Prankster
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Posts posted by Prankster
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14 hours ago, joeDowntown said:
It will be interesting to see if the next tenant takes up the whole space, or if they split it in two. In the last few years it seemed like the back half was always dead, not well used. Maybe two smaller spaces instead of one big one (two different concepts would be nice as well.
as someone said before, the location at Centerpointe had nothing to do with the downtown location. Mark Sellers bought the rights to the name. That’s the only connection.
Joe
If I remember correctly, they used the recipes and names of their beers too.
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Lipstick on a pig.
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2 hours ago, Jonesey said:
Haven't they mentioned a few times that they are building this to be expandable? I would think that would mean seating behind the goals, although it may be too close to the Y. I'm not really a soccer fan, but I would probably go to a few games. Bridge street and tailgating would make for a fun day. The area will be busy and unfortunately there's no east/west way to access the site with it being between the river and RR. I think we'll start to see a lot more density and blocks of sub-par mainly college rentals razed, which I'm all for.
The problem that I have with their statement on expansion is the same thing they said when they built the arena.
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58 minutes ago, joeDowntown said:
They announced the new golf simulator bar that is going in the old Davenport building on Ottawa:
between gold simulators and pickleball pubs, we’re going to have our fill of sports & beer places. They’re popping up everywhere. Is this the new FroYo craze (one on every corner)?
Kinda disappointed that they don’t tear that building down (I don’t believe it’s historic) and develop that whole parking lot. It’s sizable enough to support something pretty big.
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57 minutes ago, Zads said:
Interesting to hear both sides about Kent County's move out of the downtown core.
it seems like a lot of the cities I visit have their county offices on the periphery of downtown, except for their courts and legal teams. Looks like Kent County is following that pattern. -
3 hours ago, Zads said:
I think this might be the best thread for this article.
Kent County is moving out of downtown and onto Fuller and 196.
Lots of information in the article.
I thought this stood out the most: "Once the new administration building is constructed, the county plans to remodel the 300 Monroe building so the prosecutor’s office can move in and continue to stay in close proximity to the circuit courthouse at 180 Ottawa Ave. NW. The prosecutor team currently works from another county-owned downtown office at 82 Ionia Ave. Once the staff moves to 300 Monroe, the 82 Ionia building would be vacant, and the county intends to sell the building."
I wish they’d move off Calder Plaza completely, and demolish their stubby little building there along with the one across the street at 320 Ottawa.
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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.
It reminds me of the SRO’s on Division that are supposed to be hotels. Hope they are better than that.
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4 hours ago, Khorasaurus1 said:
Well, the biggest factor is that it doesn't actually go all the way to Indianapolis, like I-67 was originally planned to do back in the 1950s.
Sorry if I’m misunderstanding your point, but I-96 only is in Michigan. I don’t think it has to cross into another state for it to be an interstate.
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I know it’s a stretch (in regards to music), but Margaritaville Hotels are very nice. Just got back from staying at one in Gatlinburg.
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The facade is meant to push and pull replicating the movement of the river.
A better design for the lettering would be if they were backlit.
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Am I looking at it wrong, or is there a big white wall facing the corner/roundabout?
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I would settle for any new destination that isn’t in Florida.
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Just on the surface, a $103 million credit for a $147 million project seems like an unreasonably large ask.
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16 hours ago, grandrollerz said:
It pretty cool how they encased the legacy generators in the corner there and are b building on top of it.
Protecting and maintaining those generators was the top priority when designing the parking ramp.
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Any work they do would be lipstick on a pig. They need to completely redo it, and not just put up a splash pad, some trees and planters.
It is the most pedestrian unfriendly part of downtown.-
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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.
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1 hour ago, Zads said:
8 new apartments coming to Division/Wealthy, across the street from the ICCF property.
Here’s hoping they tear off the plywood and try to uncover some of its historical features.
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i agree with your comparison. I think they were comparing it to Eastown because they are really trying to sell it as funky.
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If anyone has access to the latest issue of Grand Rapids Magazine, they have a good article about the Creston neighborhood.
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1 hour ago, cstonesparty said:
My 23 year old nephew and his wife live in an apartment downtown. He told me this weekend that they're not going to renew their lease 'because of the change in vibe downtown.' She doesn't walk to her office alone anymore either.
The extent of issues down there is debatable, but it's having an actual impact on people and their decision-making. As much as we all want to celebrate the best aspects of downtown, need to recognize that stuff is happening that's changing behavior and decisions of residents and visitors... Hope we're not heading back to the 70s/80s era conception of downtown.
This is what I was talking about earlier in the thread about people deciding with their wallets and their feet if they feel safe downtown.
