Changes at 50 Monroe?

[Rizzo]

That was my first reaction. Another parking lot bites the dust.

[joeDowntown]

Depending on what they do, the extra stories will make Rosa Parks Circle one of the coolest places to enjoy the city. That, and having the J.W. poking over the National City building.

One note: keep your back to the east so you don't have to look at the Art Museum.

Joe

[MJLO]

I still contend that the art museum, providing that someday it's actually been constructed, wont look that bad, it actually might compliment the circle quite nicely

[Rizzo]

Yup, because it so minilimistic that it provides itself as a canvas for the surrounding architecture.

[snoogit]

Yup, because it so minilimistic that it provides itself as a canvas for the surrounding architecture.

That just makes the Art Museum sound ironic in context.

[Rizzo]

I believe that the art musuem is there to provide attention to works of art. Why build a place that is so overbearing in style to just take away from the works of art inside? I contend that was one of the considerations when developing this architecture. Its minimalistic for a purpose, it provides a canvas for the works inside and to reflect the ambiance from the surrounding architecture...

If 50 Monroe turns out to be a rebuilt and is quite the "signature" then it would make for a nice ambiance between the building and GRAM.

[hood]

How is this more exciting? Its seems that the project will be on par with tall house and other 10 story buildings... Nothing to get excited about except maby a few :yahoo:s and your done. I'm missing something, correct?

A ten story office building should be considerably taller than a ten story residential building, I think usually between 150' to 180', sometimes taller as opposed to 120'-130', also office buildings are usually built up to the street with no setbacks higher up, making it fell a little bigger. I, personally think a ten story office building is worth some attention, the Capitol View building in Lansing is only 9 floors and it did quite a bit to fill in the surface lot that was once there.

[joeDowntown]

I am not against minamalism. This just seems uninspired, which I think is the purpose of an art museum. The MOMA in New York is quite spartan but inspiring.

I still think slashing budgets = crapty architecture (since all of the inspiration seems to be cut first, leaving only function). We'll see how it turns out...

Joe

[Prankster]

Don't we have enough precast concrete panels over on the grcc campus? That is pretty much what the art museum renderings remind me of.

[mejane]

Uninspired describes it perfectly, at least from the renderings. The minimalist look

suggests a museum of contemporary art, whereas I don't believe that is the bulk

of the GR Art Museums collection. I was hoping for something deserving of the

hype and donor contributions. I think the city jumped the gun on this one. I was

equally disappointed with the new public museum. (Does EVERYTHING have to

be named VanAndel?) I think somebody asked this before: where is all the cool stuff

from the museum on Jefferson? Why a new building and so little of the permanent

collection in it? I wonder if the art museum can generate enough interest to support it.

I believe without the large, traveling exhibits and special events held there, few would

bother with return trips to the Public Museum as those displays are, 'seen 'em once,

don't need to see 'em again any time soon.'

Oops, there's probably a better thread for this...back to the topic at hand.........

[Rizzo]

Believe this, I goto the Musuem about 5-8 times a year, don't know why... I just go and take in some facinating collections. Yah, it is a bummer that the old musuem collection isn't on display, I wonder if Van Andel had anything to do with the selection of items to be displayed?

[Greedo]

We're getting off topic, but considering the museum industry uses foot traffic as it's primary method of measurement from year-to-year, the trend is to focus attention, gallery space and investments in "blockbuster" exhibitions, with little development of the permanent collections. Think Egypt, Petra or dresses from movies instead of the stuff sitting in boxes in the basement.

These exhibitions are wildly popular, but also massively expensive. Organizations are often building new gallery space to accomodate them (Calvin College anyone?). So what happens after the blockbuster leaves? You get really high highs, but end up with really low lows. It's like meth for museums.

When was the last time the downtown museums added a significant piece to their permanent collections? And then, when did they make a big deal out of it?

I think the new GRAM and modest building at 50 Monroe will frame Rosa Parks Circle really well.

[mejane]

Thanks for putting more of a business perspective to it, Greedo. I hope you guys are

right, that the building will suit it's environment perfectly and will be a great addition

for the community. Back to 50 Monroe...

[metrogrkid]

A ten story office building should be considerably taller than a ten story residential building, I think usually between 150' to 180', sometimes taller as opposed to 120'-130', also office buildings are usually built up to the street with no setbacks higher up, making it fell a little bigger. I, personally think a ten story office building is worth some attention, the Capitol View building in Lansing is only 9 floors and it did quite a bit to fill in the surface lot that was once there.

Hood:

If you've never been over here from the Lansing forum - welcome - and point well taken. I think you'll find though that most here at GR-UP want 15-20 stories+ in Central Downtown.

[hood]

I think everyone, in GR, Lansing and many other places would like taller, more impressive buildings. But thats not always realistic, my point was simply that a ten story building isn't as insignificant in a city the size of GR as some think, but never the less taller is better as far as I'm concerned, but you can only hope for so much.

[Rizzo]

Whatever the heck you think, if you go by localtalents population model, we better start thinking in terms of height in the urban core right now, because once we build buildings, they're going to be there for a long time.

[destijl]

I don't think that article tells the whole story, but it appears some people are starting to pick up the clues . Here's a picture of 50 Monroe before it was re-skinned (far right, about 1/2 way up):

I've heard it's not worth uncovering.

I have some snapshots of the biulding before and during the "re-skinning". I'll try to post them tonight.

[towermart]

Whatever the heck you think, if you go by localtalents population model, we better start thinking in terms of height in the urban core right now, because once we build buildings, they're going to be there for a long time.

Should there be a program then to subsidize developers for building future capacity for capacity that can't beeconomically justified in the near term?

[GRDadof3]

Should there be a program then to subsidize developers for building future capacity for capacity that can't beeconomically justified in the near term?

Good question. You can't "build it and they will come" with high-rises. Houston did that during the oil boom, and I don't think they've still fully recovered.

[mgreven]

FYI: My "source" (yeah, I know that you would like more than that; sorry) says to watch for a major announcement in the coming weeks. There is more riding on all of the deals going on in that block than I knew before. Once some of the questions are answered, then they will announce. From what I hear, it is going to be BIG news.

Any news on this lately?

It was a while ago that WOOD made mention of it...also, anything on Macatawa?

(It's been good to go back and read old thread and get excited about ALL the other stuff going on around GR - I feel like we've forgotten about a lot of the other rumors and projects)

[Yankee Fan]

Any news on this lately?

It was a while ago that WOOD made mention of it...also, anything on Macatawa?

(It's been good to go back and read old thread and get excited about ALL the other stuff going on around GR - I feel like we've forgotten about a lot of the other rumors and projects)

It's funny that you should ask. I expected to hear something already. Maybe they are on spring vacation. I will see if I can get an update for you.

[mgreven]

It's funny that you should ask. I expected to hear something already. Maybe they are on spring vacation. I will see if I can get an update for you.

Thanks...I need to start getting excited about other things (don't we all!)

[HolidayInnExpress]

Any news on this lately?

It was a while ago that WOOD made mention of it...also, anything on Macatawa?

(It's been good to go back and read old thread and get excited about ALL the other stuff going on around GR - I feel like we've forgotten about a lot of the other rumors and projects)

Just think if this Monroe development is indeed big and information got leaked premature to all the

[GRDadof3]

Just think if this Monroe development is indeed big and information got leaked premature to all the

[Rizzo]

I'm guessing things have cooled off on this one, anyone hear anything more on this?