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  #101  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2013, 7:29 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jonathan.jam View Post

...And in less-exciting news, another standard infill project:



http://www.mlive.com/business/west-m...l#incart_river
This formula is getting old, it has swept the country, from one end to the other, retail space on the first floor for such low density projects!

Here, in downtown Las Vegas, the 22-story Streamline Tower (now called the Ogden Tower) has a plethora of retail space to lease out on their first floor, the building has been completed for 3-4 years now, and not one tenant yet, with even more density than this project! Perhaps they're being super-picky, and of course, a Starbucks would be their Number 1 choice? No? A bar potentially creating noise? Heavens no!

I've walked about some of those newer areas of San Diego, near the Stadium, and I wonder and wonder how long it will take to fill all that space, and with online shopping today, who needs all that retail space!!!

Unless the immediate neighborhood has some density, good luck finding a suitable tenant!
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  #102  
Old Posted Mar 8, 2013, 9:30 PM
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I agree that this building has a counterpart in every city in the country but I'm not sure I can agree that street-level retail is a bad thing. Secondly it's rather absurd to compare GR to LV. Las Vegas like many places in the southwest overbuilt in the pre-recession years. I think this project is right up to speed for Grand Rapids. Contrary to the render, I don't believe this will be built in a field either. The artist probably just omitted the surrounding neighborhood.
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  #103  
Old Posted Mar 30, 2013, 1:59 PM
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Quote:

Grand Rapids' new multi-million-dollar economic boon? The Silver Line BRT construction begins
Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor | Thursday, March 28, 2013

The long-anticipated construction of what could be Grand Rapids' biggest economic generator yet begins in two weeks as Michigan's first Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line breaks ground on the first three of 33 high-tech bus stations.

If Grand Rapids reaps the economic boons that other cities like Cleveland, OH and Eugene, OR experienced with construction of their own BRT lines, property values along the line could soar 30 percent to 150 percent in three years, according to research referenced by The Rapid regional transit agency.

Grand Rapids' BRT, The Silver Line, is an express transit service much like light rail. It will operate with eight hybrid electric buses and run in dedicated bus lanes. The buses, equipped with technology that senses an approaching traffic light, will "hold' green lights to reduce stoppages and wait times. They will also travel in lanes that are reserved for the buses and right turn drivers only during peak hours.

Buses will pick up passengers at the stations every ten minutes during peak hours (6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.) and every 20 to 30 minutes off-peak.

The route runs mostly along S. Division Avenue from 60th St. in Wyoming, north through Kentwood to Wealthy St. SE. There it turns east, then loops north along Jefferson SE and Ransom NE. The route makes a quick jog west on Crescent St. NE, then back north on Bostwick to Michigan St., west to Monroe Avenue N., south to Market SW/Grandville SW to The Rapid Central Station. Then the route reverses.

As buses get close to downtown, they'll have stations at or near new apartments along S. Division and at Tapestry Square, the new University Preparatory High School, Saint Mary's Health Care, Grand Rapids Community College, Van Andel Institute, the Medical Mile, the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, DeVos Place Convention Center, and in downtown Grand Rapids near restaurants, shops, and banks. Some stations are just a few blocks from Cooley Law School, Kendall College of Art & Design, and Grand Valley State University. And the buses will also pass miles and miles of vacant land, underused buildings, abandoned buildings, and decaying urban properties.

It's along this route, two or three blocks deep, that millions of dollars of economic development is projected.
...
http://www.rapidgrowthmedia.com/feat...Lining+Edition
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  #104  
Old Posted Mar 30, 2013, 2:04 PM
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Spectrum Health and Pine Rest plan $24.2M in construction
Pete Daley | March 27, 2013

Two proposed major construction projects at Spectrum Health facilities in Grand Rapids and an expansion project at Pine Rest Christian Hospital are on the agenda Monday at an Alliance for Health public hearing.

