Paramaribo

Bravo LT decamped from the ground floor in the Peck Building, and Rockford Construction is prepping for a new tenant. Could be a 24 hour omelet place or a well-known retailer with roots in Detroit. I'm thinking it's the latter.

Has this been posted? Concept rendering for 111 Lyon (source).

Sale pending for a few months now, but Keeler Building has potential for 2022.

According to the permit, 169 Monroe Ave NW is getting structural reinforcing "in anticipation of a future addition of new occupiable floors." Mlive vacated its space, and I hear there's a 10-15 story tower in the works. Has anyone else heard about this?

The new exterior at 200 Monroe looks amazing. Kudos to CWD! Seeing the progress over the past four months has changed my perspective of the 5/3 tower. I'd love to see a new exterior for this building as well. Would be a huge win for the block and for the city in general.

Not sure what the plans are, but it looks the corner of Ottawa and Mason is getting prepped for renovation. Window frames removed, empty interior. The shrubbery between the property and WM Propeller (facing Ionia) is bulldozed, too.

111 Lyon is not pretty but it has timeless qualities, especially up close. Buildings designed with SketchUp lack the same character. But it's dark inside, so skinning it with glass is sensible. It'll look cool for ten, maybe twenty years. After that, it'll be another glass box with aging Tubelite.

Lower River Valley doesn't translate well into Dutch, but I'm all for maximizing vowels and word combos. This has a nice ring to it: "The Ah-Nab-Awen Wandelpad"

A good source told me that well-known furniture brand is opening shop on Monroe Center. Lease is signed, etc.

Sounds like the hobo gauntlet is growing. The WMHA should move its offices from Jenison and join the fun!

...or they can hang at Veteran's Park, the closest green space. Doesn't seem ideal for families, regardless of their income. Student housing makes more sense. Senior housing sounds great, especially with boomers aging out of the workforce.

The 2 & 3 bdrm units + onsite daycare suggests a family-friendly LIHTC conversion. Where does the playground go? In the alley?

Or perhaps GR changes its mindset about automobile ownership? What does it cost to own a car if you live downtown? Per month, $200 for payments, $100 for insurance, $150 for parking (anticipated inflation), and another $150 for gas, oil, maintenance, cleaning, etc.? For a relatively nice car, is $600 per month a reasonable figure? An Uber trip from downtown to the airport (Cascade) costs about $15, so a similar commute might be $30 a day. Five days a week, outsource the commute and walk to restaurants, bars, etc. when home. Sounds ideal and costs about the same. Even if it costs a $100 more, eliminating a daily hike to a massive new parking ramp would be time saved, earned, and so on.

Keeler (dusk), Olds Manor (wood panels/candelabra), Ionia (detail), GRCC (parking lot/4th), and S-Curve (night). Happy Friday!

http://www.wsj.com/articles/these-japanese-gardens-turn-nature-into-man-made-paradises-1438726788