something of the sort there... but nothing else.

Does anyone know the staus of the building? Who owns it, etc... ?

I could totally see the ground level being a fish market, other cool interesting shops, perhaps a food place with deck going out to the river, and apartments/condos on the top levels- could easily have balconies overlooking the river... i am amazed that no one has done anything with the space. If anything ever happens there i pray they remodel the structure and not build new- the old building is actually pretty cool. And after they remodeled the old filtration plant, it would be nice to see the rest of that area get a boost.

One thing that drives me silly is the fact that we have that nice area downtown with the river-walkway along monroe- and then before it hits Leonard it cuts off and then the next time you can get close to the river is at Ann street where the bike trail begins along the river- riverside park- it would be great to see the entire area connected (if that makes any sense)

[Veloise]

Here's a link to more info on the aforementioned Vantage Point in Port Huron.

http://www.michigan.org/Property/Detail.aspx?p=b11873

[Veloise]

... the old Baker furniture building on Monroe (by Ann Street) ...

I could totally see the ground level being a fish market, other cool interesting shops, perhaps a food place with deck going out to the river, and apartments/condos on the top levels- could easily have balconies overlooking the river... ...

[thetreesgirl]

Just had to add on to the possibilities for the old Baker furniture building on Monroe... made me think it would be fun to see it turned into a unique space like the fisherman's village in Punta Gorda, FL. (obviously to to the same scale and without the marina) but some sort of semi-open air market- and a pier like setting out above the river... and while at it- why not have a canoe rental or something fun like that?

Now that could be fun! Reminds me of the punt tours in Cambridge England... So many possibilities, it would just be neat to see the river be put to use... and seeing the river is pretty shallow through that area, punting would probably work. (i believe the majority of the river in that area is about 3 feet deep- i know that the crew teams aren't allowed to go south of the Ann Street bridge because it is too shallow... )

http://www.fishville.com/index.html

http://www.scudamores.com/

[blueradon]

Yeah I think for any sort of a market - it would be best to keep it as close to downtown as possible. The land above 196 would be perfect for the workers downtown and not to mention the conventions that will be taking place at DeVos Place. Ann St might be a bit of a stretch.

BUT - That village website with the picture on the homepage is sort of a neat idea. Probably not in those pastel colors really - but that area along Ann St could definitely be used for something either residential or recreational. I'm not so sure about commercial because it will feel disconnected with the rest of downtown.

Speaking of the drawing I put up though...

You figure with something (possibly a PAC) on Market and Fulton that Charley's Crab could move into the building on the 2nd floor with a view of the river. That would be the perfect anchor restaurant for the project wouldn't you think?

[GR Jackson]

Yeah I think for any sort of a market - it would be best to keep it as close to downtown as possible. The land above 196 would be perfect for the workers downtown and not to mention the conventions that will be taking place at DeVos Place. Ann St might be a bit of a stretch.

BUT - That village website with the picture on the homepage is sort of a neat idea. Probably not in those pastel colors really - but that area along Ann St could definitely be used for something either residential or recreational. I'm not so sure about commercial because it will feel disconnected with the rest of downtown.

Speaking of the drawing I put up though...

You figure with something (possibly a PAC) on Market and Fulton that Charley's Crab could move into the building on the 2nd floor with a view of the river. That would be the perfect anchor restaurant for the project wouldn't you think?

[blueradon]

The way I imagine it, Charley's Crab is a little pricey to be the anchor. I think a more casual atmosphere would be better. Maybe the night scene could be more upscale, and the day be a raucous market atmosphere.

[GR Jackson]

Yeah I see your point about the pricing - I was just thinking of the similarities between the seafood and the meat markets

But really, any sort of main restaurant or feature would be a good idea.

I don't know if I mentioned this before (yeah I'm too lazy to look back at my posts) - that would be a really sweet spot for a market considering the Streetcar will be going down that road in the future.

It also makes me think of what other things could neighbor the market if it did take place there - considering the streetcar would spur a bunch of development.