AFH will take public comments on the proposed expenditures, which require a Certificate of Need approved by the Michigan Department of Community Health before the hospitals can proceed with their plans. The CON process is designed to help prevent wasteful inefficiencies in the medical care system that result in additional unnecessary cost being passed on to the public.

Spectrum Health is proposing to renovate the eighth floor of Butterworth Center Tower at a cost of $9.95 million, and to build out the currently unused fifth floor of the new Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, also at an estimated cost of $9.95 million, according to the Alliance.

The children’s hospital project will entail the hiring of six more staff members, while the Butterworth project will not require additional hiring.

Spectrum has advised the Alliance that since the DeVos Children’s Hospital opened in January 2011, periodic spikes in pediatric patient admissions have resulted in putting children in “overflow” units in the adult portions of the hospital. The hospital decided to activate the 5th floor, which had been left uncompleted in a “shell” stage of construction, until it was needed.

The proposed new unit will have 24 pediatric beds, to be brought from other areas in the Butterworth complex. Specifically, 11 licensed beds will be moved from 5-West, which will be discontinued as an inpatient unit, and 13 licensed beds will be moved from 5-North and 5-South, resulting in all private rooms on those floors. There will be no net increase in the number of beds at the Butterworth complex.

“They are counting on more business coming in” at the children’s hospital, said Lody Zwarensteyn, president of the Alliance for Health.

The other Spectrum Health proposal would renovate the eighth floor of the Butterworth Hospital center tower, which had been patient care space prior to the opening of DeVos Children’s Hospital. The area currently is unused. Currently women’s health care services are scattered in different floors and buildings at the Butterworth facility, so the hospital plans to consolidate women’s services in one location within the center tower. The proposed new inpatient unit on the eighth floor will have 20 beds, relocated from other areas within Spectrum Health. There will be no net increase in the number of Spectrum Health’s beds.

Pine Rest Christian Hospital proposes to add 10 adult psychiatric beds at its facility in Cutlerville. The beds would be located in a new 12-bed wing to be built onto the southeast corner of the existing hospital. Two existing beds will be relocated from semi-private rooms elsewhere on the campus to complete the 12-bed unit. The project also requires the addition of a parking lot and some road and utility work, with the total cost for the project set at $4,385,360.
...
http://www.grbj.com/articles/76471-s...n-construction
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  #105  
Old Posted Apr 1, 2013, 7:34 AM
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You know, the BRT is definitely better than nothing, but if the goal is really economic development, you're always better off with something more permanent (rail). So, yeah, the BRT is definitely an improvement as far as actual transit is concerned, but I hope city leaders aren't hoping for too much, because there is nothing quite like rail if you're looking for significant density increases along transit lines.

Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Lansing all have BRT plans either in the works (Detroit, Lansing) or under construction (Grand Rapids), and the only rail line going in in the entire state (M-1 Rail) is only because the private sector is fronting the matching capital costs for construction. Michigan's urban leaders need to be more bold. I realize Michigan has struggle, financially, for some time, but it's really irking to see city councils and state governments in cities and states far more fiscally conservative than Michigan investing in relatively more expensive rail.
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  #106  
Old Posted Apr 1, 2013, 3:18 PM
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I think BRT was picked because, at this point, it was more politically appropriate. The Silver Line proposal was already voted down once, so rail probably wouldn't have passed either. I also don't know if there are many corridors within the Grand Rapids area that could support rail, unless you are purely talking about downtown streetcars.
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  #107  
Old Posted Apr 1, 2013, 4:44 PM
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This was shared by Grand Rapid's DDA this morning on facebook:

Quote:
Tear Down the S-Curve! Urban advocates suggest a radical move to improve Grand Rapids’ urban vitality
Elijah Brumback | March 31, 2013

The elevated strip of U.S. 131 and its signature S-Curve could disappear from the downtown Grand Rapids map.

That’s the vision of a loose-knit coalition of local professionals, whose members believe the elevated highway stands in the way of future growth in the city’s urban core.

