Medical Mile/Michigan Street Developments

[Khorasaurus]

And you can see from this vantage point how the HDVCH tower crane has grown:

This picture reminds me...does anyone else think Michigan Street needs some streetscape sprucing up? With all the economic development going on there and all the out-of-towners it will attract, I think the street needs to look a little less like 28th Street with bigger buildings. A median, more attention to the pedestrian (this may already be a lost cause), and more attractive traffic lights with better signage would all go a long way. Plus, the way the lanes weave as you come down the hill is dangerous and confusing.

Maybe the BRT stations there will help...does anyone know if there are streetscape improvement plans in the works? Maybe for after all the buildings are finished?

Edited November 19, 2008 by Khorasaurus

[AlexPKeaton]

Am I the only one who thought the spire looked tacked on and gimmicky?

[wingbert]

Am I the only one who thought the spire looked tacked on and gimmicky?

Now that you mention it, I could never tell for sure if it was supposed to look like it was leaning against the HDCH or really was leaning against ir or was attached or what. I liked the idea with the cables to the ped bridge but the spire itself did always seem sort of weird.

[GRDadof3]

I'm probably not going to miss the spire, but it would have been cool to have this building be a real showpiece. I guess the pedestrian bridge is pretty sweet, and will be quite an entrance for the kids coming across from the parking ramp.

[AlexPKeaton]

I admit it was certainly eye-catching, but I think that's all it was. Architectural masturbation.

[Allison Slater]

now it's just another ho hum looking building.

Kind of sad when one element determines if a building looks great or not. Means the building was never all that great to begin with.

[localtalent]

Am I the only one who thought the spire looked tacked on and gimmicky?

I agree. I thought it looked like a massive hypodermic needle. A scary entrance for sick kids.

To those thinking this may just be another piece of oval glass o the skyline, I'm going to disagree a bit.

First, the building already feels like it's looming over Michigan, and it's not that tall. The siting is quite imposing with its' relation to the street and being perched on the edge of the hill. Combine this with the creative elements that are staying (the glass, the ped bridge) and I think it's going to wind up quite nice.

Also, do we really have an abundance of oval glass skyscrapers in GR? Seems to me a couple more would make for nicer postcards.

[Rizzo]

The needle and thread design was somewhat faux looking. I'd rather see substantive design. It did look cool though and would have been one hell of a gateway.

I'm assuming since this is out that the wall of illusion is too.

Edited November 20, 2008 by Rizzo

[GRDadof3]

The needle and thread design was somewhat faux looking. I'd rather see substantive design. It did look cool though and would have been one hell of a gateway.

I'm assuming since this is out that the wall of illusion is too.

Are you talking about the wave like facade on the ground floor? I would guess that is staying. You can already see cuts in the concrete for where this stuff will be mounted If not, they better do something to dress up that ground floor wall. Ick.

[fotoman311]

Are you talking about the wave like facade on the ground floor? I would guess that is staying. You can already see cuts in the concrete for where this stuff will be mounted.

Yeah, if they got ride of those waves that whole area would be a giant concrete wall. It's very intimidating walking by there right now. I'm curious what that will actually look like in real life. And how well it will age.

[lstmk]

I agree. I thought it looked like a massive hypodermic needle. A scary entrance for sick kids.

To those thinking this may just be another piece of oval glass o the skyline, I'm going to disagree a bit.

First, the building already feels like it's looming over Michigan, and it's not that tall. The siting is quite imposing with its' relation to the street and being perched on the edge of the hill. Combine this with the creative elements that are staying (the glass, the ped bridge) and I think it's going to wind up quite nice.

Also, do we really have an abundance of oval glass skyscrapers in GR? Seems to me a couple more would make for nicer postcards.

I think the unique glass pattern will also help this building standout without sticking out. Much like the blue lights of the JW at night.

[GRDadof3]

Here's what the Towers Bldg looks like while squinting into the sun:

I'm just glad we won't have any more posts on here asking what the plans are for this building.

I just had a thought. We'll probably see another tower crane go back up by next Spring (for the new tower). Maybe just in time for the Gallery on Fulton and 38 Commerce tower cranes.

