Riverfront needs revival -- study

[Allan]

Riverfront needs revival -- study

FLINT

THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION

Thursday, January 27, 2005

By James M. Miller

[email protected]

[Pachuco]

This would defenitely brin g back downtown.however it's a shame the crook,I mean mayor dosn't support.

[Allan]

Wow, another Flint member! Welcome! I am from the Flint area myself, but I am in Southfield for school.

My parents always tell me how the riverfront used to be nice. You wouldn't know that it was ever nice by looking at it now. If the city cleaned up the riverfront it would really add to the downtown area.

[Pachuco]

Thanks for the welcome!Flint for the past 2 yrs. has been lead by community leaders,notcity officials,I just wish we could have a better,more youthful city govorment,instead it is run by power hungry,old,arguing,imaeture jerks.Do hope Downtown Flint does come back,I every now and then go to get a sub from a downtown buisiness "Mikes Deli."

[dnast]

Hey, welcome!

If they at least kept the concrete part of the riverfront clean on a weekly basis and let the water back in, it would at least look decent. They could provide a few seasonal jobs to area teens or even set up something for high school student who want to add some volunteer hours for their college apps.

Of course the Don shoots down most any idea that isn't his until they prove themselves successful. If he took office a little earlier there might not even be any arches downtown, and those are basically an icon for Flint already. Flint might have to figure out a way to keep it's young college grads before we finally get a mayor that will bring the city forward.

Oh yeah, I used to go to Mike's evey once in a while but I haven't been in a couple of months. When it warms back up I'll start going again. I haven't been to Borders since Pages Bookstore opened up downtown.

[Pachuco]

Mucho gusto,Do you have good links to pictures(sketches) &information on the new construction going on in downtown flint.

[dnast]

I had a small database of just about every project announced from planning stages to under construction, but my hard drive crashed on me late last year. I need to start rebuilding it.

I can give you a few of them off the top of my head, though.

Here's what the Land Reuse Center (former Hughes & Hatcher) will become:

First floor will be retail, possibly a grocery store. Second and possibly third will be offices, and residential lofts on top. I saw a lift over that building with the weird house facade today. Not sure what's going on there.

First Street Lofts (taken from www.uptowndevelopments.com)

Bank on the first floor and mezzanine. 16 loft apartments above. Price range $750 - $1500/month.

Rosewood Riverside Townhomes

39 townhome apartments by the river. Community and childcare center. Amenities include modern kitchen, breakfast bar, computer network outlets, washer and dryer, and a patio.

500 block entertainment complex (doesn't have a name yet)

Two restaurants, a brew pub and a nightclub. Second and third floor will be occupied by Rowe Inc. with loft apartments on the top floor. Construction is expected to start soon.

Dryden Building lofts

Loft condos were approved for the upper floors of this building. No details have come out yet.

Recently finished was the Legal Services of Eastern Michigan building - formerly the Atwood Building

From what I understand, it's fully occupied by LSEM. I don't have a recent picture showing the finished first floor.

A couple others, but I have no pics.

- The Economy Building will have Brown Sugar Cafe, a coffee shop, on the ground floor. A "major research" firm will have offices above and apartment lofts will go on the top floor.

- Planned for the building next to Paul's Pipe Shop is a restaurant, will outdoor seating in the vacant space next door.

- A "major mortgage company" is planned to move into the J. London's building.

[Pachuco]

Darn,I just posted the Rowe pic.

[dnast]

LOL. I just found that drawing while making my last post, too.

[Pachuco]

Where did you find all of the downtown building pics.

[dnast]

Except for the pics of the townhouses, I took them myself. I got the townhouse pics from www.rosewoodhousing.com

[Pachuco]

Thanks,have you heard of any new development for the Mcdonalds restaurant near the Durant hotel?You know the one that you had to always wait for your meal.

[dnast]

LOL. There's supposed to be some kind of family restaurant coming, but I haven't heard anything in a while. I do see trucks up there from time to time and the sidewalk are being kept clean, so hopefully they're still working on it.

I know it's a pipe dream, but I'd rather somebody come tear it down and build something that would fill that whole site. That McDonald's building really doesn't fit in at all.

...which reminds me. Are you familiar with the Manhattan Lofts building next door to the McDonald's? I think the city is going to sue the developer because they borrowed money from the city to do the project and never finished. I actually think that the guy that was developing it lives there. In one of the units there are flowers and stuff in the window, and at night the lights are on. It was looking like a promising development, too.

[Pachuco]

Well,a little I got my info about the Manhatten project from Whats up downtown.

[Pachuco]

I know this sounds impossible,but do you believe within a year or two or three Flint's skyline will have new members ?

[dnast]

I wish they'd update that site more often. I've thought about making a similar site, myself. It was actually pretty useful when it first came online.

[dnast]

I know this sounds impossible,but do you believe within  a year or two or three Flint's skyline will have new members ?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It would probably take 2 - 3 years to get a new highrise even if someone made a proposal today. I think there will be a better chance of a new highrise sometime after more of these and other projects get completed. We'll probably have to see more new construction downtown on smaller projects as well (please no more one-story courthouses and law firms).

Then again, I didn't see any of the more recent announcements coming. The entertainment complex, grocery store, and the "major mortgage company" all caught me by surprise.

[dnast]

A useless fact, but uptowndevelopments.com put a hit counter on the site today. Only 40 something hits at the moment, but I wonder how many people visited the site after it was shown in the newspaper?

[Pachuco]

500 block entertainment complex (doesn't have a name yet)

Two restaurants, a brew pub and a nightclub. Second and third floor will be occupied by Rowe Inc. with loft apartments on the top floor. Construction is expected to start soon.

Dryden Building lofts

Is the night club in the basement or is all that really going to fit on the first floor ?

[Allan]

It is my understanding that both the brew pub & the night cub will be on the first floor.

[dnast]

Actually, I think the nightclub and one of the restaurants will be going in the basement(s) (they're combining multiple buildings into one).

And looking at the way I was quoted, I guess I didn't format my post clearly enough. The Dryden and the entertainment complex are separate projects (not sure if you didn't know, but it looked that way because of the quote). I'm going to edit my little projects and construction post to make it cleaner.

Edit: Nevermind. I guess you can't edit a post after somebody else posts after you. So, I'll leave it as is.

By the way, I hope more of these projects get started soon. It'd be nice to have more done for the Sesquentennial and this years Crim.

[Pachuco]

Actually, I think the nightclub and one of the restaurants will be going in the basement(s) (they're combining multiple buildings into one).

And looking at the way I was quoted, I guess I didn't format my post clearly enough. The Dryden and the entertainment complex are separate projects (not sure if you didn't know, but it looked that way because of the quote). I'm going to edit my little projects and construction post to make it cleaner.

Edit: Nevermind. I guess you can't edit a post after somebody else posts after you. So, I'll leave it as is.

By the way, I hope more of these projects get started soon. It'd be nice to have more done for the Sesquentennial and this years Crim.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I accidentally posted the Dryden