Supporters of removing the S-Curve — a group that includes urban planners, designers, construction executives and real estate professionals — say the roadway in its current form poses significant challenges to accessibility, safety and sustainability in the city.

They say removing several lanes of high-speed traffic frees more land for development, spreads out traffic and opens up more pedestrian-friendly areas, including on the city’s riverfront.

“It’s a hostile piece of infrastructure,” said Andy Guy, city of Grand Rapids parking commissioner and board president for Friends of Grand Rapids Parks. “It doesn’t make you feel safe. It’s doesn’t give you anything to look at. It doesn’t make you want to be there. It’s in our best interest to study all options.”

To be clear, Guy and other proponents for removing the elevated portion of U.S. 131 that cuts through the city are not suggesting any one particular design to replace it — at least not yet. Instead, the city and others want to see the Michigan Department of Transportation explore alternatives to the elevated highway in any future planning process. But they realize those alternatives may not materialize for a decade or more.

“We can rebuild what’s there, which is a massive elevated bunch of concrete, and on the other end of the spectrum, we could bury it, which is probably really expensive,” Guy said. “Somewhere in the middle of that — and what the (Grand Rapids) Master Plan calls for — is dropping it down to an at-grade-level boulevard.”

Think more along the lines of Lake Shore Drive in Chicago versus the hulking concrete mass that’s there today, sources said.

Importantly, Guy said that as MDOT later this year begins the long-term planning process for the U.S. 131 corridor, it’s important for Grand Rapids to know it doesn’t have just one option.

“Let’s fully explore all of those options, all their costs and all of their benefits,” Guy said. “I think it’s a bit of a leap to suggest that tearing down the highway and building it at-grade would be more expensive than it would be to maintain that thing for the next 40 years.”

But MDOT says not so fast: The tally to reconstruct the highway in 2000 was $145 million. It would cost a far greater amount to remove the S-Curve and take the highway down to grade, not to mention the department is already starved for cash.

“From our perspective, our current funding makes (it) virtually impossible,” said John Richard, spokesman for MDOT in Grand Rapids. “Unless the whole revenue system is changed, there isn’t enough money to do (that).”

Gov. Rick Snyder proposed raising the gas tax to generate $2 billion just to maintain the infrastructure the state already has, Richard said. That doesn’t include any new projects.

Given the dire situation of Michigan’s infrastructure funding, the grassroots effort in Grand Rapids is literally trying to get ahead of the curve.

Razing the elevated highway fits with city planning best practices cited by national urban planning and placemaking think tanks, including Projects for Public Spaces (PPS), The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) and others.

Nationally, elevated highways were removed in Boston, San Francisco and New York City, and even as nearby as Milwaukee, where McKinley Boulevard replaced the Park East Freeway in 2002. Currently, St. Louis is considering the removal of an elevated section of I-70 that cuts off its downtown district from the Mississippi River and the city’s iconic Gateway Arch.

Those national projects led some local advocates to consider ways to enhance Grand Rapids’ urban vitality.

Traditionally, Grand Rapids has not been “on the forefront of that kind of thinking — we sort of follow,” said Mark Miller, an architect with engineering and planning firm Nederveld Inc.

Ultimately, the goal is to incentivize multimodal transportation, rightsize urban streets and make the city fundamentally more accessible for citizens, according to the local advocates.

“There is all kinds of stuff going on nationally with cities that are removing or re-visioning their highways,” Miller said. “You think: We could do that here. If you read about what these other cities are doing, they’re grappling with the same issues. We have to make this effort less about the car and more about people.”

The challenges posed by the elevated highway also came up in public hearings for the Downtown Market project when people voiced concern about pedestrian accessibility from the city’s west side.

Removing U.S. 131 and the S-Curve also fits with the balanced transportation section of the Grand Rapids Master Plan, which prioritizes reducing automobile dependency, Guy said. The plan also encourages MDOT to determine the feasibility of bringing the highway down to grade from Ann Street to I-196 and turn it into an urban parkway.

