Meijer to replace 28th/Kalamazoo Ave store

[tamias6]

All because of one NIMBY neighbor, and a snooty PC we will have no new Meijer to replace a badly obsolete store. Thinks Mr. NIMBY. Love Ya Man. You've done the whole city and Alger Heights a whole world of good by saving your property value (which should be already in the dumper thanks to the economic crisis and the sub prime meltdown.) Just watch a few years from now the NIMBY neighbor is going to whine and grown over a 185,000 sq. ft. vacant building rotting away just like the other vacant buildings on 28th street. Well the only consolation from this is the existing Meijer will stay open... at least for the time being.

[D-Man_GR]

All because of one NIMBY neighbor, and a snooty PC we will have no new Meijer to replace a badly obsolete store. Thinks Mr. NIMBY. Love Ya Man. You've done the whole city and Alger Heights a whole world of good by saving your property value (which should be already in the dumper thanks to the economic crisis and the sub prime meltdown.) Just watch a few years from now the NIMBY neighbor is going to whine and grown over a 185,000 sq. ft. vacant building rotting away just like the other vacant buildings on 28th street. Well the only consolation from this is the existing Meijer will stay open... at least for the time being.

I couldn't agree more, although I think (na

[Veloise]

Speaking of the holidays, watch for Mr NIMBY neighbor (with the grandkids' playground out back) to get a huge fruit basket, perhaps a visit from a certain wheeled walker user (last seen in a golf cart checking out his namesake trail). After the Acme debacle, the corp is likely to retrench, make nice, and think up new options.

Another option: buy out the street, and eliminate all the NIMBY BANANA CAVEfolk.

[walker]

All because of one NIMBY neighbor, and a snooty PC we will have no new Meijer to replace a badly obsolete store. . . .

I have no inside information but I suspect there might be other reasons behind this postponement other than just an old man's house. I think it's a little hard or at least expensive to get money for construction right now. Much more so than a few months ago when this first came up. Even stellar companies like GE and Caterpillar are having trouble with commercial paper right now.

[AlexPKeaton]

My third-hand information is that Meijer is debt free, which either implies they pay cash for their new stores, or they pay off loans extremely quickly.

[tamias6]

My third-hand information is that Meijer is debt free, which either implies they pay cash for their new stores, or they pay off loans extremely quickly.

At least under the Fred's reign Meijer always pays cash for its new stores. However Under Hanks leadership Meijer has been on a major growth spurt. So I'm not curtain as to how they currently fund the construction of new stores. Non the less, the 28th street store's upgrade to Thrifty Acres back in the 60's was funded on credit from a Swiss bank. Meijer sold the property to the Swiss bank to recoup the costs of the upgrades and then leased it back from them. Eventually Meijer purchased the property back.

[mejane]

All because of one NIMBY neighbor, and a snooty PC we will have no new Meijer to replace a badly obsolete store. Thinks Mr. NIMBY. Love Ya Man. You've done the whole city and Alger Heights a whole world of good by saving your property value (which should be already in the dumper thanks to the economic crisis and the sub prime meltdown.) Just watch a few years from now the NIMBY neighbor is going to whine and grown over a 185,000 sq. ft. vacant building rotting away just like the other vacant buildings on 28th street. Well the only consolation from this is the existing Meijer will stay open... at least for the time being.

Stepping back in here as this thread still interests me. Indeed there may be more to the story than the sarcasm above. Why isn't the problem of the major gas leak from the Meijer gas station tank across the street being discussed at the meetings? It can't possibly be a secret. The gas turned up directly across the street on the property that was sold to Meijer where the new store is going to be built. The situation was monitored for quite some time until the longtime homeowner finally sold the property to Meijer. There are several drill holes in the basement so that the gas levels could be monitored. This means that there will have to be major extensive cleanup of that property before ANYTHING can be built.

