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Here's the piece from Crain's on the closure. https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/restaurants-1/meritage-closes-stans-tacos-downtown-grand-rapids-location/

Thanks for sharing. I wasn't able to attend this time, but I love how involved these can be. Kudos to the presenters and the time it takes them to gather this information.

Here's a unique way in trying to solve that housing issue. https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/real-estate/133-year-old-black-baptist-church-begins-journey-into-housing-development/

You're definitely not a grouchy old man on this. I'm in my early 30s, formerly of this neighborhood and have always wondered about what would fit best on that plot of land. This was never in my wildest dreams of what could fit there. 1. I would imagine you have to rezone this parcel (or two) because it would have to be residential right now, no? 2. The rendering doesn't leave much to be desired. Where is the bar in the building? How do you get to the top of the building? 3. The visual doesn't seem to fit the overall aesthetic of the historic neighborhood either. 4. I don't know if this is the right thing for that spot. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see more retail/bar near that corner. If you were to make this work, I'd say have a separate access drive coming in from Diamond, behind that cuts through parking lot behind that corner building. 5. I'm really interested in hearing from the HPC on this.

whoops, yes I meant lack of supply and high demand.

That's insane. Also, Boulder isn't GR. It's not relevant here. GR remains a very difficult market to buy in because of the lack of demand and the cost of living compared to what the average median sale price is for a home.

Great photo. Best? That's funny. Hardest would be a better term.

Mangiamo reopened on Wednesday. https://www.woodtv.com/news/grand-rapids/say-buongiorno-to-new-swankier-mangiamo/ "Mangiamo had 120 reservations on the books for its Wednesday grand reopening, but Larson said it would still take walk-ins."

MLive: https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2024/01/no-extra-parking-sparks-concerns-about-grand-rapids-soccer-stadium.html Crain's: https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/economic-development/soccer-stadium-developer-starts-community-engagement-with-west-side-residents/ Both outlets were at the JBZ neighborhood meeting reporting on what neighbors are saying and GA2.0 is saying about the stadium. Couple of quotes from the articles “While, yes, we do need housing, there still is opportunity for housing, and it’s not “this or,” it’s “this and,” Wood said, emphasizing the opportunity for multiple types of uses in the area. “We fully expect that there will be additional housing built in this area.” "A team store and restaurant are also planned on the stadium site, and the proposed restaurant and bar would likely be open on non-game days, Culhane said. There is also space on the project site to expand the seating of the stadium to make it up to an 11,000-capacity venue." "Culhane and Wood said there is roughly enough space on surrounding DASH lots for the development of 550 housing units, but that would be outside of the 8.2 acre soccer stadium site and the project scope. " “Any surface parking lot is a future development site — not by us, but by others,” Wood said. “So presumably there will be future development on those sites.”

I think this is the right spot for this article. The Harris Building has new owners and they want to get retail and restaurant into the building. https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/real-estate/new-owners-hope-to-land-restaurant-retail-at-132-year-old-division-avenue-building/

I wouldn't call this a puff piece. I can absolutely agree that I don't believe what Corewell says they'll do, they'll do it. But getting a real estate expert and summarizing what is happening in one article is very helpful as this project moves forward for folks that want to push back against Corewell's plan to tear down buildings for parking.

Crain's put out a great comprehensive article on the entire project. https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/real-estate/corewell-health-property-buying-spree-tops-57m-for-new-grand-rapids-campus/

Two days into the year, I'll give my predictions, in no particular order: 1. Acrisure will announce a tower 15-20 stories tall at Fulton and Market 2. Ellis Parking will announce a parking garage at Market, Cesar Chavez, Weston and Oakes to complement the new amphitheater. 3. An aquarium will be announced either in Grand Rapids or Muskegon. 4. Leonard Street west of the river will continue to get more and more construction from small businesses to residential, following in the footsteps of Bridge St. 5. Corewell will try to propose parking lots again, but get shut down by the city. They won't abandon the project completely, but it'll stall out until they can find another buyer for those lots that they vacated. Far out predictions, unlikely to happen 1. Van Andel will be announced that it'll get a full-scale renovation to complete the bowl 2. The parking lot behind Van Andel will be sold and built on for a high rise residential building. 3. The Keeler Building will finally announce a redevelopment into residential. 4. The Triangle lot next to the parking garage on Fulton and Ionia will announce a new buyer and build a 20-story tower with a parking deck on the first 5 stories and 15 stories of residential above. 5. Ellis Parking will build garages on their lots with the ability have air space above for towers, thus creating more residential and they would continue to make money by owning the land and garage

Construction Simplified is the company working on The Anthony. They've also got another project right down the street, near the GVSU campus. https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/real-estate/grand-rapids-construction-firm-bets-on-west-fulton-with-2-new-projects/ Based on the renderings, it looks like they're going to demolish a building at 645 W. Fulton.

Lotta folks upset about the Big Boy closure (on Facebook, because of course). This was bound to happen if the stadium site was going to be next to/north of the Y. Had no idea about this "circuit" before. Was Monroe Center a two-way street during this? Where was the original Big Boy location if it was not at this specific site?

I've only lived in the GR area since 2017 and the entire time all I've been thinking is, "when will they upgrade Van Andel Arena?" I've been to concerts, comedy shows, Griffins games, among others at VAA. I appreciate how close the seats are to the playing/entertainment surface, however the concourse is absolutely god awful. It's small, hard to walk through when there's a sellout Griffins game or a concert and there's not enough concessions for both the lower and upper bowl on one level. It's outdated and it needs to be updated. With how much they have going on at the arena now, it's hard to imagine not bringing this up to date. Personally, I would update the concourse and finish the entire bowl. You have two minor league teams in your building along with a new professional volleyball league. The majority of your sports are taking place between October and May. My dream would be to add a second level concourse, but I think that's a pipe dream.

Rocky's bought by Corewell and abruptly closes. https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/real-estate/rockys-bar-abruptly-closes-as-corewell-health-scoops-up-more-monroe-north-property/

If you buy or rent in a lively part of a mid-major city in the United States, expect to hear noise. Now, I'm sure an amphitheater was not something they expected and that would probably worry me as well in terms of late night loud noises from music and crowds, but again, you chose to live in the downtown of a city. Noise is likely expected.

As a Detroit City FC supporter, I welcome this upcoming rivalry...again.

Here's an article from Crain's on the update. https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/real-estate/new-8500-seat-soccer-stadium-could-spur-408m-in-new-economic-activity-over-30-years/

Here's our answer, a mini golf bar! https://www.woodtv.com/news/grand-rapids/mini-golf-bar-coming-to-downtown-grand-rapids/

Not sure what category this would go into, but the Rumors Nightclub building is for sale. https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/arts-entertainment/downtown-grand-rapids-gay-nightclub-up-for-sale-following-death-of-longtime-owner/

An update from MLive, behind a paywall. https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2023/12/state-commits-30m-to-build-grand-valley-state-downtown-grand-rapids-tech-center.html Basically, this: "The new Blue Dot Lab, which will be added to GVSU’s downtown Grand Rapids campus, is slated to receive $30 million from the state as part of a $616 million supplemental funding bill that was approved by the state Legislature on Nov. 2. The bill is currently awaiting Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s signature."

The new boutique hotel on Bridge St. is set to open soon. https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/real-estate/boutique-5-room-hotel-set-to-open-in-january-on-bridge-street/

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.