demhem
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Posts posted by demhem
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17 hours ago, joeDowntown said:
On the question of if we can support a team, GRFC had close to 7000 people for a couple of matches in 2016 and averaged 4500 per game for the season. That was an amateur league with a shoe string budget (so not very much in the way of extra curriculars / fan experience). I better stadium, with better a customer experience and higher level play 8-10 years later should have no problem drawing crowds.
Putting a roof on it would probably add exorbitant costs and drive the prices up. A lot of seats at USL Championship games are $10-15 a ticket, which makes it family-friendly. The price point is probably not possible (maybe an MLS team could support a stadium with a roof? I don't think most stadiums have roofs/domes , unless they are dual purpose (Chicago Fire playing at Soldier Field).
I would love to see them pack it full with other leagues, sports, tournaments, etc.
Joe
Someone asked about a roof at one of the focus group events and the project team expressed that adding a roof to the stadium would be cost prohibitive.
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https://www.woodtv.com/news/grand-rapids/adobe-in-out-gets-new-name-to-relocate-west-side-location/
This opens up the Adobe corner for redevelopment.
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3 hours ago, Zads said:
Absolutely not. This looks like an office building. We need housing, like badly, but I just don't see this as cost-efficient long term. Please, let's tear this down and start from scratch. Please.
In the meeting that I was at where this was presented, the developer said that the numbers just don't work right now to tear it down and build new (cost prohibitive). They tried to get a retail tenant to no avail. Also, the building is named after the owner's son. It is a by-right conversion.
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1 hour ago, joeDowntown said:
I noticed that a developer is trying to get Obsolete Building (OPRA) credits to build 8 apartments at 851 Fulton W (the old vaccuum repair shop used to be located in this building). Does anyone know anything about this development? I couldn't find anything on UP, and don't think I've heard anything about it. Sounds like 3 bedroom apartments. I'd assume OPRA credits means a knockdown?
Joe
My understanding is that the building is being converted to apartments. There will be some exterior improvements as well. No teardown last I knew.
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Related to stadium development/discussion of joint facilities, GVSU is investing more money into Lubbers Stadium in Allendale. See the end of the article:
In other board action:
The board approved the construction of additional restroom and concession facilities at the northwest corner of Lubbers Stadium. New restroom fixtures will expand restroom capacity. Meanwhile, concession areas will be expanded on both the lower and upper levels. In addition, the project calls for providing elevator access to the upper areas of the stadium. The project is slated for completion before the start of the 2024 football season.
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Strong Towns GR has taken a stance against the project: https://www.strongtownsgr.org/strongtowns-gr-journal/corewell-health-parking?fbclid=IwAR3HkD4lrqe-kZd10MkeZ-DgwRQx-vnZmeuyHdznki5VZSbxz8Gz5vmMu1w
EDIT: I'm not affiliated with Strong Towns GR but this was shared with me and I found it relevant to the discussion.
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On 10/17/2023 at 5:41 PM, Jonesey said:
Why not just use the grass lot of the park for overflow parking like they've been doing forever? What's the issue? It might get a little muddy? If for some chance in hell this actually goes through, wouldn't they have to retain the storm water on the property like the state makes everyone else do?
The Zoo has become so popular on certain days that they park cars across the entire park making it practically unusable for the neighborhood. When overflow was just occasional overflow, the grass situation was fine, but now that it is the status quo, the usability and quality of the park is being degraded. The ground gets packed down/rutted and makes it a poor playing surface for field sports (soccer, ultimate, football) and during dry times the dust blows into the neighborhood, etc.
IMO, there is not an easy slam dunk solution here. Things cannot continue as they are, but making large portions of the park a paved parking lot is not acceptable either.-
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I wasn't able to snag a photo as I drove by, but the old Lexington School is being converted into housing with 39 residential units. Looks like an addition is planned as well.
