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

[Prankster]

On 10/3/2019 at 5:57 PM, GRDadof3 said:

"Sure wish there were a movie theater downtown."

"Sure wish there were a grocery store downtown. A REAL grocery store."

I remember those days when that's all you ever heard.  

 

Back in the early 2000’s when it was talked about “what does a successful downtown need”, the 4 things that were held up as a sign of a success was a movie theater, grocery store, bookstore, and pharmacy. 

We now have the movie theater and grocery store, and a bookstore is now an antiquated business model.  That just leaves a pharmacy for prescriptions and quick get items. I wonder if that is still being pursued?

[GR_Urbanist]

50 minutes ago, Prankster said:

Back in the early 2000’s when it was talked about “what does a successful downtown need”, the 4 things that were held up as a sign of a success was a movie theater, grocery store, bookstore, and pharmacy. 

We now have the movie theater and grocery store, and a bookstore is now an antiquated business model.  That just leaves a pharmacy for prescriptions and quick get items. I wonder if that is still being pursued?

We have several great spots for a CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Medicine Shoppe or some place that doesn't have a Michigan presence.

The SE corner of Fulton a Division has an obvious unused retail space. Over on Ionia across from the park, or a new building built across from the Bridge Street Market.

[Allison Slater]

1 hour ago, Prankster said:

Back in the early 2000’s when it was talked about “what does a successful downtown need”, the 4 things that were held up as a sign of a success was a movie theater, grocery store, bookstore, and pharmacy. 

We now have the movie theater and grocery store, and a bookstore is now an antiquated business model.  That just leaves a pharmacy for prescriptions and quick get items. I wonder if that is still being pursued?

There's already one (Meijer Pharmacy) inside Spectrum, it's just not advertised anywhere from the street. I get my prescriptions filled there.

Edited October 4, 2019 by tSlater

[ironyisadeadscene]

14 minutes ago, tSlater said:

There's already one (Meijer Pharmacy) inside Spectrum, it's just not advertised anywhere from the street. I get my prescriptions filled there.

True. But let's get a Walgreen's somewhere.

[Raildude's dad]

Walgreens? I prefer to buy local. I know Meijer is a multi billion $$ company but what has Walgreen done for our community? I've been involved with fund raising for a couple  community projects and received $250,000 for one and $340,000 for another from the Meijer Foundation.

I do all my scrips (and I have way too many  after 4 back surgeries) at the Alpine Meijer - open 24/7  - 3 blocks from our house. My wife insists on going to Walgreens at 4 Mile  & Alpine. The pharmacy portion has flippen bankers hours and get this - closes from 1:30 to 2:30 for lunch. She forgets and then complains to me about it. I tell her, go to Meijer

[Prankster]

The other part to having a full on pharmacy is they offer the convenience items such as hair brush, birthday card, or a bag of chips. They fill that niche when people are in a rush and don’t want to commit to a run to the grocery store. 

[ironyisadeadscene]

13 hours ago, Raildude's dad said:

Walgreens? I prefer to buy local. I know Meijer is a multi billion $$ company but what has Walgreen done for our community? I've been involved with fund raising for a couple  community projects and received $250,000 for one and $340,000 for another from the Meijer Foundation.

I do all my scrips (and I have way too many  after 4 back surgeries) at the Alpine Meijer - open 24/7  - 3 blocks from our house. My wife insists on going to Walgreens at 4 Mile  & Alpine. The pharmacy portion has flippen bankers hours and get this - closes from 1:30 to 2:30 for lunch. She forgets and then complains to me about it. I tell her, go to Meijer

Well, we need a full scale pharmacy like that. I don't care who it is, just put one in!

[GRain]

20 hours ago, GR_Urbanist said:

We have several great spots for a CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Medicine Shoppe or some place that doesn't have a Michigan presence.

The SE corner of Fulton a Division has an obvious unused retail space. Over on Ionia across from the park, or a new building built across from the Bridge Street Market.