I worked in the Eastgate neighborhood a few years ago when Metro Hospital (Metropolitan back then) purchased the property across the street for parking, where a gas station had once stood. They were required to dig down pretty far - removing truckload after truckload of dirt and then having 'clean' dirt put in its place. We were told that cleaning up that small lot under EPA guidelines cost Metro a million bucks. That may have been an exaggeration, but still. The property on Kalamazoo where the new store is going is about an acre. It's on a hill. The hill will have to be leveled and a cleanup done to regulations. That's going to be expensive.

[Gorath]

Meijer's plan was to build a new store while keeping the old store open. They certainly weren't going to come back to the planning commission with a totally different plan in such a short time. I think they are now in the process of taking a long look at what they want to do here.

I think they will look into;

A) Moving the store to a new site along 28th street. I would think if they did this they would want to move west, but not too far west. A good spot would be at the old K-Mart site. It's in Wyoming, so they wouldn't have to deal with the GR planning commission. They could keep the old store open until the new one is done. And it's on the proposed BRT route.

B) Closing the store for 18

[Rybak 187]

My third-hand information is that Meijer is debt free, which either implies they pay cash for their new stores, or they pay off loans extremely quickly.

I have heard the same thing.

[tamias6]

Meijer's plan was to build a new store while keeping the old store open. They certainly weren't going to come back to the planning commission with a totally different plan in such a short time. I think they are now in the process of taking a long look at what they want to do here.

I think they will look into;

A) Moving the store to a new site along 28th street. I would think if they did this they would want to move west, but not too far west. A good spot would be at the old K-Mart site. It's in Wyoming, so they wouldn't have to deal with the GR planning commission. They could keep the old store open until the new one is done. And it's on the proposed BRT route.

B) Closing the store for 18 – 24 months to demo and rebuild in the same spot. This I think still has problems because building in the same place as the existing store puts them right next to homes on the west side of the building. And the logical place for the loading docks would be the southwest corner of the new building.

C) They just might decide to close the store permanently. If the cost and/or time to rebuild is too great I think they just might leave. If Meijer decides that the time and money spent to build a new store here could be better spent someplace else in the midwest then they will go there instead.

I'd hate like hell to see Meijer leave its current spot since GR would take a hit on it tax revenue and blight the surrounding area even further by leaving an empty building. But the old K-mart site in Wyoming would be a logical location. Its right off of US131. Any big box store loves direct access from highways. Also being near the proposed BRT route has also got to be a good thing as well. The only obstacles I see is the old K-mart site is currently occupied by a factory. Would that factory be willing to sell to Meijer and relocate? If so, for how much? Secondly, since the old K-mart site is being put to industrial use, there might be some concerns of doing some environmental remediating to clean up any pollution the current owners may have generated. However brownfeild credits might cut costs. Lastly Meijer would still have to deal with a Planning Commission even though it would that of Wyoming. But with the pending closure of the GM plant and the catastrophic hit to the city's tax revenue Wyoming would most likely bend over backwards to get just about anything thing they can get their hands on including Meijer.

[aowwt]

Well I took a look at it with my google earth pin map and uhm, it would work. The only problem I see is that it could cause a loss of a lot of bussiness since about half the houses that the present store serves is on the east side of the store. The proposed store could help build business from the northern wyoming area. Outside of that it the present store is in an exellant location.

[Quercus]

Perhaps the purchase of the properties West of Meijer would facilitate a plan for building a new store while keeping the present open. While problems may occur because there is residential development behind the property and it's quite a bit lower than the site Meijer sits on, I'm simply saying it could come into play. Both strip malls have been an eye sore for quite some time and I wouldn't mind seeing them eaten up by a new Meijer.

[tamias6]

^Love the idea. It would also get Meijer close to the street for more of an urban look. But then again the NIMBYs would gripe and squash the idea. I think at this point Meijer has only two options. One, remodel the existing store as best as possible. Meijer would not really have have to change the layout expect for consolidating consumer electronics, photo and digital media to form E4. Just keep the changes cosmetic. Strip out the drop ceilings and paint the exposed rafters. Strip and retile the floor, repaint the walls, and retrofit the current graphics program. One could even go as far move the shoes and some of the clothing somewhere else and then move the produce in their place. This would give the grocery section a more unified look. If Meijer is insistant on using its current format then the second option would be to move to another location away from an overly strict planning commission and any NIMBY's

Speaking of which, here's what the old k-mart site may look like if a Meijer store were built there.

