Wealthy Street Mega Thread

[joeDowntown]

15 hours ago, Morris said:

The Wild Bunch lot apparently has been sold, there is a sign posted, looking for retail tenants...

That was quick!

[GRDadof3]

On 11/19/2018 at 2:48 AM, Morris said:

The Wild Bunch lot apparently has been sold, there is a sign posted, looking for retail tenants...

Do they show a plan on the sign? Or anyone seen one? 

[GVSUChris]

12 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

Do they show a plan on the sign? Or anyone seen one? 

Not a great photo but as you can see, nothing on the sign. I asked someone yesterday who I thought surely would have seen something and he said he has yet to see anything as far as drawings. 

[mpchicago]

I do hope whatever ends up on the site that it's at least a 2 story structure, in keeping with what was there before.   I understand this is not a corner, but here is a general example of what would fit, design-wise, IMO.

Edited November 20, 2018 by mpchicago

[GRDadof3]

1 hour ago, GVSUChris said:

Not a great photo but as you can see, nothing on the sign. I asked someone yesterday who I thought surely would have seen something and he said he has yet to see anything as far as drawings. 

I checked out that companies website and FB page and didn't see anything either. 

[Pattmost20]

3 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

I checked out that companies website and FB page and didn't see anything either. 

Nothing on the commercial real estate listings either. Curious to both see what it'll look like and what the are trying to charge in rent.

[Pattmost20]

Rumor time: 928 Wealthy St SE is being leased to a brewing company. I've been told they are called 1983 Brewing Company. I have no more info than that and google doesn't turn up anything. (Of note, Bells opened in 1983. No idea if related, just wild speculation on my part).

 

Edit: Added photo of interior.

Edited November 21, 2018 by Pattmost20
Added Photo

[GRDadof3]

1 hour ago, Pattmost20 said:

Rumor time: 928 Wealthy St SE is being leased to a brewing company. I've been told they are called 1983 Brewing Company. I have no more info than that and google doesn't turn up anything. (Of note, Bells opened in 1983. No idea if related, just wild speculation on my part).

 

Edit: Added photo of interior.

That's cool. I didn't know that building had a barrel vaulted ceiling. 

You might be onto something with 1983.

Here's the filing though, May 2018 Sterling Heights address. Could be a law office though:

https://www.bizapedia.com/mi/1983-brewing-company-llc.html

[Pattmost20]

11 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

Here's the filing though, May 2018 Sterling Heights address. Could be a law office though:

Yeah it is for Legal Inc Corporate Services. It'll be interesting to see when they make the announcement. The listing already says Lease Pending.

[mpchicago]

We visited Wealthy Street on Friday.  It was nice to see some of the renovations, new restaurants, etc.  I took the below pic of some of the great work that Terra Firma has done.   We tried to stop into a couple of high profile stores along the stretch, but they were closed!   One owner was out hanging garland, and said there was no need to be open, as they are "crushing it."  He said research showed there was no need to be open on Black Friday...  We thought it was a little arrogant.  What do you guys think?

We ate at 40 Acers, it was a little slow but good!

Edited November 26, 2018 by mpchicago

[wingbert]

3 minutes ago, mpchicago said:

We visited Wealthy Street on Friday.  It was nice to see some of the renovations, new restaurants, etc.  I took the below pic of some of the great work that Terra Firma has done.   We tried to stop into a couple of high profile stores along the stretch, but they were closed!   One owner was out hanging garland, and said there was no need to be open, as they are "crushing it."  He said research showed there was no need to be open on Black Friday...  We thought it was a little arrogant.  What do you guys think?

We ate at 40 Acers, it was a little slow but good!

I wish them the best of luck.  I would also point out that the Titanic didn’t need a bunch of lifeboats cluttering the decks because the ship was unsinkable.

[GR_Urbanist]

Well I suppose the Holiday Shop Hop is coming soon, so they may not have really expected a lot of BF shoppers, and will make up for it next month.

 

But yes, Wealthy st. down there is really starting to mature and fill out nicely. Those new store fronts have just been amazing to look into.

And the cool thing is that there are still more developments coming!

