Studio Park - $140 Million Celebration Cinema/mixed use project

[GVSUChris]

A few pics from this morning. They are just starting to building the brick/cinderblock entrance for the theater. 

Edited December 17, 2018 by GVSUChris

[joeDowntown]

Great photos!

[GRDadof3]

 

I love this little alley. The renderings show outdoor seating in it which will be cool.

 

 

Those strange architectural details on the Canopy Hilton are starting to appear. 

 

 

[crinzema]

[GRDadof3]

12 hours ago, crinzema said:

Wow, nice job!

[crinzema]

Now I thought they were not going to be building Tower A right now. But from the looks of how the parking structure is being built, it looks like Tower A is being constructed. Am I wrong here? Look at the picture taken from the SE corner to see what I'm talking about.

[joeDowntown]

Building A would be in front, where the red trailers are located. So no movement in building A. 

Joe

 

[GRDadof3]

10 hours ago, joeDowntown said:

Building A would be in front, where the red trailers are located. So no movement in building A. 

Joe

 

He's talking about Tower A (the residential tower). It does look like the base of tower A is being built but I think it's just the parking levels. There hasn't been anything at the city or on any of the permits talking about the residential tower, so I'd be surprised if they were building it yet. 

 

[ProtoSapien]

On 12/30/2018 at 10:10 PM, crinzema said:

So the theater will be the last thing constructed (tower A notwithstanding)?

[GRDadof3]

3 hours ago, ProtoSapien said:

So the theater will be the last thing constructed (tower A notwithstanding)?

I was wondering the same. It's supposed to be open by Fall 2019 so it seems like they'd need to get started on it soon. Hard to tell if they have started on it. 

Scratch that, it does look like they've started on the front wall facing the plaza. 

[joeDowntown]

Not to oversimplify, but I have to think the theater is the easiest part of the whole complex. I bet the walls go up pretty quickly and most of the time will be spent finishing the interior. In my mind, a theater is a bit like a "big box" store. 

Joe

[GVSUChris]

I see a theater development coming together. 

[GRDadof3]

5 hours ago, GVSUChris said:

I see a theater development coming together. 

Wow that theater facade went up quick!! 

[Allison Slater]

This is starting to really change the feel of Ionia. Heading south, you can see these rising up from several blocks away, and that's not even the hotel yet. Ionia is going to go from feeling like the edge of downtown to being downtown.

[thebeerqueer]

17 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

Wow that theater facade went up quick!! 

Evoking the old Studio 28. 

[GVSUChris]

So I’ve been think about the Chemical Bank spot a lot. They’re slated to move their office and branch to Warner Tower, which makes me wonder what’s next for this building/lot. It’s a nice sized piece of property and it seems like it could be worth a lot more than that little building. I could even see it being valuable to the adjacent properties. 

[GR_Urbanist]

I hope they demolish it. It always looked like the top two floors of a taller building that sunk into the ground. Plus it has terrible ground floor transparency. Actually I think my first post on this site in 2005 was about how much I didnt care for this building, which was then  just built.

 

I could see it and the adjacent city parking lot becoming one large in-fill at some point.

[joeDowntown]

1 hour ago, GR_Urbanist said:

I hope they demolish it. It always looked like the top two floors of a taller building that sunk into the ground. Plus it has terrible ground floor transparency. Actually I think my first post on this site in 2005 was about how much I didnt care for this building, which was then  just built.

 

I could see it and the adjacent city parking lot becoming one large in-fill at some point.

Interesting. I actually think it's a nice building with plenty of transparency (don't get that comment, unless you're thinking the first floor needs to be all glass?). The materials are good quality as well. Would be interesting if they could add a few floors. Don't know if it would be profitable to "reboot" unless they put a large project on the site.

Joe

[GR_Urbanist]

48 minutes ago, joeDowntown said:

Interesting. I actually think it's a nice building with plenty of transparency (don't get that comment, unless you're thinking the first floor needs to be all glass?). The materials are good quality as well. Would be interesting if they could add a few floors. Don't know if it would be profitable to "reboot" unless they put a large project on the site.

Joe

I suppose I'm just not a fan of smallish windows like that along the sidewalk. Seems a bit out of place compared to the other buildings along that street, and may limit it to ever being anything other than a bank, law practice, or something like a dentist office. Something that will close at 5pm and be a dead space the rest of the evening. Also hate a building in the "corner" spot  of a block being so squat and not occupying the property at the corner

 

But I guess it isnt the worse thing that could ever have been built.

[Sparty97]

IGNORE:  Answered my own question..

Edited January 18, 2019 by Sparty97
Dumb Question...

[RegalTDP]

On 1/17/2019 at 10:50 AM, GR_Urbanist said:

I suppose I'm just not a fan of smallish windows like that along the sidewalk. Seems a bit out of place compared to the other buildings along that street, and may limit it to ever being anything other than a bank, law practice, or something like a dentist office. Something that will close at 5pm and be a dead space the rest of the evening. Also hate a building in the "corner" spot  of a block being so squat and not occupying the property at the corner

 

But I guess it isnt the worse thing that could ever have been built.

I like the building itself, very dignified and college-campusy, but agree it's on the wrong spot and a huge under-utilization of that corner.  Would rather see buildings like this over by GVSU.

[kwl]

I'm a little confused. Has building A effectively been cancelled? This was the Franklin Partners building? 

 

[GRDadof3]

31 minutes ago, kwl said:

I'm a little confused. Has building A effectively been cancelled? This was the Franklin Partners building? 

 

Yes Franklin Partners canceled their planned building. 

[GRain]

On 1/21/2019 at 1:07 PM, GRDadof3 said:

Yes Franklin Partners canceled their planned building. 

Indeed, though some office space is apparently still in the works.

As of January 19, 2019: https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2019/01/new-tenant-coming-to-15-story-downtown-grand-rapids-office-building.html

"Also, in October, commercial real estate firm Franklin Partners backed away from its plans to develop a seven-story office building – aimed at attracting one of the region’s large employers to high-end space downtown – at the Studio Park development.

Studio Park is a $140 million movie, housing, hotel and parking development south of the Van Andel Arena. The developers behind the project still plan to include an office space component, though it will differ from what Franklin Partners envisioned."

[Pattmost20]

On 1/17/2019 at 10:08 AM, GVSUChris said:

So I’ve been think about the Chemical Bank spot a lot. They’re slated to move their office and branch to Warner Tower, which makes me wonder what’s next for this building/lot. It’s a nice sized piece of property and it seems like it could be worth a lot more than that little building. I could even see it being valuable to the adjacent properties. 

Chemical Bank is merging with TCF and taking on the TCF name. It'll be interesting to see if their move to Warner tower coincides with the re-branding.