kwl
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Posts posted by kwl
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19 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:
It might be because he always gets typecast in films as a type A douchebag. Which might not be anything like he is in real life. I really have no idea.
He also has a documented past of racist hate crimes...
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Really wish they’d cover those hideous farm trough tree planters with brick or something.
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mods, feel free to move this to the most appropriate forum…
Progressive AE has a new office on Ottawa that I was walking past this weekend. I noticed some renderings of an amphitheater that were hanging on the wall. I assumed they were of an existing project, but can’t find it on the Progressive AE website.
Upon further examination, it looks like this is Grand Rapids as your eyes can kind of make out the Amway and JW in the left. What caught my eye is the massive tower that completely blocks out plaza towers. Have these been released yet? Apologies for the horrendous photo quality as it was mid day. Maybe someone can get a better look?
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On 6/8/2021 at 11:09 PM, joeDowntown said:There going to be putting a 16 foot Jaume Plensa sculpture on the corner of Monroe and Lyon. He’s one of my favorite sculptors. His work will also be part of “Utopia”, which opens at the Meijer Gardens in November, and he designed the crown fountain in Millenium Park (Chicago). It’ll be a pretty significant piece of art downtown.
https://www.grmag.com/look-feel/downtown-grand-rapids-to-receive-sculpture-promoting-unity-diversity/Joe
Love this. Although the promotion of unity and diversity contrasted with the location is a bit paradoxical. Like placing a giant olive branch sculpture outside of Raytheon.
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I know the pandemic changed things, but seems like this project has taken longer than the original tower construction?
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Was perusing MLCC website and it appears Total Wine received their liquor license for the only Baby R Us location across from Costco.
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On 12/9/2020 at 8:51 PM, joeDowntown said:
While I’m sure that’s what holds companies from coming in (look at Kroger, which used to have locations in GR and is pretty dominant on the east side of the state), I don’t think Amazon is afraid of anyone.
Joe
I'd add that they probably see the success in Aldi, Trader Joe's, etc. as well.
I'd add a few things;
- Wal-Mart does play conservative here. Their locations are usually all off major thoroughfares and there is zero-to-little signage and advertising.
- I think Whole Foods will be successful as Meijer seems to have overly segmented their concepts in the GR area. This might not be as excessive in smaller areas, but shopping there has become a very frustrating experience. Some store layouts, like the remodel on Kzoo & 28th, are so different that locating products takes 2-3 times longer than usual. Additionally, their stores seem to hyper targeted against demos. Knapp and Cascade carry a significant amount of premium products vs a store like Alpine. It's night and day difference to the point where I can't find 30-40% of the items I need in some of the more rural layouts.
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Suspect long-term net positive for GRR as major and regionals consolidate post-COVID. DAL recently suspended service from Flint Bishop and UA is suspending service form Kalamazoo & Lansing. I believe most of the expansion money was earmarked before the pandemic hit and I can't imagine we won't see a substantial infrastructure package passed soon.
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Madcap has closed their market location.
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16 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:
And so it begins. The "entertainment" district just South of Bridge.
We are becoming more and more like a smaller version of Nashville (or other tier 1 cities), with separate distinct visit-worthy entertainment districts throughout the city. Now the West Side needs a boutique hotel! Or two.
I live right by the Warner building and I'm still surprised at how "far away" the west side feels. I'll regularly walk to Bridge Street Market via the Gillet Bridge and through the Northern Ford Museum parking lot and the whole area has kind of a desolate vibe despite being in the heart of the city. It would've been cool to have a pavilion cafe on the lawn a la Mies van der Rohe Chicago Post Office style like what they're proposing for Calder (although I suppose flooding makes this impossible). Perhaps there is opportunity to tunnel under 131 and move the Ford north parking lot to Dash Area 7 in order to develop the land across from River House?
Unfortunately, having two large parcels which aren't really utilized at night (Ford Museum & Convention Center) really separate the west side and downtown in my opinion.
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54 minutes ago, Prankster said:
“A later phase of the project will include revamping the service alley on the west side of Van Andel Arena, including replacing the parking lot adjacent to HopCat with a green space.“
they’re going to turn the parking lot into green space?!?! If that happens, there goes one of the most developable spaces in downtown.
If I were to guess, I bet they're referring to the handful of parking spaces on Weston immediately adjacent to Hopcat. Since the project will eliminate the alleyway behind the Ionia stretch, the continuation of Weston west past ionia will no longer be needed. Theres already a grass island there separating the larger parking lot.
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Surprise it's actually going to be 50+ stories.
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Do I have to be the person that says this has Trump Tower Chicago vibes.
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Think it’s just a plug render?
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25 minutes ago, ironyisadeadscene said:
I watch these YouTube's by a pilot who recreates crashes using flight simulator. What I learned from that is almost all crashes are from human error. I cant tell you how many times a plane crashed and it's because the pilot won't listen to the advice of the FO or whatever. Or failed to do the checklist and had flaps down when they shouldn't.