That’s a policy many urbanists say would serve as a catalyst for urban redevelopment. Advocates estimate that removing the S-Curve and the elevated roadway could add roughly 2 million square feet of usable space to the city, depending on the scope of such removal plans, including a swath of highly sought-after downtown riverfront property. The removal project could free up land for redevelopment that has the potential to nearly double the size of the city’s central business district, according to some estimates.

“It makes total sense to me,” Mike VanGessel, chairman and CEO of Rockford Construction Co., said of removing the elevated highway at a recent panel discussion sponsored by The Salon Grand Rapids. The group hosts gatherings of local urbanists and city neighborhood proponents.

Since any future redevelopment of U.S. 131 is sure to impact Rockford’s west side “Gateway Project” and new headquarters, Van Gessel said he was all for coming up with a solution to bring the highway down to grade level and pledged to do what he could to “get rid of that stupid thing.”

“It’ll make my view a lot better,” he said. “131 is an eyesore when you get 20 feet above the skyline. It is really a problem, so we’ve got to get rid of it.”

But MDOT’s Richard said the department’s primary concern is not viewshed, but rather getting people, goods and services from their point of origin to their destinations as fast as possible. With all the barriers to the project, any future plans to redevelop the S-Curve are a long way down the pipeline, he added.

Nevertheless, this spring and summer, MDOT expects to kick off a long-term planning session on how to address future roadway activity along the corridor, he said.
...
http://mibiz.com/news/real-estate/it...urban-vitality

Ultimately, burying the highway would be the best option. However, with limited resources, I think what we have now is the only other option that will work. Creating an at-grade boulevard could make conditions for pedestrians more hazardous, since that boulevard would be connecting to segments of north-south highway.
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  #108  
Old Posted Apr 2, 2013, 7:17 AM
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To me, the S-Curve seems the least problematic piece of US-131 through the city. And, architecturally, I kind of like it and the view it provides. If there is a problem, it's when the freeway switches to the westbank where is basically eats up the riverfront for miles.

You know, a lot of folks (maybe most) seem to be most aesthetically offended by elevated highways, but I find them interesting, and have seen examples of below-grade freeways cutting off an area just as much (especially if coupled with frontage/service roads) with nowhere near the visual appeal of an elevated piece of infrastructure. But, I'm a little weird, so. lol
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  #109  
Old Posted Apr 2, 2013, 4:22 PM
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I completely agree with you! Although, the only part of the riverfront that is taken by the highways is the 131-196 interchange. And since the highway is elevated, the street-grid is still intact, and development is not hindered. The Medical Mile, Gerald R. Ford Museum, GVSU downtown campus, Rapid Central Terminal, and now the Downtown Market have all been developed right next to the highway. I mean, even Grand Rapid's tallest building recently got built in a corner of the 131-196 interchange! Unlike many other cities, the highways in Grand Rapids (oddly enough) seem to enhance the city rather than detract from it.

Although, if someone was willing to front the money to put 131 and/or 196 underground, I wouldn't complain!
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  #110  
Old Posted Apr 3, 2013, 7:15 AM
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What I meant by 131 eating up the riverfront once it crosses the river is that the is so little land in between it and the river - particularly north of 196 - that it essentially makes the riverfront irrelevant along the westbank. On one hand, it was good that they ran 131 along the Grand once it crosses the river, because it was less disruptive to the existing fabric of the city. On the other hand, if they'd have oriented it further west, there would be more of a riverfront along the west bank to develop, today.
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  #111  
Old Posted Apr 3, 2013, 7:23 PM
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Ah yes, I see now. Ideally, it would have been nice if the highway bypassed the city to the West when it was built, before development filled-in that area. I'll never get over the fact that the construction of 131 destroyed Grand Rapid's union station. I wish I could have seen it.

