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numstead
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Posts posted by numstead
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btw, a very different rendering...
shows up on the WGVU article...
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On 11/3/2023 at 4:58 PM, numstead said:
I like the look, but I really wish they'd not use the large blue lettering for signage. I don't know about anyone else, but to me the blue illuminated letters all blend together visually at night. They are so hard to look at and it doesn't matter how big they are. White lettering is so much more legible and still on brand for GVSU.
So I noticed the other night that they most of GVSU's buildings downtown and by the hospital now have white letters [polite clapping]. The big standout is the Seidman Center which has some very small signage all in blue up at the top. It's completely illegible.
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I like the look, but I really wish they'd not use the large blue lettering for signage. I don't know about anyone else, but to me the blue illuminated letters all blend together visually at night. They are so hard to look at and it doesn't matter how big they are. White lettering is so much more legible and still on brand for GVSU.
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Very pleased to share that Belknap Place achieved LEED Gold certification...
https://www.intarch.com/belknap-place-achieves-leed-gold/
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7 hours ago, joeDowntown said:
I know it's expensive, but I think they should double-down on a ramp and charge for parking. Hopefully they could keep it affordable ($7? $10?). I think the Park WILL lose some greenspace, but keeping most of that loss close to the hillside, and dense parking solutions seem like the way to go (of course, money being no object in my scenario).
Joe
Yeah, a deck would be the best scenario to save park space and perhaps be able to give back the field that is used for overfow. Even a single elevated deck over the existing main parking lot (like the one in gaslight village) would at least double the quantity of parking spaces in that area. I did a rough count and the main lot is around 275 spaces. You could probably get to 600 with a fairly simple deck. Throw some solar panels over top of that bad boy like they did at Bridge Street Market! Even so, you're looking at $20,000 per space (optimistically) for construction... that's a $12M deck.
We've been zoo members for the last 4 years and I wouldn't mind shelling out a few bucks to park, especially if I can park in the shade.
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14 hours ago, GR_Urbanist said:
Park-ish related. A condo 35 or so unit development is meeting opposition near the south end of Huff Park. Neighbor concerns are somewhat vague, amounting to "it's too dense" and that it will do "something" to "disrupt" the park and wildlife? No one will detail what they think will happen in the report, though.
Also, the boilerplate "we aren't opposed to development, and we know the city needs more housing, just preferably not around us" sentiment comes up.
There are no actual site plans or renderings in the report, so it's all really frustratingly speculative.
It appears that there is a common property owner of 1435 and 1439 Knapp, and that seems to be the most realistic place to put a multi-unit development along there based on the parcel depth. The NE corner of the site is about 240' from the trail with very mature tree coverage betweenThere is a long vacant, and dare I say blighted, house on 1435 and the rest of the site is strewn with debris. The same entity also owns 1335 and 1491 Knapp (red parcels below). The house at 1491 is presently being renovated. There is another property owner along there [rolls eyes at the name of their LLC] with multiple parcels at 1443 and 1449 Knapp, and 2027 Joan (green parcels below). Maybe 1443 gets included somehow in the deal. The first guy they interviewed owns 2036 Joan (blue parcel below), which abuts the park and the possible development site. Of all the houses along that stretch of Knapp and Joan, his, and his business partner neighbor's, are the only ones that can be seen from the trail.
I had to chuckle when they mentioned the possible impact on wildlife and did a quick cut to the B-roll of the deer. I live about 1/2 mile south of there and walk the trails frequently. Those deer wander through all the neighborhoods around there, including multiple multi-family residential developments. We've seen them bed down in our front yard at night in the winter and eat our flowers in the spring. They aren't in any more danger by this proposed development. Maybe the birds and other critters that are more dependent on the wetlands habitat that the park provides are more at risk, but if the City puts some stringent stormwater runoff detention/retention requirements on the development I'm sure that would help significantly.
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Noticed this afternoon that all the glazing is installed along Monroe and it's obscured (frosted) up to about 10' above street level. Doesn't appear to be any permeability through that side of the building. Safe to assume the front door is at the parking deck. How very suburban...
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33 minutes ago, RiversideGR said:
I'm really enjoying this transformation - I wonder if they already have a prospective tenant for the commercial space. From the permit records, it looks like they could start moving dirt on the Quimby/Plainfield site in as soon as a couple of weeks.