Edited November 26, 2018 by GR_Urbanist

[GRDadof3]

On 11/26/2018 at 2:06 PM, GR_Urbanist said:

Well I suppose the Holiday Shop Hop is coming soon, so they may not have really expected a lot of BF shoppers, and will make up for it next month.

 

But yes, Wealthy st. down there is really starting to mature and fill out nicely. Those new store fronts have just been amazing to look into.

And the cool thing is that there are still more developments coming!

Here's the Wild Bunch building replacement (proposed).

 

Narrative (instead of pulling quotes out of it, here it is):

 

[GRDadof3]

On 11/26/2018 at 1:31 PM, mpchicago said:

We visited Wealthy Street on Friday.  It was nice to see some of the renovations, new restaurants, etc.  I took the below pic of some of the great work that Terra Firma has done.   We tried to stop into a couple of high profile stores along the stretch, but they were closed!   One owner was out hanging garland, and said there was no need to be open, as they are "crushing it."  He said research showed there was no need to be open on Black Friday...  We thought it was a little arrogant.  What do you guys think?

We ate at 40 Acers, it was a little slow but good!

A tad arrogant but at least he was honest.  And it has become Black Friday for all the national retailers, Small Business Saturday for locally owned, and Cyber Monday.  I don't really understand it all.  Buy whatever you can afford whenever you want? 

[GVSUChris]

Preliminary design for "Wild Bunch" site, to be reviewed by the HPC. It's a great start. 

 

[x99]

13 hours ago, GVSUChris said:

Preliminary design for "Wild Bunch" site, to be reviewed by the HPC. It's a great start. 

 

So, here we go... Fairly nice overall design.  But.  This building has a lot going for it, so I'm a little hesitant to criticize, but from a materials perspective, it's a little off.   I get that the clapboard siding is a "nod" to the old Wild Bunch building, but it's a little strange.   I can't recall hardly any buildings from any period in time where someone picture framed clapboard with bricks.  I just looked at a photo of the old building, and the best part of was the bracketed cornice and the window hoods.  It could have been restored (before the fire) and painted and been one of the more attractive buildings.  Clapboard or brick the whole thing, and for the "Wild Bunch" nod do a nice cornice and some window hoods. Done.  

Of course, there could be a real strong "Wild Bunch" element.  The clapboards sort of look like maybe the bricks were failing and someone cheaply covered them up with whatever they could find.  They really should have used some plywood sheets somewhere.  That would be full on Wild Bunch. 

[mpchicago]

2 hours ago, x99 said:

So, here we go... Fairly nice overall design.  But.  This building has a lot going for it, so I'm a little hesitant to criticize, but from a materials perspective, it's a little off.   I get that the clapboard siding is a "nod" to the old Wild Bunch building, but it's a little strange.   I can't recall hardly any buildings from any period in time where someone picture framed clapboard with bricks.  I just looked at a photo of the old building, and the best part of was the bracketed cornice and the window hoods.  It could have been restored (before the fire) and painted and been one of the more attractive buildings.  Clapboard or brick the whole thing, and for the "Wild Bunch" nod do a nice cornice and some window hoods. Done.  

Of course, there could be a real strong "Wild Bunch" element.  The clapboards sort of look like maybe the bricks were failing and someone cheaply covered them up with whatever they could find.  They really should have used some plywood sheets somewhere.  That would be full on Wild Bunch. 

I feel like the first-floor treatment is pretty spot on, but agree, the second floor and cornice needs work.

[EastownLeo]

Not GR but 

Arcadia Brewing in Kzoo faces foreclosure

https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2018/12/arcadia-brewing-company-in-kalamazoo-faces-property-foreclosure.html

Edited December 5, 2018 by EastownLeo

[thebeerqueer]

20 minutes ago, EastownLeo said:

Not GR but 

Arcadia Brewing in Kzoo faces foreclosure

https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2018/12/arcadia-brewing-company-in-kalamazoo-faces-property-foreclosure.html

Bummer, the taproom space is pretty cool. 

[Guest]

I never really did care for Arcadia.  It's gotta be hard to compete with the best brewery in the world just down the stree.

