dnast

Looking at an old photo I see why the front requires so much work.

That is cool. Nice find!

I saw workers making the hole in First Street Lofts the other day. I'm also curious as to what's going on. I also saw cones on 5th Ave. that day, too! Aren't they rebuilding the street or is it just a repavement? Either way, it's long overdue. I try to avoid driving on 5th/Flushing (unless I'm near Ballenger), but I used to drive it all the time.

In today's Flint Journal cover story they actually mentioned the neighborhood. It's Metawaneenee Hills. I'm pretty sure I won't remember that. lol I like it too. Initially I didn't think I would, but I have to say that it looks pretty nice. I want to see how it looks when they put the neon lighting on it.

Hey, it's still a great-looking pic. Nice!

Thanks Bob. That facade really is coming off fast and I see the roof is gone, too. I guess it won't be long until the rest of the facades are removed. This project seems to be moving at a nice pace. The Mad Hatter looks a lot better now. The new sign is classic! Now let's hope J. London catches the hint and follows suit. VeeFan: That sounds great about that neighborhood. Is that the correct spelling? I've seen the signs around there with that name but they're so tiny it's hard to read them. I've been wondering how to spell it (I thought there was a 't' in there somewhere). Anyway, I too hope the Don doesn't hold them back. There are some very nice homes in that area even though there are lots of empty lots and other homes in terrible shape. It'll be good to see something compliment the nice homes there. 24 new homes would be great. By the way, is that the same plan from last year or was that a different neighborhood?

I'm hoping they're still considering it. It's essential if they want people to move into that part of Carriage Town. The Berridge is a run-down motel that seems to attract lots of "undesirables". It's in Carriage Town on Garland Street. I think if you head west right in front of Mega Coney Island (where Saginaw and King meet), you'll see it. It's an eyesore and a hinderance right now but would be a nice looking building with a little TLC. I don't have any pics, but here's what the building used to look like [ Link ]

Well the 60 days came from somebody from Uptown Development, so we won't be hearing anything about the Durant from them. I'd like to know how the Land Bank is coming along with this. The Land Bank really has their hands full. The Durant, Great Lakes Tech Center, Berridge Hotel, Manhattan Place, and 2 blocks of Carriage Town homes are a lot to deal with along with all the tax-delinquent properties in the city. I hope they don't spread themselves too thin.

Yeah, you were right. Nice scoop! I'm glad to see that some of the grants from last year will be getting put to use. I was starting to worry because only a few of the many grants seemed to be put to use.

Yeah, it is exciting. They hinted at possibly having news on other projects in about 60 days. Also, I see they finally adopted the name "Rowe Building"

LOL. When is the official groundbreaking for the Rowe building? I thought I saved the article but I can't find it. Seems like it's supposed to be today.

Love the theater! Keep 'em coming.

They used my photo. Not that I really mind them using it, but they could've at least said something... But going back to the topic, did anybody read how Williamson wants to use some of the Buick City land to store towed vehicles? It's something the council members are actually opposing. It's apparently too close to University Park Estates and (I guess based on how the current lot looks) it'll basically look like a junk yard and deter other businesses that may take interest in the Buick site. On a side note, I'm probably a little late on this but it shocked me a little seeing the former Buick world HQ as a pile of rubble when I passed by. I had totally forgot they planned on doing that.

Heh, I saw them putting up the camera yesterday and totally forgot about it. Even if it's mailly to prevent vandalism it should help make visitors feel safe about coming downtown.

First Street Lofts is looking great! I can't wait 'til the facades come off the three building for the Rowe building project. Seems like I've been waiting forever.

It's hard to tell. People are still getting laid off and crime really hasn't dropped the last couple of years (although it's way better than in the 80s/90s). The city has been able to get new industrial jobs and I think a couple companies are expanding and building new facilities. Downtown has been slowly picking up more and more new businesses - bringing new shops and office jobs. While the Flint schools' test grades are improving they still are well below the state average. A good sign, though, is that the younger students have caught up with the rest of the state. Hopefully this bodes well for the future. The city's finances are well intact and we've actually had a surplus for the past few years even though the city spent $44 million on improving a water plant. That improvement alone will save the city $5 million a year as well as provide better water service to the community. It will also enable the city to provide its own water instead of buying it from Detroit if the costs keep rising. I could go on, but to sum it up I think right now Flint is simply putting the brakes on the decline. Some things still aren't improving, but at least now there's some light at the end of the tunnel whereas several years ago things seemed nearly hopeless. That's my opinion, at least.

They just started interior demolition last month. I think somebody had some recent pics a few pages back in this thread, although it doesn't look much different yet.

Yeah, it'll be fun watching watching those buildings transform into the Rowe building

Wow. I was hoping Detroit would hold off from dropping below 900,000 so soon. These are only estimates, but there's no telling if the numbers are actually right this time. I hope they aren't.

The Rowe building will be the result of combining three older buildings and adding floors to two of them. It's actually called the "500 block entertainment complex" or something similar. We just started calling it the Rowe building since Rowe Inc. will be the main tenant and it's a lot easier to type/say, lol. Here's more info about the building. There are a couple of pics, too.

Actually, Detroit has lost half its population. Detroit's population peaked at about 2 million (unofficially) and now has less than 950,000 residents. I don't think Detroit lost such a high percentage of jobs in a short time like Flint did, though. I think there's a chance that downtown Flint will be able to attract some of the metro Detroiters that have been moving to the Flint area in recent years, once downtown really picks up momentum. I think a lot of people from the Detroit suburbs are scared to even set foot in the city, let alone experience its great downtown. They may be a little more open-minded about visiting a smaller, less overwhelming urban area. Edit: Oops! A quote I clicked on yesterday somehow got in this post...

I haven't really thought about it that way but you may have a point. I think most of us are looking at how downtown looked five years ago, which makes some of these improvements seems a lot better than they actually are. I think the Land Bank Center gets the most leeway. It's a county owned building, it looks so much better than how the Hughes & Hatcher looked before renovations that it's hard not to possibly see things with rose colored glasses. Most government owned buildings don't even compares, and this being something from Genesee County county makes it seems even better. I think Flint hasn't reached the point where we can scrutinize to the point of comparing new and renovated structures to ones in more well-to-do communities - even in Michigan. It's good to hear your point of view, though. This phase should only last so long until we take it a step further. I'm thinking the 500 block project should be a very high quality one and push downtown Flint in the right direction. By the way, how do you feel about the First St. Lofts? Even though there's still a lot of work to be done on the exterior I have to say it's lookin mighty fine so far. Oh, and welcome to the forum! I'm looking forward to more feedback from you (and I'm sure others are as well).

I'm thinking that's the date for it to open since that's when the school year starts. And "within one block of the campus" is a pretty loose term. That could mean the White Building's parking lot or even the Durant as well as the flat lot. I'd prefer something to go on the main flat lot since it would be closer to most of downtown's restaurants and shops.

Yeah, Citizens has been doing well. It's the second largest bank based in Michigan. Some of it has to do with megabanks snatching up some of the other Michigan-based banks, but Citizens has somehow prevent this from happening to them while still growing. Unfortunately, the target date for the U of M dorms has been pushed back to September 2008 because of financial reasons and the fact that they're still trying to find either a private developer or management comapany (or both?). I'm very glad that this remains a high priority, though. Hopefully they'll meet this target date. Oh, here's my source, by the way.

Hey wolverine! Good to see ya. It feels good to be back from hibernating