So that actually made me more confident. Still. The idea of being 7 miles up and not a damn thing you can do if something goes wrong is horrifying. You're aware of your coming death.
But when I fly, I almost always look out the window (fiance always takes it and I lean over her) and have the screen on flight details. So yeah that does help.
Indeed, and I believe ~80% of incidents happen within 2 minutes of landing or take off. And something like 80% of pax fatalities occur once the plane is on the ground (unable to exit properly/quickly). Fatalities/incidents of planes falling out of the sky are extremely rare.
Planes are equipped to take off, fly for 120 minutes if over water, and land all on one engine.If that’s not enough to comfort you, O2 (or lack there of) concentration at cruising altitude all but ensures one would pass out within seconds if there’s a depressurization event.
I just tell myself the scariest parts of flying (turbulence) are actually the most harmless. Most turbulence will flutter the wings inches or a foot or two. Airplanes are designed to withstand wing flex to like 18 feet I believe.
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2020 Predictions
1) Downtown Grand Rapids evolves more towards convention catering. More recognizable, concept brands (Texas de Brazil) begin to compete with local flavor.
2) Founders capitulates and releases a hard seltzer, 2020 is a make or break year for the brand.
3) Early success of Studio Park makes just about every downtown developer wonder what they thinking over the past decade. While tower might be built on parking garage, people realize that the development was too small and added retail/food is desperately needed.
4) ArtPrize announces final year or is cancelled.
5) John Ball Zoo neighborhood becomes the next gentrification zone.
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Last year recap:
Partial - Studio C will finally force downtown retail to turn a corner. This will lead to something new and exiting in at least one of the major downtown vacancies (38 Commerce, 20 Fulton, Morton, etc.).
True - We won't see movement on the DeVos Convention Center Hotel. I think CAA will stall to see what occupancy is like after a bevy of hotels come online (Curio, AC Hotel, Hyatt Place, Residence Inn, Embassy Suites, etc.)
Nope - We'll finally see movement at 201 Market, but it will differ in scope from the original proposal.
Nope - Gordon's or Bridge Street Market will be forced to reinvent themselves as neither really fills a true downtown grocery need.
True, although Spectrum - We'll see a flurry of development in Monroe North area with manufacturing moving out and residential/retail/restaurants coming in. This will stretch from 196 up to the Creston district.
Partial (Sanchez) - A major, historical downtown restaurant will shutter or reinvent itself (Leo's, Gardella's, Sanchez, Bistro, Charley's Crab, etc.).
Nope - Downtown USPS will finally move to coincide with Amazon warehouse opening and the weird bi-partisan tailwinds at play. DeVos will obviously be involved in some capacity.
True - Fragmentation of downtown parking payments will not improve. Motu will continue to frustrate.
Partial (Texas de Brazil & Tupelo Honey aren't QSR) - We'll see major corporate QSR players begin to invest in downtown. Think Chipotle, Five Guys, etc.
Nope - Finally, this may be optimistic to some and pessimistic to others, we'll see the entrance of a scooter rental company (Bird or Lime).
Partial (Founders did everything else possible to depress reputation) - Founders will announce a significant brewery expansion in a major coastal city which will depress Grand Rapid's reputation as a craft beer destination.
Nope - Studio C will compete with the theater at UICA and ultimately force Kendall to make some difficult decisions with remaining at The Gallery. Ultimately, I think they move indie films back into 41 Sheldon and exhibitions are absorbed into the existing campus.
Factual Law - Project 1 will be ambitious, but fail to capture the momentum that ArtPrize had. It will bring great art to town, but will alienate a significant amount of attendees/patrons that enjoyed the kitschy crap that popped up every year.
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Given that they literally lopped stories off of this, would it be easy to add floors in the future since it's prefab concrete?
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Celebration just launched a competitor to AMC's A-List plan. For $19.95 a month you can go to three movies a week for free.
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1 hour ago, GRDadof3 said:
Their website is loaded with floorplans and pricing. I have to imagine tenants are starting to move in.
I noticed there's a big drill for foundation piles on the site of Acrisure now. Didn't get a picture but it looks like this:
Worked across the street from the Hyatt/Warner development. I know at one points they had something similar and were using it to drill down to the gypsum mines and were shooting concrete down to fill them.
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Probably recapitalizing (i.e. buying out earlier lenders) at more favorable rates.
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Crazy if true, JW Marriott was only a $100MM build (~$127MM adjusted for inflation)/.
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Unsure if this is the right thread, but there has been prior discussion about the Whitecaps.
found this to be interesting:
Grand Rapids Airport (GRR) News and Developments
in Grand Rapids
Posted
I'm going to be wagering that we won't see return of Air Canada or a GRR-YYZ route anytime soon.
Few reasons why:
Finally, I'm assuming that AC had that route to try and capture West Michigan auto supplier pax needing to go to Ontario manufacturing sites. Business has changed quite a bit since 2013 (and before) and I'm guessing the demand just isn't there. ...