This site is ideal as far as getting away from NIMBYs as the k-mart site is completely surrounded by commercial or industrial sites. So there would be no neighbors to complain. Add to that, Wyoming will be pretty desperate get something in to replace tax revenue lost by the GM plant closure. Also the proposed BRT is within walking distance while US-131 is just a block away. Lastly, the move would not be that far from the existing store.

The only down side to this is the parking would be somewhat tight at the grocery end while the old store would become vacant and need to be sold off.

[GRDadof3]

The old KMart site has a business on it, doesn't it? Richwood Industries?

[D-Man_GR]

I don't see Meijer relocating to the former K-Mart site, and not just because Richwood Industries is currently located there. Meijer's current site is centrally located to serve the fringe of EGR all the way into Kentwood. The Buchanan site would mostly serve the lower-end areas of Burton Heights and NE Wyoming, although it would be closer to US-131 to grab some of the transient crowd.

Frankly, I think there's probably enough market to have Meijer stores on BOTH sites - although perhaps not in this economy. The closest stores to 28th & Buchanan are Walgreen's, Duthler's or Family Fare - which is over 1-1/2 miles to the west.

I believe Meijer will ultimately build on the Kalamazoo site; they're just waiting for the dust to settle. And, to answer mejane's statement about underground contamination, Meijer will be responsible for that remediation for as long as it continues to be a problem. Actually, building a new store above the "plume" might even score them some brownfield points.

[Raildudes dad]

I believe Meijer will ultimately build on the Kalamazoo site; there're just waiting for the dust to settle.

Exactly, there won't be an Acme Township style fiasco here in GR, home of Meijer Inc.

[Veloise]

Chris Knape weighs in:

http://blog.mlive.com/knapescorner/2008/10...missi.html#more

(Some folks just can't take a vacation without everything happening!)

[tamias6]

Chris Knape weighs in:

http://blog.mlive.com/knapescorner/2008/10...missi.html#more

(Some folks just can't take a vacation without everything happening!)

Chris could not have hit the nail on the head any better when it comes to how I feel about the outcome of GR's planning commission and how they threw away a potentially huge reinvestment in a decaying area just to appease a few self centered NIMBY's. This repugnant situation is very frustrating.

[e49418]

Has anyone looked at the area east of Kalamazoo (CRC HQ) to see if a Meijer store would fit on that property? Perhaps Meijer could buy the CRC HQ and locate there, and the CRC could relocate - downtown perhaps?

Biggest problem there (besides the expense of buying out the CRC) is what to do with the existing site. I can't imagine that would be easy to unload anytime in the near future.

[tamias6]

Has anyone looked at the area east of Kalamazoo (CRC HQ) to see if a Meijer store would fit on that property? Perhaps Meijer could buy the CRC HQ and locate there, and the CRC could relocate - downtown perhaps?

Biggest problem there (besides the expense of buying out the CRC) is what to do with the existing site. I can't imagine that would be easy to unload anytime in the near future.

I don't think that site would be feasible. There are allot of grading issues. Also its too shallow. Most importantly. there is a residential neighborhood along the south edge of the site which would cause the same NIMBY problem that killed Meijer's plans. At this point, I think meijer only has three options. 1. Operate the store as is for as long as possible then close it when it no longer generates a profit. 2. Move the store to another location. or 3. Deviate from the current store prototypes and renovate the existing building as best as possible.

Personaly, I hope Meijer at least cleans the place up and gives the store a cosmetic update such as new lighting, new floors, fresh coat of paint etc. Aside from addressing the haphazard layout, that's really all people are asking for.

[joeDowntown]

I'm glad Chris came out and said it. Our city commission and planning commission seem all to quick to let the 28th and KZoo Meijer rot in favor of one neighbor. It's completely backwards and I think seems to be a repeating pattern these days (ahem, West Side).

