920 Cherry, ICCF/Blodgett Home and Fairmount Square

[uncus]

Apparently Eastbrook appealed the HPC's denial of their four-unit building on Hollister to the state level. They are also coming back with a new two-unit proposal for the Hollister site for the next HPC meeting.

[ArsEcclesiae]

I love it when such beauty is restored!

[markrumsey]

I never quite understood why the HPC denied that request. I know the reason was that they thought the develpement was too dense, but i thought denisity was good. It reduces cost and resouces and since it puts more people in a smaller space it allows for more green space. There are seveal areas in the city where you will find multi-units buildings mixed with single family homes. I thought the diversity was good for the community. I think the HPC does great work, so i'm wondering what there thinking was behind this decision.

[Rhino6885]

So, what happened on Wednesday?

[GRDadof3]

So, what happened on Wednesday?

[Rhino6885]

Duplexes were approved, according to Rachel, after a 3 hours meeting.

[Eridony]

Nice! They've been back there for a couple weeks now preparing the infrastructure. By the looks of it, roads should be poured pretty soon. It's not every day that NEW roads are added to a century old neighborhood.

[fotoman311]

There's a great article published today on RapidGrowthMedia.com.

http://rapidgrowthmedia.com/features/iccfout8007.aspx

It goes into some pretty good detail on the history of the building and the process used to reconstruct it.

[GRDadof3]

I noticed in the paper that there will be a hearing on Dec. 13th to review the amended Eastbrook plans at this site. I'll keep an eye out for the Planning Commission agenda and see if we can get a look at them earlier than the 13th.

[Rhino6885]

I noticed in the paper that there will be a hearing on Dec. 13th to review the amended Eastbrook plans at this site. I'll keep an eye out for the Planning Commission agenda and see if we can get a look at them earlier than the 13th.

[GRDadof3]

Condo plans divide Fairmount Square neighbors

Thursday, December 06, 2007

By Jim Harger

The Grand Rapids Press

GRAND RAPIDS -- The streets are in place and the lots are staked out for a condominium project in the city's Fairmount Square neighborhood.

But after more than a year of sparring between preservation-minded neighbors and developer Eastbrook Homes, it's still unclear what the area's first privately backed housing project in 30 years will look like.

Neighbors who convinced the city's Historic Preservation Commission to reject Eastbrook's plans this summer now claim there isn't enough green space around the 35 units in the latest plan.

I know some people here live in this area. Is it true that neighbors are "divided", or are there just several people who just don't want Eastbrook there no matter what they come up with? The comments about "two car garages" is a bit strange. If you polled Grand Rapids residents who only have 1 car garages currently, I'm guessing 95% of them would love a two-car garage.

Eastbrook has brought on Tom Nemitz of Cornerstone Architects to design the new townhomes, which is a big change for them since most of their design work is done in-house (at least it used to be the case several years ago). Plans should be available to the public here shortly (keeping an eye out for the agenda pdf). Starting prices also now look to be $159K, which is lower than they had originally proposed.

[Rhino6885]

I know some people here live in this area. Is it true that neighbors are "divided", or are there just several people who just don't want Eastbrook there no matter what they come up with?

[GRguy]

Cornerstone has done some nice projects. I would expect the design to be sensitive to the context, but also have a little "cool" factor. Let's hope $159K can buy a little "cool".

[GRDadof3]

Here are the new designs, compliments of a fellow Planeteer :

Pretty straightforward. I do think they look more like the neighboring homes than the old plans.

As well as a breakdown of the exterior materials to be used:

Blodgett is a new street in the development that runs East/West, and Hollister Ave runs alongside the development North/South and intersects with Cherry. Here is the old site plan, which has now been revised to the new layouts, but essentially the layout remains much the same (AFAIK):

Here were the previous plans that were rejected by the HPC:

[grcitydog]

I have to agree... the new design does look better than the old one. I don't have a problem with the desity, considering that what was there before certainly wasn't very dense. I am excited to see this project get going, the more people in the area, the more chance there will be to drive the neighborhood to be even better, and the more opportunity for what I really would like to see in the area...a real neighborhood grocery store.

[Jocar]

The city planning commission approved the Fairmount Condo project.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ss....xml&coll=6

[fotoman311]

I have to agree... the new design does look better than the old one. I don't have a problem with the desity, considering that what was there before certainly wasn't very dense. I am excited to see this project get going, the more people in the area, the more chance there will be to drive the neighborhood to be even better, and the more opportunity for what I really would like to see in the area...a real neighborhood grocery store.

[gr49503]

Where would someone put a real neighborhood grocery store in East Hills? And how big does it have to be to be considered adequate? Does it need a meat dept. and a bakery and a large produce section? Does Martha's Vineyard count as a neighborhood grocery?

Edit: This might be off topic though. I don't know where it would go though, maybe it's own topic in Coffeehouse? I definitely think there is a need for a decent grocery store to serve the Heritage Hill/East Hills/west midtown area. But, you pay for the small size and convenience in higher prices.

[Grandrapidsne]

I always thought Duthlers serviced the East Hills area. That store is in need of a major makeover seems like. Otherwise a good location for a store i think will be hard to find in that area the lots are not nearly as big for parking and such.

[amylynne]

I always thought Duthlers serviced the East Hills area. That store is in need of a major makeover seems like. Otherwise a good location for a store i think will be hard to find in that area the lots are not nearly as big for parking and such.

[Rhino6885]

I'm guessing that most people go to the Family Fare on Fulton near Fuller.

[grcitydog]

We go to the Family Fare on Fulton too, but head out to Meijers out once a month or so. I think that a little meat market would be nice in the area- currently there really isn't much choice anywhere close, the Family Fare doesn't have the best meat department. In the summer, however we utilize the Farmers Market all the time, in my opinion, that is the best asset the area has.

[twoshort]

I wonder if anyone around here has any connections at Eastbrook and could get a image of the condos...

[GRDadof3]

I wonder if anyone around here has any connections at Eastbrook and could get a image of the condos...

[twoshort]

thanks Jeff.

Is this quote still accurate? "Cummings said most of the townhouses will have two bedrooms, but all will be built to be easily expanded if another bedroom, a rec room or a den is needed. The homes will offer about 1,500 square feet of living space and will sell from $125,000 to $195,000."

ala 2004.