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On 10/1/2023 at 7:25 AM, joeDowntown said:I get what you are saying, yet I don’t get what you are saying. Looking at what you have labeled bait and switch, they aren’t drastically different from Ottawa, west. They are showing more green space where liner buildings were indicated, and a parking lot that was marked “future dev zone”, but the rest is relatively the same (as long as they do develop the residential portion and not simply pave it (I hope the city doesn’t allow them to add temporary parking and they have to keep it open until it’s developed).
East of Ottawa is definitely a concern, but I don’t think the price of a surface lot is so costly that it won’t be developed for decades. Especially at the price they paid for some of these buildings (I believe Eastern Kill got quite a payday selling their building).
I’m not a fan of a sea of parking, but I also don’t think Corewell is trying to pull some sort of Super Evil Mega Corp. maneuver to dupe the city.
Joe
I'm sure we can all speculate endlessly regarding the intention of the original proposal vs what is being proposed now. Either way, I would argue that the current application that will go before the Planning Commission is unacceptable for an urban core. We can discuss all we want to on here, but if there are those of us who do not agree with Corewell's plan, we should be communicating it to the Planning Commission in writing, by attending the meeting, etc.
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"Monroe North: your newest suburban office park!" /s This is really disappointing and I hope that the Planning Commission holds its ground like they did recently with Mary Free Bed. The housing is great, but the amount of surface parking will significantly set the neighborhood back.
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16 hours ago, egrguy said:
I was curious if the location could be a Dicks Public Lands store. Seems like that and Moosejaw have some overlap.
My understanding is that they are moving Moosejaw's operations from Madison Heights to be with Public Lands in Pittsburg. Unfortunately, Dick's will likely ruin the company culture of Moosejaw and the brand loyalty along with it . The stores played a large role in making Moosejaw what it is; typically had well trained staff, would price match, and sponsor local climbing, biking, and other competitions. Wal-Mart largely left Moosejaw alone to continue operating independently.
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1 hour ago, Prankster said:
Ironically, I was just in downtown Houston in March, and the homeless situation was way worse than what we have.
Their downtown was like a third world country with very little in the way of pedestrian traffic. The few of us that were walking around were being threatened by some very aggressive panhandlers.
when I mentioned this to a cop I came across, he said the best thing to do was to just beat their ass so they leave you alone (so much for compassion).
Maybe it was just that particular day, but Houston would not be the model I would hold up as how to address the homeless issue.
Here is a pic I took of their Main Street on that Friday afternoon. Not the most lively street scene.
Houston is a strange place.
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14 hours ago, Cookin_peacocks said:
I noticed Cheeky Strut salon on Cesar Chavez closed. Their google page still says open, but the salon is vacant. It wasnt a few weeks ago.
I work downtown. Certain areas are worse than others. South of Fulton, east of 131, it's real tough. Same area west of 131? I rarely see a homeless person.
And I hate to say this. Because I feel for these people. I know many are victims of circumstances out of their control. But I almost feel like it would be best to bulldoze Hearthside Park and let someone develop it. The amount of things that happen there is staggering. But I also don't want to take away an area for those people to have freedom.
It's a complex issue that needs to be addressed with compassion, but sternness. And I don't have the solution.
If you check their social media accounts, Cheeky Strut hasn't closed and is renovating their downtown space.
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This will be a great little neighborhood addition. Hoping for some building façade/exterior improvements. It looks like they were approved for an outdoor patio.
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19 hours ago, Jonesey said:
I'm surprised there's still so many NIMBYs still over there. Why now? Has there been any updates?
There aren't really that many NIMBYs. There are just a few JBAN Board members that will say no to almost anything in an effort to freeze the neighborhood in time (at least that is my perception). In my experience as a homeowner, they do not speak for most of the neighborhood residents, even though they are the loudest voices.