I actually know the Elsenbroeks, they are very nice people, etc. etc. but the city should be looking out for the greater good of the community and Meijer seemed to be willing to try and protect unnecessary noise.

As Chris stated, they did buy the house in the 60's and have lived next to Meijer for years. Honestly, I'd rather have an updated Meijer closer to my backyard than having to live next to the out-moded, outdated and worn out Meijer that exists now...

Joe

Chris Knape weighs in:

http://blog.mlive.com/knapescorner/2008/10...missi.html#more

(Some folks just can't take a vacation without everything happening!)

[Veloise]

Site visit from 10/31. NB: these are existing conditions.

This is looking west from the far edge of the Meijer parking lot; shown is the roof of the vacant building next door.

It would take some creative site design, but picking up this vacant property might solve a lot of the construction staging and neighborhood issues.

The R property purchased (?) by Meijer and subject to rezoning. It's across Kalamazoo from the gas station.

Accessory buildings on the residential site.

[Veloise]

More pics. (My camera lens is cracked. Replacement pending.)

This view looks towards the NIMBY neighbor's back yard. I took a peek through the fence; his pool is right there.

This store has had more additions than a lakeshore cottage. Its back side is a jumble of right angles, loading docks, traffic lanes, and fencing overlooking the residential streets down below.

There is a lot of parking available back here.

View from the cul de sac behind (and below) the loading dock area

D-e-e-p front setback.

[tamias6]

Great pics. The existing conditions look more hideous than expected. I would take the back wall of a brand new Meijer store 40 feet away from my backyard rather than look at all the uglyness there now. If one looks at the back side of the new Plainfield Ave. Meijer, one will notice that meijer was courteous enough to screen off the loading docks from the office buildings behind it with shrubbery and a snazzy looking vinyl fence. The plans that meijer had to screen off the neighbors from the 28th st and k'zoo replacement store was alot more beefy than the Plainfeild store.

Anyway I'm slowly doing a sketchup model on the idea of renovating the existing building. Its a tough chore to say the least but I think I'm making some head way on it. Meijer would have to deviate from its store prototype to make it work though. But at this point anything would make the old store look and function better.

More pics. (My camera lens is cracked. Replacement pending.)

This view looks towards the NIMBY neighbor's back yard. I took a peek through the fence; his pool is right there.

This store has had more additions than a lakeshore cottage. Its back side is a jumble of right angles, loading docks, traffic lanes, and fencing overlooking the residential streets down below.

There is a lot of parking available back here.

View from the cul de sac behind (and below) the loading dock area

D-e-e-p front setback.

[Veloise]

Great pics. The existing conditions look more hideous than expected. I would take the back wall of a brand new Meijer store 40 feet away from my backyard rather than look at all the uglyness there now. If one looks at the back side of the new Plainfield Ave. Meijer, one will notice that meijer was courteous enough to screen off the loading docks from the office buildings behind it with shrubbery and a snazzy looking vinyl fence. The plans that meijer had to screen off the neighbors from the 28th st and k'zoo replacement store was alot more beefy than the Plainfeild store.

Anyway I'm slowly doing a sketchup model on the idea of renovating the existing building. Its a tough chore to say the least but I think I'm making some head way on it. Meijer would have to deviate from its store prototype to make it work though. But at this point anything would make the old store look and function better.

I'm looking for a contour map that depicts the elevations. NIMBY neighbor's pool is about ten feet from the fence, and his yard is probably ten feet below the level of the parking lot (gentle slope). Tall fence, too.

Behind (south) of this fence is a wetland and creek, lots of weed-like vegetation.

The two sides of the wall protecting the Giddings Ave cul de sac. Substantial drop between the Meijer parcel and the residences.

Looking at this area, I was envisioning the truck loading dock here, and some way to bring the product up to "street" level. (Maybe this is where we need the magic elevator to the moon, ref The Other Mystery Project Thread.)

ETA: aerial, thank you, REGIS!