50 Monroe to get de-skinned?

[GVSUChris]

This appears to be the solution to the top/cornice. It’s ovviosuly very simple but honestly I don’t hate it. It communicates the  buildings have been redone and you really get a sense of the immense amount of history/alterations they’ve been through. The ground floor restaurant space is looking very nice. 

[Allison Slater]

My only complaint with these cornices are the color. I feel they should, especially on the red building, match the color of the building better.

[mpchicago]

1 hour ago, tSlater said:

My only complaint with these cornices are the color. I feel they should, especially on the red building, match the color of the building better.

I have a love-hate relationship with the way these buildings are turning out.  I'm guessing Sam Cummings has stressed out a lot over them, considering his impeccable track record. 

[MJLO]

Perhaps they will get painted?  In their current form those cornices stand out like sore thumbs to me.    Like the plastic you tear off of a milk container lid before opening it. 

[andrew.w]

It feels like the design team (who was that again?) and the contractor struggled on this one too. And unfortunately the more one studies the final product, the more obvious it becomes. This is most definitely a big step in the right direction, but many of the details and decisions are just odd. In addition to things we've already noticed for some reason the plane of the windows on the yellow building is jumping back and forth on alternate floors. On floors 2, 4, and 6 they are set back about where the historic  windows would have been. On 3 and 5 they are pushed right out to the edge of the exterior wall with no reveal. The same inconsistency happens between 6 and 7 on the red building.

Edited March 21, 2019 by andrew.w

[GRDadof3]

12 hours ago, tSlater said:

My only complaint with these cornices are the color. I feel they should, especially on the red building, match the color of the building better.

They definitely need to be pained. Maybe a really dark color so they blend in with the sky? Although we definitely have a lot of gray skies around here. 

[joeDowntown]

I’m trying not to be too negative about this project (because it’s a dream come true project for me),  but there are multiple instances of “what we’re they thinking”. The tops of the buildings look terrible. I think the windows are bad (placement and type of windows used) and it almost feels like once they realized the building had more work than initially anticipated, they panicked. 

I seems like someone will need to come through in 10-15 years and finish the job. 

With all that being said, it was bold project, and I love that the old facades are visible again. 

Joe

[tamias6]

Those cornices look like they only have primer on them. If that is the final color for them, then....meh.... Other than that the rest of the project seems to be turning out fine. 

[x99]

 

21 hours ago, andrew.w said:

It feels like the design team (who was that again?) and the contractor struggled on this one too. And unfortunately the more one studies the final product, the more obvious it becomes. 

Design team?  Jim Bob and his brother Billy Bob?  Nah, that's not fair.  I don't want to sell good ol' boys short.   Even good country folk know better than to put cheap parts on the pickup cuz it looks like sheeeeeeeeeeyit.  This whole thing is just a disgrace.

Edited March 22, 2019 by x99

[TheLonesomeHobo]

9 hours ago, x99 said:

 

Design team?  Jim Bob and his brother Billy Bob?  Nah, that's not fair.  I don't want to sell good ol' boys short.   Even good country folk know better than to put cheap parts on the pickup cuz it looks like sheeeeeeeeeeyit.  This whole thing is just a disgrace.

Atleast the TGIF  is gone!

[organsnyder]

6 hours ago, TheLonesomeHobo said:

Atleast the TGIF  is gone!

TGTGIFIG

[GrSportsGuy]

On 3/23/2019 at 1:28 AM, TheLonesomeHobo said:

Atleast the TGIF  is gone!

Yeah, because we can’t have a restaurant downtown that serves normal food and decent prices for families.

[joeDowntown]

6 minutes ago, GrSportsGuy said:

Yeah, because we can’t have a restaurant downtown that serves normal food and decent prices for families.

Pepinos, uccellos, Buffalo Wild Wings, The BOB, Big O’s

I don’t think there are a lack of places you can get a good meal with the family. 

[GrSportsGuy]

17 minutes ago, joeDowntown said:

Pepinos, uccellos, Buffalo Wild Wings, The BOB, Big O’s

I don’t think there are a lack of places you can get a good meal with the family. 