[joeDowntown]

I moved this from another thread. Wondering what people's thoughts are on Hopcat changing the name of Crack Fries. Right move? Or are they watering down the Hopcat brand as they become a chain? 

https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/2018/12/11/hopcat-crack-fries-menu-detroit/2274876002/

I always thought their target market was smart enough to be empathetic towards the drug/opioid crisis, but still be able to joke about the fries being addictive. Still love Hopcat, but this one makes me scratch my head. Especially knowing the origin story of a guy starting a bar that he’d like to hang out at.

I always loved the unapologetic nature of Hopcat. From the bathrooms (iconic image of Johnny Cash flipping off the camera) to the waitstaff not being typical (my wife and I always joke that you can definitely tell when a hiring manager is male). Maybe it's a big shift in brand strategy as they try to duke it out with more traditional chains, or much ado about nothing? Curious what other people think. I'm in Marketing, so maybe I overthink these minor details.

Joe

[GRDadof3]

17 minutes ago, joeDowntown said:

I moved this from another thread. Wondering what people's thoughts are on Hopcat changing the name of Crack Fries. Right move? Or are they watering down the Hopcat brand as they become a chain? 

https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/2018/12/11/hopcat-crack-fries-menu-detroit/2274876002/

I always thought their target market was smart enough to be empathetic towards the drug/opioid crisis, but still be able to joke about the fries being addictive. Still love Hopcat, but this one makes me scratch my head. Especially knowing the origin story of a guy starting a bar that he’d like to hang out at.

I always loved the unapologetic nature of Hopcat. From the bathrooms (iconic image of Johnny Cash flipping off the camera) to the waitstaff not being typical (my wife and I always joke that you can definitely tell when a hiring manager is male). Maybe it's a big shift in brand strategy as they try to duke it out with more traditional chains, or much ado about nothing? Curious what other people think. I'm in Marketing, so maybe I overthink these minor details.

Joe

I think it's just being exposed to more and more of a mainstream audience, which may be more sensitive to things like this. We went to the Hopcat on the Beltline and it was definitely a different crowd and vibe than downtown. Needless to say we have no plans to go back. 

[mpchicago]

25 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

I think it's just being exposed to more and more of a mainstream audience, which may be more sensitive to things like this. We went to the Hopcat on the Beltline and it was definitely a different crowd and vibe than downtown. Needless to say we have no plans to go back. 

This brand has traditionally been targeted at urban, college town markets.  I think Knapps Corner is the first suburban location.   I wouldn't be surprised if this complaint came from a patron of Knapps Corner.   But maybe that's a reach    With that said, calling them Crack Fries was just fine with me.  

BTW, McDonald's is preparing to launch cheesy bacon fries nationwide in 2019.

Edited December 12, 2018 by mpchicago

[thebeerqueer]

42 minutes ago, joeDowntown said:

I moved this from another thread. Wondering what people's thoughts are on Hopcat changing the name of Crack Fries. Right move? Or are they watering down the Hopcat brand as they become a chain? 

https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/2018/12/11/hopcat-crack-fries-menu-detroit/2274876002/

I always thought their target market was smart enough to be empathetic towards the drug/opioid crisis, but still be able to joke about the fries being addictive. Still love Hopcat, but this one makes me scratch my head. Especially knowing the origin story of a guy starting a bar that he’d like to hang out at.

I always loved the unapologetic nature of Hopcat. From the bathrooms (iconic image of Johnny Cash flipping off the camera) to the waitstaff not being typical (my wife and I always joke that you can definitely tell when a hiring manager is male). Maybe it's a big shift in brand strategy as they try to duke it out with more traditional chains, or much ado about nothing? Curious what other people think. I'm in Marketing, so maybe I overthink these minor details.

Joe

I think it's a move to show a stance on drug/opioid crisis while still being inventive and fun. Maybe they should've had a naming contest. Could've helped with softening the blow to people that loved the name 'crack fries'. 

[GRDadof3]

5 minutes ago, thebeerqueer said:

I think it's a move to show a stance on drug/opioid crisis while still being inventive and fun. Maybe they should've had a naming contest. Could've helped with softening the blow to people that loved the name 'crack fries'. 

Someone was talking on FB about what the new name would be and "Fentanyl Fries" won the internet that day.