Ka3kab

Been another 3 months so time for another update. The parking deck for Hagerty still looks like a go, but hasn't started yet. Apperently, if they don't get the deck, Hagerty says is will move out of state. The project at Park and Front street has started like I said, when I said, so basically it is still a hole in the ground but with people in it, finally. Snowden's developments are still stalled as are the Federated projects, but at least Snowden seems to be moving forward a little. He resubmitted the site plan for W. Front and State St. It still has a parking deck, but the building is slightly smaller. Umm, let's see. Oh, Cherry Capital Airport is the second most expensive airport to fly out of in the country says Forbes, so who knows. It is very expensive though. West Bay froze over for the first time in about 10 years and we should get 6-10 more inches of snow to go along with the 105 inches we've had so far this year. Other than that, still not much going on up here and I can't wait for spring/summer, anything with temps over 50 degrees.

It's been 3 Months since a post, so how about an update. Parking deck in old towne (Haggerty Insurance) actualy looks like it will get built sometime next spring. Federated has still not done anything with any of its properties downtown and neither has Snowden Development. The hole in the ground at Front St. and Park is finally getting filled in. A mix-use five story development with retail/commercial on the ground floor, offices of 2-4 and condos/penthouses on 5 with 24 underground parking spaces for the condos. Work should begin in February according to the developer. Other than that, it's been cold and snowing all week and the ski resorts have opened before Thanksgiving for the first time in nearly a decade. Good for them. See ya.

I think everyone has been. Not a whole lot has been going on though, not a big suprise in this sort of economy. There has been some talk of some projects that will probebly never happen because of their location. Someone, I'm not sure who, wants to build a hotel and two condo buildings (all 4 stories) along the Grandview Parkway west of the Harbour View building. Because of its location along the water, it will never happen. So, theres that. None of Snowdens buildings are started, neither are any of the Federated buildings. The new building at 8th and Union is almost finished, and it looks pretty good. The city would like to build a parking deck in the same area for the Hagerty Insurance building employees because they take up almost every available space for 3 blocks. But that is only in talks right now and is already drawing major opposition.

That is about all I saw also. I had to work in Lake Ann the entire week, so I missed everything but the saturday airshow and the end of festival fireworks the next saturday. But, I got my elephant ear, so in my book that is all I need.

Where the hell is everybody.

The Holiday Inn does alright I would think. The parking lot always looks pretty full. But did you mean the Park Place? That would be the hotel in the picture. If you did mean that one, than again, I think they do okay. Of course, all of the hotels around town are packed during Cherry Festival and are pretty full for most of summer. It looks like it will be a down year though, what else is new is this wonderful economy. As for chances of another hotel tower popping up downtown, I would like to see it, the area could certainly handle it, but they have a hard enough time opening anything here that it would take ten years if it were proposed today. As for Meijer; blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I could care less. I don't shop at Meijer and don't live near Acme or ever really go out that way. Sorry, maybe somebody else will have some insight.

One of our holes in the ground may get filled finally. The area around the red fence is the hole. Last week the city was considering making it into a plaza type park. The owner then sold the property to someone who wants to build a five story mix-use building on it. So hopefully, something will happen. Anything will be better than the hole. As for it's twin on the opposite side of downtown, no idea. Maybe we will have to look at that one for the next five years also.

Like everything around here they have been talking about it for almost a decade now, done about a dozen studies on it and are still nowhere near a decision. The DNR and DEQ, I think, have had it and will make a decision soon for the county (the dam owners) and Light and Power (the dam users).

Some pictures I took today (72 degrees and sunny, won't last though ) of the Boardman Dam and Pond. It has been drained by 17 feet for safty purposes. The dam is 78 years old and was supposed to only last 50 years. Not very urban, but what the hell. If it broke, it would flood urban areas right. Check it. Where the vegatation starts is where the water used to come up to. This picture is from the other side of the spillway. I bet you guys didn't know the Boardman was this wide south of Boardman Lake.

It is hard to say when this will end, and the economy makes it even that much harder to say. I personally think that it will be a very long time before any major changes are made downtown, i.e. zoning that would allow something over 65 feet, and I don't ever see an apartment or condo builidng going up on west bay that is over 5 stories. Most peoples idea of controlling growth in this area is to keep home prices ridiculously high and to keep wages ridiculously low. If you're from this area, you wonder how in the hell do so many people live in houses that cost $300,000+ when the per capita income is $24,806 and the poverty rate is 17.3%. There is very little affordable housing in the Traverse City area unless you want to live 15-40 miles away in tiny little towns like Kingsley, Honor or Kalkaska. Then you have to drive back into TC to work and shop and spend $25.00 round trip for gas. It is a simple, but effective way of keeping most people from moving here.

It does look like the same shot you get from the WJRT tower cam, but on that one, there is a blue banner at the top giving the date and time.

Ground level retail, offices on 2-5 and condo's on the 6th through 8th. Also, Federated plans for a four story across the street are dead now also.

Now the Federated project for 145 W Front St is dead. The company will not seek an extension of their land-use permit and they say they may try again later. This was the 100 ft., 8 story building. They say they are moving ahead with their plans for the other side of the street, but we'll see.

Meijer and Acme Twp. have dropped all of thier existing appeals to the numerous cases pending. I don't feel like tying it all in here so here is a link to the Traverse City Record-Eagle.

Nope, not really. There is some work going on at the corner of 8th and Union which I thought was going to be a new parking deck for the whole RiversEdge development. But I saw in the RE yesterday that they (the good ol' get nothing done city commision) were still arguing over whether or not to let it happen. So now I am not so sure what is going in there. If it weren't 4 degrees out I would head downtown to take a look, but I think I'll wait until next week when it "warms up" into the mid-teens.