Is there commercial space? That first floor so far has openings like the ones above for windows and PTAC mechanical units. Seems like ground floor residential.
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13 minutes ago, joeDowntown said:
This seems like a great addition to the Downtown Market. I always thought Monroe Center in front of Rosa Parks would be an ideal location but the Downtown Market will be nice as well. If someone serves the melted cheese on bread thing, I'm in a lot of trouble (yum):
https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2023/04/first-ever-christkindl-markt-planned-for-grand-rapids-downtown-market-this-year.htmlThat's fantastic! My wife is from Strasbourg, France where they have one of the most famous Christmas Markets in Europe, so this will be a bit of a taste of home for her.
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22 minutes ago, whitemice said:
Not absolutely; they just approved one for the demolition of an old car wash; I believe it was the most recent Planning Commission meeting. The owner had no plan, just preparing to sell the site as development-ready. The current Planning Commission seems to be a reasonable group of people.
Right, but that car wash demo had to go through the extra step of Planning Commission approval before getting a permit. MSU doesn't even need to get a permit.
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On 4/1/2023 at 2:30 PM, grandrollerz said:
WTF is constitutional autonomy?!
https://www.masu.org/policy-reports/masu-higher-education-public-policy-agenda/context-governance-and-policy-development
Oh, ok. But was does that mean to development. They can do whatever they want?!
Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkAs I understand it (our firm does a lot of higher-ed work, although I personally don't), the State universities don't have to go through the same channels for building permits as everyone else. The State Constitution gives them that autonomy. They still have to go through the SOM Bureau of Fire Services for building code reviews, which can be more stringent in some respects, so there is still that level of assurance for building safety. In this case of the demolished building, the City's ordinance no longer allows a property owner to demolish a building without a legitimate redevelopment plan in place (a demolition permit has to be obtained). Recent examples of which I'm aware... Spectrum/Corewell had to go through Planning Commission for approvals to tear down the Gill facility in North Monroe, and Profile Films did the same for that eyesore coming down on Ann Street. MSU does not need to apply for a permit, but apparently they did anyway. The City would not award a permit to anyone else with the same lack of a development plan, but they will in this case for the same goodwill that MSU extended.
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4 hours ago, joeDowntown said:
LOL. I thought the same thing. Maybe it was taken out of context, or trimmed and left out the "but, we already have commitments from..."
Thinking about it more, it likely means that they have secured funding from critical sources (private and public) to do the most significant amount of the work, or to at least underwrite the project debt, and that they'll have a more high-profile public fundraising campaign (buy-a-brick style) to pay for the rest.
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3 hours ago, Cookin_peacocks said:
The amphitheater continues to move forward, albeit at a snails pace
“We haven’t actually started the fundraising at this point, but we’re confident that the funding is coming together very nicely,” she said.
What does that even mean?
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3 hours ago, joeDowntown said:
Looks like the building on Leonard / Front is on the planning commission agenda for late January ("260 Leonard"):
- Ten-story mixed-use building
- 140 apartments
- 2 first-floor commercial suites
- 157 structured parking spaces
- Public access to riverfront and future riverwalk
Looks like they need an exemption for the additional height (that area is zoned w/ a max height of 5 stories, which seems archaic).
hmmm, plans and elevations appear to contradict each other regarding the presence of windows on the short ends
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Here's a view of our "Belknap Housing" project from a few days ago. Just a couple couple more weeks of interior work on the upper levels, and some paving and landscaping. I'm pretty happy with the building's presences along the street and the scale with all those existing trees.
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On 9/9/2022 at 1:38 PM, Khorasaurus1 said:
I'm pretty sure dwelling units without windows are illegal under the building code...
Not my(our) project, but perspective as an Architect...
A building like that is reviewed under the Michigan Building (Commercial) Code - not the Michigan Residential Code - where there is an exception that allows for windowless spaces provided adequate artificial lighting is provided (MBC Section 1205.1/1205.3). There is a maximum "common path of travel" distance allowed within the unit to a point in the corridor where you have the ability to get to two exits, and they appear to have that covered. The City of GR Ordinance is silent on the interior environment of multi-family residential units. So, its not illegal.
There have been some stories in the news media in the last year about proposed university dormitories that included those types of units for density purposes. Lots of critical backlash. Developers must believe there is a market for them.
