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WOODTV thinks that all the new condos downtown are a "drag" on downtown's reputation?

GRDadof3

By GRDadof3
in Grand Rapids

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

Posted
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Apparently WOODTV and Joe LaFurgey have now adopted the stance that "yet to be sold" condos downtown are a DRAG on downtown's reputation.

http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/Tough_condo...rag_on_downtown

Apparently a multitude of surface parking lots, unused old buildings (YMCA), and reporting non-news items are all keys to downtown's success. :blink:

Is this costing the city money? Taxpayers' dollars? Out of pocket for poor Joe LaFurgey? Sorry kids, no presents this year. Icon on Bond has not met sales goals. What lunacy.

Do they not understand that eventually these buildings will be filled with new residents downtown?

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GRapcity Unincorporated Area

GRapcity

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I'd rather have empty condo's with SOME people in them than no condo's and people wanting them. Infill doesn't happen over night. Perhaps Joe forgot about the economy and all the people who would be living in condos downtown if thier suburban homes would sell. Tell him to go find us some retailers to move downtown and work out some of the real issues...

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Par75 Whistle-Stop

Par75

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Doing a story about the difficulty selling downtown condos right now is probably a legitimate story for a local news outlet, but I don't understand their point on it being a drag to downtown. They ask the question in the title and then bring it up in the story, yet they never really explain why. It's not like these condos were at one point filled and now sit empty, causing downtown retailers and restaurants to suffer. These are brand new condos that are taking time to fill. Sure it'd be a benefit to downtown if the condos were 95% occupied, but I don't see how new, empty condos are dragging the area down.

As usual, the comments following the story are quite amusing too.

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Quercus Whistle-Stop

Quercus

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Yet another reason why I don't watch WOODTV 8. They're too fricken intense and they jump on any opportunity to make the city seem like an unsafe, inconvenient place to live. Why don't they do a story on how the hard economic times have slowed sprawling developments that have been killing GR for decades? More condos and other living spaces downtown increase the chances of preserving Fruit Ridge and other farmland.

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PR-15 Whistle-Stop

PR-15

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With property values decreasing and interest rates possibly going to historic lows very soon there may be some developers in an aggressive mood. I'd like to see the wealthy take some unusual (or unconventional) risks....and hang tight for a few years to pick the fruit.

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jwazzz Whistle-Stop

jwazzz

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It would be probably hard to tell, as they don't show up as "closed" units in county records (because they are still owned by the development company). I've seen more and more lights on in units, and furniture on patios lately.

It's just so bizarre. Of course empty condo units isn't a great situation, but it's not like the buildings are blighted on the outside and not being maintained. No boarded windows as far as I can tell. Contractors are being paid, as far as I know. No one is being sued. Where is WOODTV serving the public good in all this? They should do a story on condo towers in Miami, San Diego, Vegas and other parts of the country, which are sitting HALF BUILT with no idea when construction will start again, multiple layers of lawsuits, developers walking away with tax dollars, etc.. And with condo owners sitting high and dry with nothing, nada, zilch.

Here's a better question: Is WOODTV's obsession with perceived failure bad for GR's reputation? Is it rendering them irrelevant in a rapidly changing media environment? Are they scaring away potential businesses and investors interested in Grand Rapids?

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crinzema Whistle-Stop

crinzema

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I have a few questions for you guys.

  1. If you had to choose between WOODTV 8, Fox 17, WZZM 13, or News 3 which would it be and why?

  2. Will the internet, including mlive, be the successor to all of them putting old media to bed? That's my slant, sorry. To put it more fairly, will we see local news stations on TV survive for much longer?

  3. Why do we have so many local news stations. 4 if you include News 3 in Kal.

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coolbrezze Unincorporated Area

coolbrezze

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Wow that's a lot of empty buildings... have a similar situation in Lansing. They may start "rent to own" 9 Stadium District apartments/ condons that were recently built in downtown Lansing. Although was told the rest were quick to sell ( don't know how accurate that is).

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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I have a few questions for you guys.

  1. If you had to choose between WOODTV 8, Fox 17, WZZM 13, or News 3 which would it be and why?

  2. Will the internet, including mlive, be the successor to all of them putting old media to bed? That's my slant, sorry. To put it more fairly, will we see local news stations on TV survive for much longer?

  3. Why do we have so many local news stations. 4 if you include News 3 in Kal.

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LA Dave Hamlet

LA Dave

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There are a lot of issues relating to the decline of traditional media, and more than I have time for. I guess that I am dismayed by the decline in quality of the local TV stations. I can tell you that in the 1970s, WZZM and WOOD (then WOTV) had serious news organizations with real investigative reporters, not just clowns who investigate dirty restaurants from time to time. Jim Riekse for WZZM and Henry Erb for WOTV were the real thing, and offered serious journalism that won awards. They were far superior to their counterparts at the Detroit "action news" stations. And, the news directors at those stations were journalists, not guys who watched the ratings. Dick Cheverton at WOOD in particular was one of the finest local TV journalists in the era, anywhere in the country. No one close to him now, IMHO.

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MAU Whistle-Stop

MAU

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I think the problem with WOOD is that they want to be a big city news channel in a small market. You can't fill an hour and a half news segment with actual news, thus creating crap reporting/reporters like Joe LaFurgey . He and his nonchalant news reporting is so unnecessary - he looks like he doesn't even want to be there.

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LA Dave Hamlet

LA Dave

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I think the problem with WOOD is that they want to be a big city news channel in a small market. You can't fill an hour and a half news segment with actual news, thus creating crap reporting/reporters like Joe LaFurgey . He and his nonchalant news reporting is so unnecessary - he looks like he doesn't even want to be there.
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