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New Walgreens Development at Michigan and Fuller

n_wasmiller

By n_wasmiller
in Grand Rapids

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GR_Urbanist Burg

GR_Urbanist

Posted
Posted

And .... the new Walgreens will be built to face Fuller and not Michigan. Which goes against the Michigan Corridor master plan.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/11/grand_rapids_planners_approve.html

It's amazing how planners here keep falling for Walgreen's assurances.

Do they not see the existing store just up the street? cartoonish, and useless architectural elements, and a SOLID BLANK WALL fronting Michigan. All with a parking lot footprint almost twice the size of the store! I'm sure the PC back then though that this entrance faced Michigan too because it sorta leans in that direction, just enough to convince the dimmer members.

This "building" will be a cheap logo building, like the one they are abandoning, and similar to the one they ditched on M-45 and Wilson to move right across the street. No business, other than some ghetto style liquor store or some cell phone dealer, is going to move into it. Likely Spectrum Health will rent the parking lot for their workers.

I'm surprised the Walgreens people didn't ask for the loading docks to face Fuller with the front of the building on the other side facing a huge parking lot. It's not like the Planning Commission would say no.

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fotoman311 Burg

fotoman311

Posted
Posted

And .... the new Walgreens will be built to face Fuller and not Michigan. Which goes against the Michigan Corridor master plan.

http://www.mlive.com...rs_approve.html

The Sheldon's Cleaners and the Coldbrook Creek drainage running right under the site make it a hard site to deal with.

I'm personally not completely happy with how it will be built, but it will be better than a vacant building. It's hard to know when another developer might have come along with a plan everyone would have been happy with, and then someone else wouldn't have been happy.

I do agree that it's a slippery slope with regard to other developers trying to get around the Master Plan. That's life, I guess. They'll have to fight that battle when it comes.

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joeDowntown Metropolis

joeDowntown

Posted
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It seems like if something is called "The Master Plan", it trumps everything and should be followed. I'm sure a fair amount of time and resources were spent building the master plan; why is it so easy to get around it? Let's just call it "The Optional Plan". Makes more sense... ;)

Joe

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civitas Burg

civitas

Posted
Posted

The Planning Commission accepted the inherent difficulties in placing a large retailer on the narrow Michigan frontage. The new Ace Hardware also has 2 bays of parking fronting on Michigan. The Bigby/Subway also has parking on Michigan. In return, Walgreens met with Sheldon and has an understanding about shared parking so that Sheldon can expand across their whole frontage. They also aquired a 1st right of refusal on the Checkers leased property. With shared parking it can accomodate a 2-story mixed-use building. Other smaller buildings will be built on the site, creating a master-planned campus of retail/office uses that share parking and circulation. Many curb-cuts are eliminated, and, with proper streetscape design, the streetwall that the Master Plan desires is maintained across the frontage of both Michigan and Fuller.

The Planning Commission made the correct decision for the right reasons. The corner gets developed and other properties increase in value and development potential.

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Gorath Whistle-Stop

Gorath

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The Wallgreens looks better then I thought it would. I had thought they were going to put the back of the building on Fuller. But instead the main entry doors is on Fuller which is an improvement over what Rylee's did.

I seriously doubt that Shelden Cleaners is going to rebuild. I think the future building they show on the corner is supposed to be something other then a dry cleaner.

What is with the two, actually I think there is three, random buildings scattered throughout the back of the Duthlers site.

Edit: The "random buildings" must be the "smaller buildings" Civitas mentioned.

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AlexPKeaton Burg

AlexPKeaton

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If it actually gets built-out like that I'll be impressed. It looks like that plan is contingent on both Checkers moving and Sheldon rebuilding.

However, to realistically expect businesses to move into storefronts facing Michigan there should be on-street parking. Otherwise the "front" door is really a little-used back door. Basically, if you can't get people to actually walk anywhere, then there's no point.

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Raildudes dad Hamlet

Raildudes dad

Posted
Posted

I wish they would grant approved "in accordance with signed and dated architectural renderings and site plans". I can just about guarantee the nice fences, flowers and trees won't make it to the construction phase and it will be a "cookie cutter" Walgreen building. I will be looking for the added storefront on the east end of the Walgeen. (Think they are giving up street frontage to a another retailer?).

The classic case is the Deltaplex. The City of Walker used to have an architectural model in City Hall. This model was used to show what the finished building was going to look like. The site has numerous landscaped islands in the parking lot and landscaping details around the building. There was never one tree or shrub planted on the site. It's one big sea of asphalt with a yellow box sticking out of it:angry:

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GR_Urbanist Burg

GR_Urbanist

Posted
Posted

Sorry, but I'm not buying any of this.

You still have the classic Walgreens building, they just propped a bunch of non-existent buildings in front of it, with the same tired promises that "dont worry this is all going to look really good at some point". Only if a bunch of stuff happens in the correct sequence.

Likely you will get nothing but the juniper shrubs, some skinny tress that are watered once every 4 months, and a bunch of out lots that will still be empty 3 years from now. Calling it a "campus", "village green" or "town square" is just to dupe people into thinking something really cool is going to happen here, and to distract people from yet another ugly Walgreens going up.

Developers do this garbage all the time, but if people want to keep falling for it, then why expect anything different.

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joeDowntown Metropolis

joeDowntown

Posted
Posted

Agreed. I think they should only cut some slack on the master plan if all of the buildings go up at the same time.

Joe

Sorry, but I'm not buying any of this.

You still have the classic Walgreens building, they just propped a bunch of non-existent buildings in front of it, with the same tired promises that "dont worry this is all going to look really good at some point". Only if a bunch of stuff happens in the correct sequence.

Likely you will get nothing but the juniper shrubs, some skinny tress that are watered once every 4 months, and a bunch of out lots that will still be empty 3 years from now. Calling it a "campus", "village green" or "town square" is just to dupe people into thinking something really cool is going to happen here, and to distract people from yet another ugly Walgreens going up.

Developers do this garbage all the time, but if people want to keep falling for it, then why expect anything different.

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Timize Whistle-Stop

Timize

Posted
Posted

Fence around the site today. No visible changes to the building yet.

They started tearing down the walls on the southwest side of the building yesterday and were back at it again today. It's exciting seeing that building get torn down!

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Modernist Crossroads

Modernist

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Posted

I'm pleased to see construction at that corner. It has looked vacant and dilapidated for too long. That said, I'm disappointed to see yet another sterile, utopian set of renderings that give false hope. Until the utility lines are buried (among other changes), no reality will look like those drawings.

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joshleo Whistle-Stop

joshleo

Posted
Posted

so is a Walgreens going in there? There is already one on the corner of fuller and leonard and on the corner of michigan and diamond. What's next? are they going to put one on michigan and plymouth to get that walgreens-at-every-intersection feel?

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Timize Whistle-Stop

Timize

Posted
Posted

so is a Walgreens going in there? There is already one on the corner of fuller and leonard and on the corner of michigan and diamond. What's next? are they going to put one on michigan and plymouth to get that walgreens-at-every-intersection feel?

I believe Michigan/Diamond is relocating to Fuller/Michigan.

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