Anyway:
BEFORE | AFTER (proposed)
|

Quote:
Historic Elston Storage Building on Wealthy Street to be redeveloped
Jeff Hill | April 3, 2013

In the continuing transformation of Wealthy Street and the Cherry Hill, East Hills, and Fairmount Square areas, the historic Elston Storage Building will soon be getting a lot of attention. Developers plan to convert the office and storage building into live/work units, commercial and retail space called Live Wealthy. Commonly referred to as the Kregel Building, the five story building located at 733 Wealthy Street between Eastern and Charles, has housed the Kregel Publishing Company for several decades.

"This is a gateway building, and it will continue to change the feel of that area of Wealthy Street." says Brice Bossardet, who is serving as the real estate broker and representative of the building's developers.

Live/work refers to projects consisting of both a commercial/office and residential components that are occupied by the same resident. Developers envision 1200 - 1300 square foot live/work apartments, targeting long-term renters similar to commercial leases.

Part of the plans for the 80,000 square foot building involve adding extensive windows to the top three floors, which have been closed off by brick to accommodate the large upper floor storage areas, removing plywood siding that has covered up the ground floor windows and bringing in active retail uses, and adding balconies. Because of the historical nature of the building, many of those changes to the upper floors will depend on the Historic Preservation Commission's approval and Historic Tax Credit regulations.

Developers are also eyeing Ron's Car Wash on the corner of Eastern and Wealthy Street and the lot that separates the two. They envision the possible construction of a building between Ron's and the Elston Building, to replicate a building that was demolished in 1986 according to Bossardet. Those plans also would have to go before the HPC.

If all goes as planned, construction on the project is set to begin in August 2013 with tenants beginning to take occupancy in late 2013/early 2014.

Source: Brice Bossardet, Urban Space of Grand Rapids LLC

Images courtesy of Urban Space
...
http://rapidgrowthmedia.com/devnews/livewealthy.aspx

Possible Addition:
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  #112  
Old Posted May 10, 2013, 9:40 PM
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News about the Grand River rapids restoration project:

Quote:
EPA, other US agencies expand urban waters effort
Associated Press | May 10, 2013

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Environmental Protection Agency, the White House and other federal departments announced Friday that they are expanding a program for restoring and improving urban waterways nationwide.

The Urban Waters Federal Partnership now operates in seven locations. Officials said Friday they're adding the Grand River in Grand Rapids, Mich., the Middle Rio Grande in Albuquerque, N.M., and nine other areas. The program links economic development, recreational and environmental improvement goals.

"Since we launched the Urban Waters Federal Partnership two years ago, we've seen firsthand what the transformation of degraded urban waterways into clean, healthy and treasured centerpieces can do for local communities — not only from an aesthetic standpoint, but also from a public health and economic standpoint," acting EPA Administrator Bob Perciasepe said in a statement.

The other new sites are the Big River and Meramec River around St. Louis; the Delaware River in Philadelphia, Camden, N.J., Chester, Pa., and Wilmington, Del.; the Green-Duwamish River in Seattle; the Mystic River in metropolitan Boston; Martin Pena Canal in San Juan, Puerto Rico; Middle Blue River in Kansas City; Passaic River in Newark, N.J.; Proctor Creek in Atlanta; and Lake Erie near Toledo, Ohio.

Among other participating agencies are the U.S. departments of Agriculture, Interior, Education, and Housing and Urban Development.

"Restoring these waterways is not only important for improving the water that we all depend on, but for spurring economic growth and creating recreational opportunities in these communities as well," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

In West Michigan, the program is expected to boost efforts to restore rapids to the Grand River in Grand Rapids. The previously planned rapids restoration involving the group Grand Rapids Whitewater and others is expected to cost about $27 million and calls for construction of new rapids and removal or lowering of dams. A phase of that effort could be completed by 2016, officials said.

