River House Condominiums

[GRCentro]

Grooters sent me these images of the River House plan. The floor plan suggests an interesting, curved shape. I like it.

[snoogit]

sweet

too bad they couldnt send a bigger rendering of the though... although it is slightly bigger then a postage stamp

[GRCentro]

For some reason the hot-linking I used reduced the render size. I can't hot-link directly, but here's a link to the render they sent me:

http://us.f3.yahoofs.com/users/41f9a196z60...hA84PCBkphWcEso

[snoogit]

ahhh thats better

[superNOVA]

Wow, I am surprised that he was so willing to give you these. I am guessing that this means that the design is close to final, and that he is really serious.

[joeDowntown]

I really think Riverhouse will happen (as long as Grainger agrees to the plans). Robert Grooters said he had 48 reservations (granted, these are not guarantees). He also said he needs 60% sold before building. That would be about 150. This building would have the best views of the city and would be really cool living space.

I heard somebody mention something about parking being an issue. I do not think this will be the case as the Bridgewater ramp was always built for 2 office towers. The density of residential (probably 2 people per 1500sf) is a heck of a lot less than office use. I think as long as the owners of the ramp and Grooters have a good relationship, this will be no problem. There is also a surface lot across the street near the Gerald R. Ford Museum that is used for general parking. I'm sure this could be turned into a ramp.

This project would also be great for the near West Side (Bridge). Getting that many people living in that neighborhood would have to have a positive impact on the neighborhood (which actually has a lot of interesting shops and bars).

Go Bob, Go!

Joe

P.S. Can someone post the larger rendering that was posted on the link? The link no longer works.

[snoogit]

that will look really nice looking out from union square condominiums

[mrknowitall]

groots and the parking people dont see eye to eye.

there are to many reserved parking spaces now, and the ramp is about 80% full now....

everybody is condo-happy i get about 10 calls a month about starting a condo project...why did they take fraggle rock off the tv? groots thats why...

[RustTown]

GR Centro, can you ask Mr. Grooters how tall this building is planned to be at the current time?

[joeDowntown]

Lmichigan,

I thought they said 325-390 ft. Give or take 20 feet...

Joe

GR Centro, can you ask Mr. Grooters how tall this building is planned to be at the current time?

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[RustTown]

That's quite a difference in heights. I wonder how tall they have it rendered in the model above?

[bobliocatt]

This is interesting. A residential tower that looks like an office tower. Will it offer street retail?

[JimInGR]

I happened to see on emporis that it shows that River House will be 30 floors at 375 ft. This would be awesome since it would definately mean a new tallest for GR, but we all know how reliable emporis is, considering it shows Plaza Towers at 346 ft., when it is really 367 ft. tall. Either way thouh we know that River House will be tall so I'm still really excited about it.

[snoogit]

This is interesting.  A residential tower that looks like an office tower.  Will it offer street retail?

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Its a mixed use tower. I think its going to have 200 offices as well.

[GRCentro]

GR Centro, can you ask Mr. Grooters how tall this building is planned to be at the current time?

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I recieved an email today from Grooters Development. It says the River House should have 30 floors and be 371 ft tall, the tallest in GR. This is subject to change as they are still working out details on ceiling heights for the units. 227 units are planned - all condos. Construction is set to begin this Sept or Oct and is expected to take about 18 months.

There will be special 'sneak preview' 3-7 PM next Tues in the lobby of Bridgewater tower one.

[snoogit]

I recieved an email today from Grooters Development.  It says the River House should have 30 floors and be 371 ft tall, the tallest in GR.  This is subject to change as they are still working out details on ceiling heights for the units.  227 units are planned - all condos.  Construction is set to begin this Sept or Oct and is expected to take about 18 months. 

There will be special 'sneak preview' 3-7 PM next Tues in the lobby of Bridgewater tower one.

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is it a public preview?

[GRCentro]

I think so, but as far as I could guess it'll simply be a sales pitch to sign up potential tenets.

[RustTown]

Did someone delete my last post?

Anyway, is office, retail, and/or a hotel included in this development. Currently over at skyscrapers.com we only have it's usage listed as hotel and residential.

BTW, Plaza Towers is indeed 346 feet tall (from the riverside) and 339 feet from the front. We use the lowest part to measure from. The 367 feet number is an old one we found not to be true after consulting the elevation drawings.

[bobliocatt]

^What did you post, L-Mich? Anyway, I'd like to hear more info about this project. Grand Rapids is definately the crown jewel of Michigan. I love how the downtown has come together so far. City officials in Jax could learn a couple of things or two about GR's success.

[RustTown]

I don't think Michigan has any "crown jewels" and while Grand Rapids is a great city, if we did, it would not be the crown jewel.

Anyway, I put up again what I wanted to ask.

[bobliocatt]

^Crown Jewel, as far as overall big city downtown development goes. Kalamazoo and Ann Arbor are two other vibrant downtowns I've gotten to spend some time in as well.

[RustTown]

I guess we just differ in opinion. I'd use a lot of good words to describe Grand Rapids and it's progress; "big city" would not be one of them and nor would "crown jewel," and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

[joeDowntown]

How about "Could-be-almost Crown Jewel"? If the Van Andel Institute flourishes as I fully expect it will, our "medical mile" will rival the Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic and John Hopkins in the next 10 years. Pile on a medical school, GVSU's push into medical and spin-offs/relocated businesses looking to tap into the potential market and it becomes a pretty intellectual city.

I see nothing but potential ahead, and there honestly isn't a week that goes by that something cool doesn't happen in downtown GR. You keep that pace up over a decade and that adds up to a pretty cool city if you ask me!

Joe

[joeDowntown]

Here is some more information I gleened from sources:

- Brownfield designation is a deal breaker for the tower. I don't see the city turning down this opportunity.

- First floor will include several spaces for retail to serve both towers.

- Approval is needed from Tower I owner, but Grooters has a good relationship with them and discussions have been underway for a while now with no problems.

- Lucien Lagrange, a Chicago architectural firm, has been working on the project along with the original Architect. Lucien designed the new 67 story Park Tower hotel in Chicago.

- They tweaked the design a bit (along with making it taller) to give better views of the city).

- Once grooters gets reservations on 60% of the residential spaces, construction will begin (about 135 units). 40+ have been reserved so far.

- Construction should take 15 months and is projected to open in January of 2007.

If this goes as planned, it will be *SO* cool to watch the Marriott and this building go up at the same time.

Joe

[bobliocatt]

I guess we just differ in opinion.  I'd use a lot of good words to describe Grand Rapids and it's progress; "big city" would not be one of them and nor would "crown jewel," and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No big deal, I think we're on the same page. Imo, Michigan only has two big cities (metros over 1 million) and downtown Grand Rapids is definately ahead of Detroit's, in terms of restorations, vibrancy, and leadership.