I'm all for good urban density, but I can't ever imagine living in an environment like that and wouldn't be opposed to local or national code amendments that would prohibit residential units without access to natural light.
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2 hours ago, mpchicago said:
Breton Village site plan shows a Morning Belle in the same strip as Bobcat Bonnies. My assumption is they have signed a lease?
https://www.cwdrealestate.com/great-spaces/breton-village
Yes, Morning Belle is going in by Bobcat Bonnies. Under construction now.
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On 8/27/2022 at 9:09 AM, GRDadof3 said:
In poking around the development site at the city, I see that Condado Tacos is taking over the Omelette Shoppe in Breton Village. 2nd location for GR then.
Condado is actually going back next to DWR. Some changes are in the works for the old Omelette Shoppe facade however.
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10 hours ago, WMrapids said:
10 floors of hydrogen plant and two floors for a brewery. Got it!
I really wanted to drop the word "arcology" in here and watch everyone freak out, but that would have been a bit of an exaggeration.
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On 6/24/2022 at 1:35 PM, Cookin_peacocks said:
Without giving many details, can you at least hint as to the type of development you saw? High rise? Rollercoaster on top of River House? Eenhoorn finally developing the river lot (yeah right)
mixed-use high rise
On 6/24/2022 at 2:30 PM, joeDowntown said:Ah, I think I remember the 8-story HQ. Is that when they were going to put the printing press downtown (before deciding to build out in Walker)? Do you have any renderings in your graveyard files? Can't remember exactly what they proposed. Fortunately, with the demise of the printed newspaper, I'm glad they decided to put the press out in Walker, but I remember at the time I was disappointed.
No, they weren't planning on moving the printing operation there as far as I can remember. I don't believe the images we were cooking up ever made it out publicly. I found a color test print in a folder I have stashed away, but can't find a digital file anywhere.
It might be an interesting project for someone in the local AIA chapter to try to convince some of the other architects and developers in town to release images from old projects that are long dead just to show off some of the design talent that exists in this town. I'm sure there are some pretty unique ones out there. Maybe it could trigger some new ideas or foster some new connections.
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I've seen a thing that is interesting that is not related to Grand Action, Fulton/Market, Post Office site, or Acrisure. I suspect I know who Cookin-peacocks' lurker source is and could speculate on how that person could've heard about this particular thing.
That said, I've seen lots of things burn bright within architectural offices over the last couple decades in this town, only to see them flicker out (I made some renderings in the early 2000s for an 8-story HQ for the GR Press on the 555 Monroe NW property), and since I'm not directly involved in this particular thing I have no idea if it's a matchstick or a duraflame log.
I can't tell if I just threw gas or water on the fires of speculation.
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20 minutes ago, NoDustBusterNoMore said:
Don't know, but the steel fabricator who is working on Perrigo will also be doing Spectrum CTI, and looking at the schedule for CTI it makes sense to just tear it down, drive a few blocks north and set it back up.
Heading home yesterday I followed a section of the tower on the back of a trailer along Ottawa/Monroe until it turned west on Leonard, presumably heading toward 131. There area some sections of a green tower crane sitting along the Ottawa Ave side of the CTI site, which I believe were moved from the old Baker Furniture building lot.
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41 minutes ago, Cookin_peacocks said:
So, apparently they are starting construction, as we speak, of a 7 story apartment building right behind the newish GVSU building off Lafayette.
Has anyone heard anything about this or did I just miss it?
It's three stories. 50 residential units.
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21 hours ago, joeDowntown said:
I'd love to know the process they'll go through to reinforce the building. Is it just a matter of strengthening the support beams on each floor? Does most of this work take place inside the building? Just curious what the overall process would look like.
Joe
Most of the columns are being reinforced by welding thick steel plates or steel tubes to the sides. This is to help carry the added gravity loads that would be introduced with new floors. We also have to add diagonal bracing between columns in a couple different bays to improve the building's lateral stability.
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Grand Rapids Restaurant Rumor Mill
in Grand Rapids
Posted
It's a testament to the efficacy of the building codes. That duct on the side of the building is fire-rated by code, and protected the rest of the building for enough time for the fire department to respond. Every commercial kitchen has something like that up to the roof, whether internal to the building or external in the GRBC case, or protective measures around its outlet if it doesn't go up to the roof (I'm thinking of the vents on the side of Terra in Easttown). Kudos to GRFD as well for the quick work of putting it out.