Chester Cheeto

It looks like the parking garage will get two more floors, and is it my imagination but is the ground floor shown closed in by glass? Maybe some retail spots to support the hotel/tenants?

AYE! But just so everyone is aware, it looks like MIBIZ started it (please understand this is meant to be all in good fun)

Cool cool. Cool cool cool. That building is/was such an eyesore, hopefully it won't be an empty lot for long.

Yes, per the meetings GVSU had with the neighborhood over the last year or so, their projected start date for this building was summer 2016, so it seems like they are right on track. I'm curious if they figured out the portion on the north side of the block GRDadof3 highlighted, which is supposed to be mixed use retail/housing done by a private developer. I really hope they are planning on doing everything at the same time.

I'll have you know I work in my very own office thank you very much.

Tell me more about this North Monroe market, please.

I remember the first time i saw this picture of what Michigan St. used to look like, I was shocked, especially standing in this same location now... But how nice it would be if they lined the area on Michigan and Monroe along the blank Calder Plaza walls with buildings like this again? Make the buildings two/three stories, with the first story at street level and the second story at the plaza elevation and fill with retail/restaurants (maybe an office here or there), you would have no problem trying to draw people to this area.

Heh I wish... My "insider knowledge" is limited to my father in law (city planner mostly in Ada) and some architectural drawings that come across some coworkers desks. I just walk by that parking lot often and it is such a waste that it is bugging me more than it should be.

Driving down Fulton the other day past this construction site, the intersection with Ottawa seems to be a lot more... finished(?). Not sure that's the right word, but even with the height being downgraded a few times on this project, it still feels like a much more complete urban area that a surface parking lot just cannot pull off. Now if somebody would just do something with that surface lot between Division/Ionia and Cresent/Lyon...

It's been awhile so I thought I'd get some update shots. First up is Clancy Lofts: And the Gateway: And in a fun development, the block around the first GVSU building has had a chain link fence installed, looks like some more houses are about to come down:

A little progress shot of these two buildings:

My wife and I flew to New Zealand a few years back, about a year after the big earthquake in Christchurch, here's how they held up the facades after the buildings behind them collapsed. (picture isn't mine) I'm guessing this wouldn't fly in the good ole USA, but it was a pretty ingenious way to temporarily support some pretty historic building facades, and fairly cheap. On top of that, the shipping containers that were no longer needed to shore up some buildings were turned into an outdoor shopping mall:

Grand Rapids very own Flatiron Building.

This is all just one giant pipedream, but if they are putting a grocery store in "downtown," what about here? N. Monroe Grocery.pdf You already have plenty of people living in North Monroe with more on the way (Icon on Bond 2). It would be right off a major north/south thoroughfare of Division and east/west with I-196 for easy access for cars (with such a small sight having parking could be an issue). There are already a few bus routes going through the North Monroe area. The GR Forward plan has Ionia changing into a linear park/bike track north of I-196, so you would have multiple modes of transportation getting there (drive through pick up window for bikers anybody?). There is also a proposed walkway leading from the Coit overpass at Hastings sloping down to the bottom of the stairs at Fairbanks/Division for easy access for anybody up on the hill (sorry for my crude paint skills). Maybe the parking lot just south of the black box could be sold to Meijers for grocery store usage only with an understanding that any development on the MSU sight has to make up for the lost parking with a ramp. Sigh... if only.

The surface lot between Ionia/Division and Cresent/Lyon would be an interesting place, it could start to bring some downtown population further north and help bridge the gap between the arena district and Monroe North. Would help that area not seem as dead after the work day as it does now. If it's part hotel, it would be close to the convention center and the Medical Mile, and would be an easy on/off of I-196.

This spot is becoming one of my favorites to just sit and take in the view.

Quite a bit of progress being made along the Clancy side of the Gateway recently.

Interesting construction sequence building the top floor and roof first...

This one was hard to get a decent picture, but they have the foundations going for the two buildings.

The Gateway has started progress along Clancy. And a Clancy Lofts progress shot.

Some close up progress shots.

The GVSU building and site plan. And an update of the Gateway.

Ughhh... I thought there was a specific forum topic for this but I couldn't find it, so I just posted almost the exact same thing in the GR River one. Oh well.

So while digging through the DDA file that was linked in the Studio C! chat, I noticed that the Lyon square redevelopment along the Grand River was also on the agenda. Here is just one page of the many that shows what is being proposed. This seems pretty ambitious but would be fantastic if done close to the renderings. Page 1 of DDA skeleton.pdf

And some updates shots of the MSU building.