Even those are being taken over by the drunks. The Bob? Really? B-dubs? There are far more of the hipster/foodie joints now which is fine, they make money. But when the affordable places get run out like Ritz Coney and Friday’s I don’t get all happy about it.

[GRLaker]

10 hours ago, GrSportsGuy said:

Even those are being taken over by the drunks. The Bob? Really? B-dubs? There are far more of the hipster/foodie joints now which is fine, they make money. But when the affordable places get run out like Ritz Coney and Friday’s I don’t get all happy about it.

Boberinos is pretty tame and has a pretty diverse menu. I’ve never known it to be a place full of drunks.

Also, Bulls Head is a good one for families with a diverse menu.

Edited March 25, 2019 by GRLaker

[GRDadof3]

11 hours ago, GrSportsGuy said:

Even those are being taken over by the drunks. The Bob? Really? B-dubs? There are far more of the hipster/foodie joints now which is fine, they make money. But when the affordable places get run out like Ritz Coney and Friday’s I don’t get all happy about it.

Our kids love San Chez, and the five of us can usually get out of there (with drinks for us adults) for less than $100 including tip.

Luna was also a favorite recently with our family and another family. TGIF was absolute garbage, sorry. I used to love going to Ritz Coney for lunch once in a while. But $3 hot dogs does not pay the rent downtown or anywhere for that matter, anymore. 

[Allison Slater]

9 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

Our kids love San Chez, and the five of us can usually get out of there (with drinks for us adults) for less than $100 including tip.

Luna was also a favorite recently with our family and another family. TGIF was absolute garbage, sorry. I used to love going to Ritz Coney for lunch once in a while. But $3 hot dogs does not pay the rent downtown or anywhere for that matter, anymore. 

There's still two place downtown that do dogs cheaper than $3 and they don't seem to be struggling, especially considering One Stop is open for only about 5 hours a day.

[egrguy]

Is Luna closed? I had a favorable experience there as well. Off-topic, but I had heard San Chez was not going to renew their lease on the "surplus space/event space" or whatever they called it and was curious what may take over that prime corner location (if I heard right).

[kwl]

3 minutes ago, egrguy said:

Is Luna closed? I had a favorable experience there as well. Off-topic, but I had heard San Chez was not going to renew their lease on the "surplus space/event space" or whatever they called it and was curious what may take over that prime corner location (if I heard right).

Luna is still open I believe. 

[jonrapley]

30 minutes ago, egrguy said:

but I had heard San Chez was not going to renew their lease on the "surplus space/event space" or whatever they called it and was curious what may take over that prime corner location (if I heard right).

I actually got married in that space 5 years ago, back when it was the breakfast area and not an event space. I'll be really sad to see that space change.

[GRDadof3]

18 hours ago, egrguy said:

Is Luna closed? I had a favorable experience there as well. Off-topic, but I had heard San Chez was not going to renew their lease on the "surplus space/event space" or whatever they called it and was curious what may take over that prime corner location (if I heard right).

Luna is still open and busy every time we go there for dinner (on a wait). 

I actually would like to see something go in that corner space at San Chez. It always looks so sad and empty. Such a prime location, and the new hotel across the street will probably not have a full service restaurant (based on the plans).

 

[mpchicago]

 

 

[egrguy]

On Marriott's site, it states a spring opening, has there been an announcement to the opening date of the hotel?

[GRDadof3]

23 hours ago, mpchicago said:

 

 

Parts I like and parts of it, not so much. I think after a while we won't notice the parts we don't like. 

 

[Khorasaurus1]

I was standing in front of DeVos Place the other day and looking south at this project, and it occurred to me why they covered these buildings in the first place. The Ottawa and Monroe frontages were beautiful, and their restoration, even if not perfect, is definitely a step forward for those corridors.

But the north side of the buildings is VERY visible. It forms a terminal vista on Monroe and a backdrop to Rosa Parks Circle. And they weren't designed to be that visible. When they were built, there were buildings on Louis, and obviously Herzburg's and the Dime Store Block where RPC is today. 

The de-skinning has added some urgency to developing the parking lot at Monroe and Louis, to cover up the common brick (in addition to enclosing RPC with more vibrancy and getting rid of a high-profile surface lot).