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

With you there, Wingbert. 82 Ionia is across the street. After Morton, that might be a good fit for Rockford with Keeler being the logical next step. If the Ellis lot goes vertical, then parking is solved for all three buildings.

You're totally right. I should keep my passion in check and not knock the dude. Will stand back and see how it plays out. I don't rock the FB, though!

I thought he was renting it for storage, but that's a good point. Nevertheless, most contractors/parts distributors have a warehouse and parking lot that comes property tax. In this situation, tax payers subsidize his parking, and I don't blame him for taking advantage of the long free ride. What bothers me is this: the neighborhood has suffered from years of neglect, and this is an important opportunity to change that. Arlen, however, uses one-way mirrored windows to actively discourage walk-in traffic, so he's not going to lose customers either way. I hate the idea of putting parking meters back there, but it would instantly solve the problem. The other business owners are just being myopic. The potential increase in property value is a gift from heaven.

Just read the Mlive article. Arlen Smith needs sober up or be less selfish. His employees use most of the parking spaces in the west lot, and now he might lose his free piece of real estate. What a joke.

During the day, the west lot is packed, but at night it's totally empty. Employees will use the parking lots during the day; residents use them at night and on weekends. Doesn't seem like a big deal to me. (1415 Plainfield is getting a new paint job, too. A small but nice addition to the overall facelift.)

They repainted the facade this summer, so I thought there would be a few more years of the ugliness. I walk past this place several times a week, and a neon sign would tie the entire block together, including UICA and TowerPinkster across the street. A neon sign and Chew's new building? Now we're talking about a retail center. And if the police station left its lights on a night, it would feel downright safe and cozy!

A creative solution for more labor and housing? How about a Spectrum Health campaign promoting parenthood? Lots of fun for the locals; years of lead time for the developers.

GR would get tons of attention if AP was held simultaneously in multiple locations. The move to Dallas could be the first step into evolving into an ultimate "stuff-made-of-stuff" competition. Every year people building wild and crazy things all over the country with people voting at the same time? It would be epic, fun, and a media pleaser. Think region vs region with GR leading the charge. It would be awesome..... Actually, incredibly awesome.

AP has SXSW potential, but this takes corporate sponsors at the national level. Is AP's crew robo-calling marketing departments? Beats me. Other comparisons would be Basel, Miami, and Frieze. These events attract top international artists because they also attract buyers with pockets full of money. Competitions are for amateurs. The only major buyer at AP is Ripley's. Ouch. That said, Dallas has lots of buyers and this is attractive for professional artists. Would love to see AP develop a market there and then replicate in GR as the midwest alternative. The prize money is cool, but a market help professional artists measure the ROI of participation. When the returns are good, the quality will go up. With this in place, I see a major win for AP and GR.

I'm a big fan of Slows. Considering the space, the express version would be great. Bundle some BBQ with Field and Fire? Perfect. In regards to the distillery, I'd love a shot of jungle juice before walking home. It's going to be a battle carrying this precious cargo through the hobo gauntlet. All around great news for DTM!