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Eastown's Old Zondervan Building up for sale?

EastownLeo

By EastownLeo
in Grand Rapids

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GR_Urbanist Burg

GR_Urbanist

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A paint job (red), Open up all of the windows, put in a new clock, and make it mixed use.

Thank goodness that place is up for sale. That place was a relic of the "board up the building" era of the 70s.

Maybe buy the little building in front too, tear it down, brick the space over and put a fountain in the middle?

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EastownLeo Hamlet

EastownLeo

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I would love to see that building reworked. Remove the Cleaners and relocate it into the zondervan building. Have a brick patio with tables and a fountain (good idea guys) 3 or 4 ground level shops. Open up that building have some apartments and above office space. The lot has good parking, good access and a nice view. with the the Pizza hut gone, that corner can start to grow more.

What is replacing the pizza hut?

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GR Jackson Hamlet

GR Jackson

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I would like to see the clock on the top of the building fancied up a bit. I agree that it would be a prime spot for apartments with commercial on the bottom. The price with the amount of work that would need to be done might be a little prohibitive though.

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Nitro Burg

Nitro

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We were approached to buy this building long before the sale was made public. We looked at it and passed on it for a lot of reasons.

The building has a very strange footprint to work with if apartments or condos are developed they would be very long and skinny. Also one of the floors has a very low head height. Sheldon Cleaners doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon, we saw that as a detractor from the project as a whole.

It's a tough project, I hope someone can make something out of it. Last I heard there were two or three offers in on it.

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grbrit Whistle-Stop

grbrit

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I'm excited by the prospect of something new in Eastown, but a little trepidatious of how something that size might impact the neighborhood as a whole whether it be housing or retail. Typically things are small-scale in Eastown and that helps foster the sense of community.

An indoor farmers market with non-chain restaurants, a couple of bars and a performance area would be nice! :D

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Rhino6885 Hamlet

Rhino6885

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I think a mix of market rate apartments and ground floor retail would change the whole feel of Eastown. I think a developer could squeeze 60-70 units out of that place. I don't know if there's adequate parking though. We looked at this building too, and I think there's only 40 spaces or so (could be wrong). Redevelopment here with something across the street (5/3) would inject a lot of life into Eastown.

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Coleco Whistle-Stop

Coleco

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A paint job (red), Open up all of the windows, put in a new clock, and make it mixed use.

Thank goodness that place is up for sale. That place was a relic of the "board up the building" era of the 70s.

Maybe buy the little building in front too, tear it down, brick the space over and put a fountain in the middle?

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PRCH Whistle-Stop

PRCH

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I would like to see the clock on the top of the building fancied up a bit. I agree that it would be a prime spot for apartments with commercial on the bottom. The price with the amount of work that would need to be done might be a little prohibitive though.
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EastownLeo Hamlet

EastownLeo

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I would think that opening up the building with windows would be an effort. Getting Sheldon Cleaners out until the new commercial space was up, would help keep them there and have a business in the space right away. I would love to see a bike shop, scooter shop, some food, or a nice gallery there. I would also love to see a group gallery for the local schools to show their work and have events.

I am guessing the views from the top of that building are quite nice.

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jbr12 Hamlet

jbr12

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As I was sitting at the red light yesterday on Lake I was contimplating ways that could open up the building to provide natural light and promote uses such as office or commercial. I think it would be pretty easy (from an aesthetics viewpoint) to replace large expanses of the wall with glass. It would all come down to where and how structure supports the building...

Maybe I'll try to model up my idea a bit sometime in the near future...

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EastownLeo Hamlet

EastownLeo

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As I was sitting at the red light yesterday on Lake I was contimplating ways that could open up the building to provide natural light and promote uses such as office or commercial. I think it would be pretty easy (from an aesthetics viewpoint) to replace large expanses of the wall with glass. It would all come down to where and how structure supports the building...

Maybe I'll try to model up my idea a bit sometime in the near future...

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localtalent Hamlet

localtalent

Posted
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As I was sitting at the red light yesterday on Lake I was contimplating ways that could open up the building to provide natural light and promote uses such as office or commercial. I think it would be pretty easy (from an aesthetics viewpoint) to replace large expanses of the wall with glass. It would all come down to where and how structure supports the building...

Maybe I'll try to model up my idea a bit sometime in the near future...

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Quercus Whistle-Stop

Quercus

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There is a lot of potential in this location. Apartments and/or condos could really bring something great to the already awesome Eastown neighborhood. Hopefully the structure proves to be solid enough to allow some shuffling around of interior spaces and the addition of more windows.

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joeDowntown Metropolis

joeDowntown

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While the new clock is certainly ugly, I remember reading an article when it went up and the guy from Kent Record Storage (or whatever it is called) made it a point to be very careful when covering up the orginal (awesome) clock. He said he would have loved restoring it but it was cost prohibitive for him.

I remember hating the new clock but being thankful that he left it intact for the next owner.

Joe

That stupid plastic clock was installed over the original terra cotta trimmed clock, which could certainly be restored. Picture, anyone??
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bearmanor man Unincorporated Area

bearmanor man

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Any body want to make a venue? I live right around the corner. We need a larger-midsized venue for shows, something with some character. East town used to have the intersection. We could take out some of the floors to make a big center room, windows would not be needed. Come on, lets do it! We'd do it up, make it look like the Filmore inside, a place that will actually attract musicians to GR. I'm dreamin'...

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suydam Hamlet

suydam

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Any body want to make a venue? I live right around the corner. We need a larger-midsized venue for shows, something with some character. East town used to have the intersection. We could take out some of the floors to make a big center room, windows would not be needed. Come on, lets do it! We'd do it up, make it look like the Filmore inside, a place that will actually attract musicians to GR. I'm dreamin'...
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localtalent Hamlet

localtalent

Posted
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Any body want to make a venue? I live right around the corner. We need a larger-midsized venue for shows, something with some character. East town used to have the intersection. We could take out some of the floors to make a big center room, windows would not be needed. Come on, lets do it! We'd do it up, make it look like the Filmore inside, a place that will actually attract musicians to GR. I'm dreamin'...
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  • 2 weeks later...
EastownLeo Hamlet

EastownLeo

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Had a chance to walk around the outside of the building.

This place could have potential to the right buyer. Sheldon would probably be very open to locating inside the building as long as parking does not get in the way of their business. There is much space in this place. Lets go for a rooftop bar. I would so love to look over the top of eastown late at night while sipping some oberon on a Friday night.

But for real, what options are here for this place. Would you tear it down?

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  • 2 months later...

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