"The Urban Waters designation is a major milestone for the Grand Rapids project," Jason Carey, president of Carbondale, Colo.-based RiverRestoration, which has been involved in the effort. "What started out as an idea for a couple of whitewater features has become a huge revitalization project for downtown Grand Rapids, with the support and resources of the federal government."
http://online.wsj.com/article/AP8557...27ca3223c.html

Quote:
Grand River Restoration: Federal 'magic' to speed plan in Grand Rapids
Matt Vande Bunte | May 10, 2013

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – It’s not like the $27 million tab has been paid, but more than a dozen federal agencies pledged support for a proposed Grand River restoration today by making Grand Rapids Whitewater the poster child for an urban waters initiative.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow and several high-level federal bureaucrats announced Friday, May 10, at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum that the Grand River project is one of 11 nationwide being added to the Urban Waters Federal Partnership. The designation makes returning the rapids to the Grand River a priority in Washington, D.C.

“We do things better when we work together and leverage the resources that we have,” Stabenow said.

Federal officials said they made the announcement in Grand Rapids because the proposed river restoration is a good fit for the urban waters program that began two years in seven other cities. The federal agencies will coordinate resources to streamline research and permitting related to the project, and jointly target funding to the effort.

For example, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is assigning four staff to explore how to keep sea lamprey from swimming upriver if downtown Grand Rapids dams are removed, said Charles M. Wooley, deputy regional director.

“They’re working very closely with (local leaders) to look at what we can do to put in a potential barrier to make sure that as the Sixth Street Dam potentially comes out, potentially, we wouldn’t get sea lamprey going up into the upper parts of the Grand River," he said.

Bob Perciasepeso, acting director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said the Grand Rapids project will require extensive federal review and what “we don’t want to do is get hung up somewhere in the federal government to get a good project done.”

“There’s no magic bullet here, but what there is is magic in the coordination and the energy that it gives,” he said. “We all have our missions and we’re all doing our work and all of that is doing good things, but what we want to do is step up the coordination between the agencies so that when HUD is doing something here or EPA is doing something or the Department of Transportation, that we’re working in concert with the city’s vision of what they want to do holistically along this stretch of river.”
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapi..._to_speed.html
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  #113  
Old Posted May 18, 2013, 1:33 AM
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Quote:
Officials mark grand opening of historic McKay Tower's renovated second floor space
Andrew Krietz | May 17, 2013

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — It's been years in the making and decades more since McKay Tower's vast second floor space was available to public eyes.

Building owners and city officials celebrated the grand opening of The Ballroom at McKay underneath dazzling chandeliers and with plenty of appetizers to go around during a private gala Friday, May 17.

Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell praised its renovations since it was left vacant in 2010. It originally was a bank lobby upon the building's opening in 1915.

"Isn't this elegant?" he asked the crowd, in awe. "Who knew it was here? Well, if you're as old as me, you knew it was here.

"To restore it … really is a gift to this city."

The ballroom features a large kitchen away from the main room, bar space — if needed — and maintains a great deal of integrity of the floor's original use. The room's marble walls were restored during renovations, and the original bank vault remains tucked away and was repurposed as a wine cellar.
...
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapi...l#incart_river


Sally Finneran | MLive


Sally Finneran | MLive


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  #114  
Old Posted May 18, 2013, 5:34 PM
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I am very happy to see Grand Rapids doing very well with its redevelopment efforts. It is awesome to see one city in Michigan doing great which is in very sharp contrast to Detroit, Flint, and Saginaw which are firmly in the tight clutches of urban decline and bankruptcy. Grand Rapids looks like a very beautiful city with some cutting edge, modernist architecture with a lot of greenery. I love the red colored asphalt streets, now that is unique.
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  #115  
Old Posted May 19, 2013, 2:10 AM
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Red-colored asphalt? That is real, authentic brick, my friend! If a street is resurfaced in the city, it will typically be replaced with brick pavers if there is indication that the street was brick before. If the brick underneath the asphalt is still in good condition, they will use as much of that as possible! In fact, more re-bricking was just approved a week or so ago for streets by the Downtown Market:

Quote:
City commissioners focus on Downtown Market
Board approves tenant’s liquor license application and OKs street improvements.
David Czurak | May 3, 2013
...
Commissioners also approved a contract last week with the Michigan Department of Transportation that will result in streetscape improvements for Ionia Avenue from Buckley to Wealthy streets, for Logan Street from U.S. 131 to Division Avenue, and for McConnell Street from Ionia to Division avenues.

