Downtown Flint construction,projects & Photo post

[hood]

You might want to post those in the Lansing thread instead.  Some might think you're hijacking the Flint construction thread. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I was thinking about it but I figured since your comment was on here I would post a reply here, I'll create a new forum and post it there, and see if I can delete it here.

[VeeFan]

Did you get any pictures of the LBC lofts? Those sound really nice!

[dnast]

Yeah, I got some shots. It was pretty crowded, though, so most of them have tons of people in them blocking out half the view

[dnast]

I finally added some photos for the buildings UC on my page here. I guess I'll have to go back on another tour and get some "clean" pictures without people in them.

I hope what they said is true about Brown Sugar Cafe possibly being opened by the end of the month. Things have been seeming very for the past month or so. Interior demolision is supposed to start on the Rowe building next month.

[VeeFan]

I love spiral staircases! Very nice pictures. Remind me again how this skylight works again. Does is make up an atrium on the second floor, or the first floor?

[dnast]

Thanks!

The atrium stops above the second floor, giving natural light to the 2nd - 4th floors. I really wish I had more space and a wider lens to get better photos. It was really hard to capture how these places really looked (I didn't do that great of a job).

I didn't want to post too many people's faces on my site, either, so that took out a lot of photos, too...

[GRDadof3]

There was a big article in the Grand Rapids Press about redeveloping the Genesee River area in Flint from Kettering University to downtown. Sounds pretty exciting! What are the chances of this coming together?

[VeeFan]

We had an article about this in the Flint Journal last week, and we were talking about it in the River Town and Flint River thread.

[dnast]

There was a big article in the Grand Rapids Press about redeveloping the Genesee River area in Flint from Kettering University to downtown.  Sounds pretty exciting!  What are the chances of this coming together?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm probably just blind, but do you have a link to the article on MLive?

I think there's a good chance that most of this will come to fruition, but it will likely take several years at best. I'm not sure how the city will get funding to restore the riverbanks, but the rest looks more feasible as long as the areas where the factories used to be aren't too contaminated.

Hey, next time you guys do downtown take a peek into the Brown Sugar Cafe. It looks pretty much finished. The dining area is cozy and looks very nice! Even though I really don't drink coffee I can't wait until it's open.

[GRDadof3]

I'm probably just blind, but do you have a link to the article on MLive?

I think there's a good chance that most of this will come to fruition, but it will likely take several years at best. I'm not sure how the city will get funding to restore the riverbanks, but the rest looks more feasible as long as the areas where the factories used to be aren't too contaminated.

Hey, next time you guys do downtown take a peek into the Brown Sugar Cafe. It looks pretty much finished. The dining area is cozy and looks very nice! Even though I really don't drink coffee I can't wait until it's open.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's probably the same article that the Flint Journal had last week. I can't find it on M-Live either. It was in my hard copy this morning in the Region section I think (left it at home) in the middle pages. Showed an aerial photo of the river from Kettering to downtown, and talked about a possible Tech Park at the GM site, housing, commercial, etc.. It also mentioned a narrow vs. natural riverbank design. Any kind of redevelopment in Michigan is good for us all

[Allan]

Hey, next time you guys do downtown take a peek into the Brown Sugar Cafe. It looks pretty much finished. The dining area is cozy and looks very nice! Even though I really don't drink coffee I can't wait until it's open.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Did the cafe open yet? It looked nice when I was in there. I usually only drink coffee when I'm trying to stay awake at 3:00am, but I still go to coffee houses for the atmosphere. The opening of Brown Sugar coincides perfectly with my move to Detroit.

[VeeFan]

Is the Brown Sugar Cafe serving just coffee, or is it going to have sandwiches and other finger foods too?

[RustTown]

Hey, I'm not sure if this has already been posted, but what is going into the base of the First Street Lofts, and are the residential units apartments or condominiums?

[ZachariahDaMan]

The First Street Lofts will be 16 residential lofts that are 1 or 2 bedrooms. Republic Bank will remain on the first floor though. Here is a website with a lot of information about it: http://www.coolcities.com/cm/attach/67477F...StreetLofts.pdf

VeeFan, the Brown Sugar Cafe will also have smoothies and wireless internet.

[RustTown]

Are these going to be apartments, or condos, though?

[ZachariahDaMan]

I'm not sure, I tried looking online to find but I didn't see anything that says.

Edited October 14, 2005 by ZachariahDaMan

[dnast]

They're going to be apartments. The price range is $590 - $960/month.

[VeeFan]

The First Street Lofts will be 16 residential lofts that are 1 or 2 bedrooms. Republic Bank will remain on the first floor though. Here is a website with a lot of information about it: http://www.coolcities.com/cm/attach/67477F...StreetLofts.pdf

VeeFan, the Brown Sugar Cafe will also have smoothies and wireless internet.

I've been there a few times now, and I love the chai smoothie. I actually was surprised by the variety of drinks that BSC, I didn't expect it to offer that much for just having opened. I love it though, it's a great atmosphere to go to during breaks between classes (or when you're skipping classes ). There are actually very nice chess, checkers, and tic tac toe sets made out of glass at the various seating spots in the cafe.

[Allan]

Brown Sugar Cafe looks great! I drove by there yesterday for the first time since I left for Detroit in August. If I hadn't had a gigantic project to do this afternoon, I would've stopped in. Ahh, the joys of architecture school....

A friend of mine works for JC Beal, who were the guys who did the Landbank Center Lofts. She had a meeting up there not too long ago...she said they looked really cool. I haven't seen the finished product, unfortunately.

[dnast]

I saw the lofts while they were still in-progress. They looked great! JC Beal did an amazing job with that building. It's hard to imagine it being the ugly Hughes & Hatcher building that it used to be.

[rbdetsport]

Flint really has alot of potential, more so then Pontiac does. Thats just my opinion.

[RustTown]

Dnast, do you plan to do a photo update soon? I'm particularly interested in seeing the progress made on First Street Lofts, and even the negligable renovation work done on Genesee Towers.

[ZachariahDaMan]

The redevelopment and marketing at the old Buick City Complex could get back on track more than a year after Mayor Don Williamson said he could handle the job himself.

Flint Journal article: http://www.mlive.com/news/fljournal/index....9950.xml&coll=5

[bobjgumby]

Yeah, I wonder how far along they really are. I'm not complaining, but they were supposed to open last year. Hopefully the plans for the former J. London building come to fruition; the Mad Hatter is getting a new facade and those will fill out the newly renovated block.

Oh yeah, I was browsing another messageboard (FlintTalk.com) and came across this:

"...look for that ugly white tile building next to Feris furs to start having some construction going on it sometime in the near future. A source tells me that the owner has secured a resturaunt tenent for the first floor. Removal of the tile is part of the project, I can't wait."

I'm not sure how true it is, and I can't even picture the building in my head, but I found it interesting and thought I would share.

I realize this s a reply to a message posted back in may but I just started posting here and the message dnast brings up from the Flint talk forum was made by me. I havn't heard from the source recently about the white tile building so I am not sure if the project is still a go. I am disappointed that my information might be incorrect.

[VeeFan]

It seems like a lot of projects planned for downtown have been stalling and taking a lot of time to get started. At least the First Street Lofts are supposed to be finished within the next few months. Maybe once they're finished that will give a little boost to the other projects.