GRLaker

Hold up. Let's hear it.

Just imagine that S-Curve view if that last picture came to fruition....

https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2020/01/24-story-mixed-use-building-proposed-for-downtown-grand-rapids.html?utm_campaign=grandrapidspress_sf&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

According to a post I saw on Facebook today, apparently the Abercrombie in Rivertown Crossings will be closing in the next couple days. That's a fairly sizable and centrally located store that has been there since the beginning. It has been a while since we have seen anything relating to the future of Rivertown with the new ownership.

Farmland makes for easy development. You don't have to cut down trees or worry about hills. The soil is typically easy to build on as well. All of the farming has taken place south and west of the city due to the Grand River's movement from flowing into Holland to eventually flowing into Grand Haven. All of the soil in between is rich with nutrients as a result, so farmers flocked there. You're now seeing those communities (Georgetown Township, Allendale Township, Zeeland Township) blow up with residential growth as more farmers sell off their lands to developers.

Agreed. If paying taxes to schools is what stops someone from moving to this area, then they're not the kind of business this area needs or wants. Also, the Superintendent in the article is correct in that they haven't been a great member of the community. I have not seen how Switch has come anywhere close to delivering on its promises. 74 people employed since March 2017 when it opened? That's an average of 29.6/year, which puts them at 296 jobs in 10 years at the current rate. 1,000 jobs in the pyramid? Also, have we started to see these supposed clients move in around them the last 2.5 years to create an additional 5,000 jobs? I was excited about the possibility of this place, but they lost me with their using the state to get out of paying their local public school taxes.

Agreed. But there's something between our boring boxes and that Gumby building that would be more desirable. Either way, I'd definitely love to see some more creativity in GR.

At the end of the day, Grand Rapidians will call it Meijer's Medical Building.

Here's to hoping every breakfast/brunch restaurant in America sues Anna's House for stealing their concept.

Yep. It gives my in-laws from three larger cities throughout the country ammo to tease us with whenever they pass it. Regarding sealing it, it is amazing to me that they didn't do that with the castle. I hope Hinman learns from the castle's cautionary tale.

My wife and I went to Von Maur on Saturday. I was surprised to find that the store is only one story. When you walk in, it is extremely open. You can see all walls and corners with no obstructions. A big change from the usual department store that has escalators in the center of them. The brand quality of what's sold there is definitely a step up from Macy's, which basically tops out at Polo Ralph Lauren. Just in the men's section, I noticed they sell Brooks Brothers, Vineyard Vines, Southern Tide, Lacoste, and Peter Millar just to name a few. I'll definitely put the store to use. One thing we noticed in the mall and the area around it was the absurd level of traffic. 28th was backed up well over a mile in both directions. The mall itself was so packed that walking at any kind of decent clip required star running back-like moves. Woodland is most definitely doing well for itself.

They dropped their Widdicomb lease the minute this HQ was announced.

That's a good point. I didn't think about that.

And even GVSU has gone down slightly the last two years after nothing but growth since its inception. They have had record freshman classes coming in but I believe retention has been the issue.

Like this one on 44th?

I have been keeping an eye on the MSU job board since the current research facility opened and I am surprised that the only two jobs that ever seem to be posted in GR are professor and research associate. It's as if both of these large facilities have no operations/administrative staff to speak of, unless such positions are only posted internally. I expected they would be bigger job producers than they've shown themselves to be. Hopefully the new building brings more to the table.

My wife and I frequent Gaslight Village, so this is an exciting possibility. The only thing that throws me off is that they're planning on developing the empty lot behind the parking ramp/D&W. If it's mixed-use space, I would think it would not benefit the businesses going into there to be so cut off from the Wealthy Street corridor that makes up Gaslight Village. They would have two barriers in between. Now if it's all residential, it doesn't really matter.

Is there any word on how it is that they're a month and a half behind schedule? It can't be weather related considering the lack of rain from July to now. There wasn't a lockout this year...Yet they're 6 weeks behind? This project has spilled over onto M6 for the entirety of this project as well. It goes down to 1 lane immediately after 8th Ave, which has resulted in traffic backups that sometimes extend out beyond Wilson.

So is this a second tower? The way they make it sound, it's as if a tower will eventually be built to house Acrisure's future growth. However, the tower that was proposed for above the parking ramp was supposed to be residential. Edit: Nevermind. I see the residential tower in the picture now. So this would be a second tower.

Good lord...I can't believe it has been a year since I posted the last post on this thread regarding this project. I find it crazy that we haven't heard any news one way or the other.

Odd that Spectrum is in a hiring freeze considering the economy and they consistently are profitable.

Education and Public/Nonprofit/Health Administration is also downtown. Plus, the DeVos building is really a hodgepodge of quite a few classes spanning many degrees.

Interesting....I do know it is the goal of GVSU to essentially encapsulate Campus Drive, having buildings line the road on both the west and east side.