The project will involve installing new sidewalks, brick pavers, trees, ADA ramps, bike-lane signage, bike racks and other items such as ornamental streetlights. The work has been projected to cost $1.2 million, with the actual construction tab being estimated at $938,100. MDOT took bids for the project late last week.

Nearly $500,000 of that total is coming from a federal transportation enhancement grant. The DDA is expected to allocate $300,000 to the project on Wednesday; another $400,000 is coming from a Brownfield Redevelopment Authority bond.

The authority issued a tax-increment financing bond worth $2.32 million in June of last year for street improvements surrounding the Downtown Market, which is being developed by the DDA and the Grand Action Committee.
...
http://www.grbj.com/articles/76789-c...owntown-market
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  #116  
Old Posted Jun 8, 2013, 12:59 AM
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via Rapid Growth Media's facebook page:

Quote:
The plans for the new Embassy Suites hotel on Monroe Ave just North of the Brassworks Building are coming together. The hotel developers envision the 11 story project to include ground floor retail, banquet space, outdoor dining, a "Big E's" sports grill on the top floor with rooftop patio overlooking the river, 340 on site parking garage, and a snowmelt system in the sidewalk.

Sorry for the poor quality image. More details coming after next week's Planning Commission meeting.
-----
We forgot, they're also planning a Michigan-shaped indoor pool. Will the UP be the hot-tub? We'll let you know when we find out!

Rapid Growth Media
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  #117  
Old Posted Jun 10, 2013, 7:06 AM
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Where is this in relation to the river and Icon on Bond? This is north of the freeway, right?
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  #118  
Old Posted Jun 10, 2013, 1:38 PM
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I like Grand Rapids. It's an interesting looking place. I have to travel there for business about 6-8 times a year. I normally stay at the J.W. Marriot but because of the flooding was unable to the last time I was there. I got stuck at a Marriot courtyard outside of the downtown and it was almost impossible to get a cab out there. After dinner one nioght it took 2 hours to get one.


I wasn't there when the flooding happened but I was amazed at the levels that were described to me.
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  #119  
Old Posted Jun 10, 2013, 3:03 PM
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The hotel will be on the southeast corner of Newberry/6th St and Monroe, north of the freeway. It will be just north of the Brass Works Building and across the street from the 6th Street Bridge Park. Supposedly work will start this summer and finish-up in the fall of next year.

rotten42, here is a picture of Grand Rapid's (MI) Grand River flooding before(December)-and-after that I have shared other places on the forum:


Dave Guthrie, Grand Rapids Press
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  #120  
Old Posted Jun 10, 2013, 3:07 PM
JonathanGRR JonathanGRR is offline
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Quote:
One proposed hotel receives extension
Another has its work plan and development agreement approved.

David Czurak | June 7, 2013

[Embassy Suites Hotel discussion...]

At the same time, the brownfield authority provided support for another hotel proposed for the city by approving its work plan, development contract and reimbursement agreement.

Third Coast Development Partners, owned by Dave Levitt and Brad Rosely, wants to put up a 94,000-square-foot hotel and a 30,000-square-foot office building on its Mid Towne Village development, which is just north of Michigan Street NE along the Medical Mile.

This $31 million project will mark the development’s second phase, will fill the village and will bring its total investment to $68 million. The hotel will have a parking ramp, while the office structure will have below-ground parking. Both parking facilities qualify as reimbursable activities under state law because both are part of a new development and aren’t surface lots. Third Coast has nearly $7.5 million in those activities that will be reimbursed through tax-increment financing once the work is done.

“The neighborhood association is in favor of the project,” said Wood.

The hotel is expected to offer 149 rooms. Construction is set to begin this year and be finished about halfway through 2015. Work on the office building will start in 2015 and be completed in 2016.
http://www.grbj.com/articles/77050-o...ives-extension
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