Are there are still unannounced/uncommitted Studio Park tenants/prospects?

[GRain]

Went to New Hotel Mertens and then the movies after dinner.  Uber'd both ways.  As we all could have predicted, the energy on that side of town has changed substantially in a couple years time.   The restaurant was buzzing & crowded along with a full bar, there were crowded streets for a concert at Van Andel, Studio Park may not have been mobbed-- but  there was plenty of walkers to/fro creating great energy. 

Then it hit me that we have the tiki place coming right into the heart of this too in a few weeks plus all of the other Studio Park tenants.   

The movie theater is nicely done!  We will be frequent customers!  Great bar and super-nice people working there.  For an opening, they seemed to be in full control.  The criticisms are easily fixed: get some dimmers for the flurescent lights!   It was oppressive-to-the-eyes, super-market lighting in the main lobby.   And they needed more people with brooms picking up popcorn and things-- an easy fix.  From the outside looking in, the restaurant looked ok.  Sort of like Wheelhouse, but on a lower budget.  I'm sure they'll do fine, but in terms of ambiance both Mertens & Max's are much more impressive.

Overall, this is a huge win for GR.

 

Edited October 5, 2019 by GRain

[54equalsunity]

Walgreens? I prefer to buy local. I know Meijer is a multi billion $$ company but what has Walgreen done for our community? I've been involved with fund raising for a couple  community projects and received $250,000 for one and $340,000 for another from the Meijer Foundation.
I do all my scrips (and I have way too many  after 4 back surgeries) at the Alpine Meijer - open 24/7  - 3 blocks from our house. My wife insists on going to Walgreens at 4 Mile  & Alpine. The pharmacy portion has flippen bankers hours and get this - closes from 1:30 to 2:30 for lunch. She forgets and then complains to me about it. I tell her, go to Meijer

I've talked about this on some part of this forum before. I agree that we could use a pharmacy in downtown proper. Absolutely. However, there is the Meijer in Spectrum (as mentioned) and there is also the Wege Pharmacy in the office building at 300/310 Lafayette behind MHSM. There is a Walgreens on Michigan just east of College, but it isn't your typical retail establishment and services mostly specialty medications (read: expensive). My dream would be to see/work in an urban Walgreens/CVS a la Chicago, but alas, it needs the foot traffic. Drive thrus suck.

Also... Why is it bad that Walgreens closes for lunch? The alternative (which is still the case in most all pharmacies) is that pharmacists work their *entire shift* with no break or lunch. At all. These are the people evaluating and verifying the appropriateness and accuracy of your prescription medications. We deserve to close during the day because most of the time there is only one pharmacist on duty.

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[GRDadof3]

16 hours ago, GRain said:

Went to New Hotel Mertens and then the movies after dinner.  Uber'd both ways.  As we all could have predicted, the energy on that side of town has changed substantially in a couple years time.   The restaurant was buzzing & crowded along with a full bar, there were crowded streets for a concert at Van Andel, Studio Park may not have been mobbed-- but  there was plenty of walkers to/fro creating great energy. 

Then it hit me that we have the tiki place coming right into the heart of this too in a few weeks plus all of the other Studio Park tenants.   

The movie theater is nicely done!  We will be frequent customers!  Great bar and super-nice people working there.  For an opening, they seemed to be in full control.  The criticisms are easily fixed: get some dimmers for the flurescent lights!   It was oppressive-to-the-eyes, super-market lighting in the main lobby.   And they needed more people with brooms picking up popcorn and things-- an easy fix.  From the outside looking in, the restaurant looked ok.  Sort of like Wheelhouse, but on a lower budget.  I'm sure they'll do fine, but in terms of ambiance both Mertens & Max's are much more impressive.

Overall, this is a huge win for GR.

 

I noticed that in pictures that someone posted online of the restaurant the other night: the lighting was super bright! Maybe they forgot the change order for dimmer switches across the board!  

[GRDadof3]

The windows are all in on the hotel at this project on the s-curve side and it looks really cool actually. The grid pattern and gray masonry gives it a distinctive industrial vibe. Two thumbs up. 