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There are some on here that may not have been through a development design process before. Changing a design does not necessarily mean that they do not know what they are going for or that they are out of touch with the urban context. It is likely that the reality of soils, space planning, EGLE, FEMA, costs, etc. came into play when they got further into engineering and designing the site. It's easy to plop a speculative design that fits for renderings, but much of the time those designs change as physical constraints and needs are considered and explored. You don't spend a ton of money doing full engineering and design up front when you don't know if something will be funded, land will be sold, etc. It is also possible that this thing is being phased. The City might not be moving all of its facilities at once. Some of the surrounding amenities might not be built right away. Incrementalism is a part of city building. I don't want to see a surface parking lot either, but maybe that is necessary to get this going and it will be upgraded later. I'd love to ask some questions.
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I would be curious to see the data on this (I can't access the article). Are they counting 18 leaving but not noting the number of new businesses coming in? What are the boundaries that they consider "downtown?" The company I work for is located downtown. While we did see a tenant in our building leave during COVID (2021), we have since seen two new tenants added to our building, one existing tenant expand into vacant space, and we are full for the first time in five years. This is anecdotal experience in one building, but our experience is far from the doom and gloom the article seems to imply.
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14 hours ago, egrguy said:
Sidebar is basically a basement storage area with zero windows and I've always enjoyed the atmosphere there.
Agreed. These small cocktail lounges can get away with no windows/no street presence and succeed because of the speakeasy/private vibe (Sidebar, Lowbar in TC, several in Chicago I can't remember the name of anymore). Some are located in basements or down drab hallways.
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Airport to downtown shuttle. Also, unfortunate paywall.
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3 hours ago, joeDowntown said:
There's a couple of interesting articles in Crain's Grand Rapids (formerly MIBiz and GR Business Journal) about GVSU's plans for the downtown campus:
- $140M repurposing of the Eberhard Center into "Blue Dot Lab":
"The university plans to demolish a portion of the academic building, which opened in 1988, and construct a new addition in its place, increasing the building’s square footage to 175,000 square feet. Construction could take three years, according to GVSU’s most recent capital outlay plan. " - Link
Looking at the rendering, I'm a little confused where / what this looks like on the plat of land.
- Double student housing on the downtown campus (from 400 to 800) in 2 new buildings
- New student center and dining building - four or five stories tall near U.S.-131, Fulton Street and the riverwalk.
- Turn the Mount Vernon parking lot (in from the the William Seidman Center) into green space
- Start to convert other lots into ramps or buildings (future)
I'm fairly certain this is an old conceptual rendering. If you look back at the previous Capital Outlay Plans, the Blue Dot Lab was originally planned for the Allendale campus.
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14 hours ago, Prankster said:
My point is, they fit into the urban as much as a gas station. My bias has nothing to do with the aesthetics.
They don’t go up to the sidewalk, they are surrounded by grass on all sides, they have blank walls facing the streets. Bad urban design.But how is this different from any other college campus located in an urban environment in Michigan? Go to UM Ann Arbor, Wayne State, MSU, etc. and you see the same thing. College campuses have traditionally had open space between buildings in a park-like setting (the word campus is derived from a Latin word for "field" after all).
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The Sovengard building renovation is really taking off. They've pulled off a lot of the secondary wood façade that covered the original brick and have a "future home of" sign up.
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22 hours ago, cstonesparty said:
KFC didn't make it, and Tim Horton's didn't make it... I wouldn't bet on something called Vibe Energy Cafe.
That Tim Hortons contributed to its own demise (along with COVID). As someone who grew up with Tim Hortons in the Detroit area 20 years ago, I was routinely disappointed by what that shop was selling (undercooked, poor quality, small portions).
Soccer Stadium
in Grand Rapids
Posted · Edited by demhem
more context
JBAN is not behind this, MobileGR is. MobileGR approached the JBAN Board as part of their required public engagement after doing a city-wide parking analysis/study. JBAN is asking the neighborhood whether or not it should be supported so they can communicate that to MobileGR. There are other neighborhoods where this is being proposed as well.