I’ve lived here 54 years, and have seen the ups and downs. Nobody wishes to see downtown grow and succeed more than me.
But if people think that shaming and judging the general public on their perceptions, they will lose that argument every time. Perception is reality for the public, and the only way to change that perception is to make sure to mitigate as much of the negative as possible.
Safety is more than likely on the top of most people’s list.-
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16 hours ago, Jonesey said:
Another conceptual image... there's those buildings on the DeVos site again. If I had to guess I would say a hotel, residential and a new tower for a growing GR company. I thought maybe they had thought of moving the hotel at DeVos Place, but I think the whole point of that was to have it AT DeVos
The property south of the RR tracks and Wealthy is owned by the city and not currently for sale, but I think it would be soon after the amphitheater gets built. I did hear of a possible project at the surface lot at Market & Wealthy, but I think that may be dead. I also heard the city is looking to acquire the Gelock property on the river. I would assume they would make a connection to the Oxford Trail and Millennium Park
Thank you for this. Glad to see things haven’t been downsized yet for the buildings height.
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Kinda figured that at least 3 of the 5 major housing proposals would fall out The others be factory yards, display pack property, Leonard and and Front St property, and Sligh Furniture building.
Sad that this is one of the casualties, it was my favorite of them. My prediction is there will be 2 others that die on the vine too.-
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3 hours ago, whitemice said:
And it is important to point out that visitor counts downtown are at a record high; people are going downtown [DGRI publishes this every month]. Downtown housing still fills up. A few businesses have left, other businesses have moved in or expanded. There is no sign of an exodus, and certainly no evidence of people not going downtown [they are, in droves], this is all in response to a few people exploiting a narrative many Americans are prone to believe in order to make a power play [and a whole lot of people are clearly not buying it].
That is not "throwing stats", it is facts. I know exactly who these doomers are, and that they will never be convinced by anything. I have coworkers who don't like going downtown because of the "gang wars", etc... That does not make platforming the facts pointless, there are plenty of other people. "throwing stats" doesn't work right away, it does work on most people over time, that's how people get to where they are, they hear something over and over and over and over again; which is why it is important to have leaders who do not indulge false narratives.
Yep.
Also the stats on murder-per-capita numbers ... the most dangerous states are definitely not the most urbanized states [Alaska: 5.3, New York: 1.9] I know, I know, stats. But, its not even a contest.
I feel we are looking at it the same way, just through a different lens.
I agree 100% that it is the way the news and social media portrays downtown is the issue. But blaming people on their perceptions and shaming them is not going to fix it. People will always follow their perceptions, what needs to be changed is the way it is presented to the people. But controlling the media doesn’t really go over well in this country.-
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3 hours ago, GR_Urbanist said:
The problem we face is going down the road of larger cities if we sort of bury our heads on this.
"Whataboutisms" is great as a coping mechanism online, but GR cannot rely on that as a pass. We have a larger population, more concentrated, more poverty, more social strains, and we have to deal with the hand we have. We are the big kid of Kent County so we have to deal with perhaps unfair perceptions from every small instance of violence, but we have the most to lose if we just brush this stuff off because we depend on a lot of people from surrounding communities to come here to support what is the political and cultural seat of west Michigan. We cant shame or compel them out of perceptions. It has to be a constant demonstration that it IS SAFE, and that the city is on their game even if nothing is going on most of the time. It's just the responsibility of our size and importance. Kentwood and Wyoming locally have this perception to a lot of people in GR now. My parent's home when they lived in Wyoming had a bullet from a drive-by almost hit them in their bedroom, so that place is on a low tier with me. I really dont like going to Wyoming for anything if I dont have to.
If outsiders see DTGR as unsafe, and a place to likely get hurt or shot, they wont go anymore no matter what stats we show. With all of the smaller communities around us with amenities and attractions of their own, people in 2023 have more options beyond DTGR, so need to take this stuff very seriously, even if it's just for appearance sake.What some people seem to have a hard time grasping in perception is reality.
Shaming them or throwing statistics at them will not change that perception.
People decide with their wallet and their feet. If they think someplace is unsafe, they will take their wallet and feet and go somewhere else.
And all these great amenities we have in downtown cannot be supported by the Grand Rapids population alone. They need the nearly million people that live outside the city in order to be successful.-
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Grand Rapids Restaurant Rumor Mill
in Grand Rapids
Posted
https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/restaurants-1/divani-owner-puts-downtown-grand-rapids-wine-bar-and-restaurant-on-the-market/
Bar Divani owner is looking to cash out. With all of the other places closing or changing hands, looks like we’re in for a rather large refresh of downtown’s dining and bar scene.