[GRDadof3]

VAI Phase II from the South end:

Is that an air conditioner? Burr!

VAI Phase II from the South end:

Is that an air conditioner? Burr!

[blueradon]

I think with or without the spire - at least we will have a new building rather than nothing at all - or not another brick/block square building which would have been totally boring.

Looks like everything else is coming together nicely...

[d8alterego]

Will you be able to see the elevator car in that elevator shaft?

VAI Phase II from the South end:

[GRDadof3]

Will you be able to see the elevator car in that elevator shaft?

No, I don't believe so. The floorplans I have are pretty poor quality, but it looks like those are just windows at the end of hallways, and the elevators are in the interior.

[Michi]

Ugh. I think it's very disappointing that the spire is going away. It was much of an iconic exclamation point for the Medical Hill, not just for the building it was to be constructed into. The great thing about "wierd" architectural elements is exactly that...they're wierd and they make a place interesting. Instead of intimidating medical center goers, I think it would have been the opposite and woud have brought a sense of wonderment to visitors and employees alike.

[joeDowntown]

I agree, I think it is a real bummer. Was it a value engineering decision?

Joe

Ugh. I think it's very disappointing that the spire is going away. It was much of an iconic exclamation point for the Medical Hill, not just for the building it was to be constructed into. The great thing about "wierd" architectural elements is exactly that...they're wierd and they make a place interesting. Instead of intimidating medical center goers, I think it would have been the opposite and woud have brought a sense of wonderment to visitors and employees alike.

[GRDadof3]

I agree, I think it is a real bummer. Was it a value engineering decision?

Joe

I think maybe there was a failure of "expectation setting" of what the spire was really going to cost (client got sticker shock). That would be my guess. Even at the UM/ULI Conference, someone on one of the panels remarked at how the cost of the HDVCH was skyrocketing beyond expectations.

I think even the Press reported on it this past Summer.

The main thing though is that the Children's Hospital will have a beautiful new home. Being a regular user of their services, it will be nice to have them all consolidated into one facility (and not in a leaky drafty 80's office building).

In fact, I found these images in a review about the project. I hope they stick with a lot of these interior features (Rockwell Design I believe?):

[coolbrezze]

I hear many say the medical field gave Grand Rapids a boost.

[tamias6]

I hear many say the medical field gave Grand Rapids a boost.

It has been a big help. With a shrinking industrial base GR did everything it could to attract Life Sciences into the city. So far well over a billion dollars has been invested into the city by various local and regional health care and life science related firms. That's just in construction alone. Wait until the various facilities complete construction and open their doors. Then we will really see the long term effects all the construction on Health Hill will have.

[coolbrezze]

Sounds like good news, any other major city around the country influenced by the health field?

Also few people made statements that if your looking for a job in the health field, you should have no problem finding a job in Michigan. Would this be indicating that Michigan is now looking more than the autoindustry?

Edited November 28, 2008 by coolbrezze

[GRDadof3]

Sounds like good news, any other major city around the country influenced by the health field?

Also few people made statements that if your looking for a job in the health field, you should have no problem finding a job in Michigan. Would this be indicating that Michigan is now looking more than the autoindustry?

Uhh, don't know if that is necessarily true for all of Michigan. Henry Ford Health Systems is laying off in the Detroit area. UofM Hospital though is undergoing a massive expansion. There are other cities vying for large bio-tech clusters, such as Portland, Baltimore, Boston, Raleigh (pretty much anywhere with a large research university presence). GR has the added benefit though of the Van Andel Institute. There's really no other privately funded research facility with as large of endowment anywhere in the country. Even the Salk Institute is envious of VAA's endowment (there was an article about 6 months ago about it).

Here are some recent photo updates.

Talk about transparency!

Anyone want dibs on that sign?

And speaking of VAA, this is the new West side cantilever:

[coolbrezze]

Michigan State University seems to be big with health as well, anyone hear about all the good news in Lansing, Michigan... development etc...

http://develop.metrolansing.com/

[John E]

New photo of VAI Phase II

http://www.flickr.com/photos/johne777/3069...57608565783924/