Here's the render, couldn't get a picture while driving by.

 

[Pattmost20]

Got to go to the soft opening of Max's South Seas Hideaway last night. It is a truly impressive place, they have definitely spared no expense. We were in the front bar on the main floor, there were two other bar areas and multiple seating areas. It makes the massive space feel intimate. 

[joeDowntown]

A lot of excavation equipment being moved around on the office building lot this morning. Are they having a formal groundbreaking ceremony, or just "getting after it"?

Joe

[joeDowntown]

Lousy photo, but at least I was able to get something in rush hour chaos  

 

[GRDadof3]

On 11/6/2019 at 5:56 PM, joeDowntown said:

Lousy photo, but at least I was able to get something in rush hour chaos  

 

So are they starting the Acrisure building? I can't remember the timeline on that one. 

[GVSUChris]

14 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

So are they starting the Acrisure building? I can't remember the timeline on that one. 

Yeah this office phase that will be "Phase 1" for Acrisure was set to start in November, so I am assuming this is the beginning of that. 

[ironyisadeadscene]

2 hours ago, GVSUChris said:

Yeah this office phase that will be "Phase 1" for Acrisure was set to start in November, so I am assuming this is the beginning of that. 

Exciting to see this go up. Now if they'd start the apartment tower....

[Guest]

5 hours ago, ironyisadeadscene said:

Exciting to see this go up. Now if they'd start the apartment tower....

I would think (hope) they would start soon.  I heard this week that apartments are still at or near full occupancy around GR, especially downtown.  The person also stated that the new Spectrum building is expected to increase demand.

[GRDadof3]

On 11/8/2019 at 4:35 PM, Floyd_Z said:

I would think (hope) they would start soon.  I heard this week that apartments are still at or near full occupancy around GR, especially downtown.  The person also stated that the new Spectrum building is expected to increase demand.

Here is the latest data for the metro area (rental vacancy rates):

 

 

If you're into that kind of thing, you can always bookmark this link:

https://www.census.gov/housing/hvs/data/rates.html

 

Interestingly from the same data, GR Metro has one of the highest homeownership rates from this snapshot. This is not a stat of how many homes are "occupied," this is a stat of "occupied by homeowners" vs "being rented out."  

 

 

So I would say yes, it's time to start adding more market rate rental housing to the market, especially if it takes 2 years to deliver a project. I noticed the other day that the "Springs" apartment company is starting another one on Wilson near M-6 (in the new Reserve development). They must've found success with their first project. The Springs of Knapps Crossing and the Lofts project behind Knapp's Corner Meijer are essentially full already. Just as an anecdote. 

 

[ironyisadeadscene]

Noticed the new garage was tagged twice already.

Thanks, jerk.

[ctpgr34]

Found this on Facebook- 

Permit was just issued for the construction of 100 Ottawa within studio park. The permit is specifically for the construction of the foundation of the proposed 7 story office building, which would connect to the existing parking ramp.

 

 

[GRain]

Based on what one can see by looking in at night, it appears the apartment appliances  are in place.  Have residents started moving in?  Or will it be soon? 

[GRDadof3]

On 11/18/2019 at 3:18 PM, GRain said:

Based on what one can see by looking in at night, it appears the apartment appliances  are in place.  Have residents started moving in?  Or will it be soon? 

Their website is loaded with floorplans and pricing. I have to imagine tenants are starting to move in. 

I noticed there's a big drill for foundation piles on the site of Acrisure now. Didn't get a picture but it looks like this:

[kwl]

1 hour ago, GRDadof3 said:

Their website is loaded with floorplans and pricing. I have to imagine tenants are starting to move in. 

I noticed there's a big drill for foundation piles on the site of Acrisure now. Didn't get a picture but it looks like this:

Worked across the street from the Hyatt/Warner development. I know at one points they had something similar and were using it to drill down to the gypsum mines and were shooting concrete down to fill them.