Riverfront Property Proposal(s)?

[localtalent]

Why didn't your boy foust just say, i have x, y, and z, lined up. Rather than trying to sell us on more mixed infill, and a marina?

[Rizzo]

I appreciate your responses LocalTalent, but where is the PR? Where is active involvement to tell his side of the story or represent his interest in the best of light? I just don't get why it seems PR is sitting back taking hit after hit in the media to let Faust's credibility slide away.

[GRDadof3]

The city has been unpredictable and unreliable throughout this process. Be realistic, who would have "x, y and z" lined up and willing to go public before the land was even secured??? What price would you demand if a developer held a press conference announcing a billion dollar development on your property before you even knew you wanted to sell?

I've made my last effort to defend the project, though. You guys (and gals) can have the Riverfront Proposal thread as your own happy sandbox now.

[NorthEnder]

^

Blame the media then, not the people.

I'd worry more if some guy just said I have a billion dollar project, sell me your city property, and nobody raised objection.

Localtalent, you seem to be some sort of mouthpiece for this project, local or not, i don't know. Why should Faust et al. be above criticism, and blindly accepted as having a bulletproof plan? When did it become taboo to question someones financial backing, when talking about a large-scale project.

Moch recieved criticism, and still built, the examples are countless.

If someone doesn't want to build here because "their feelings were hurt" did we want them in the first place?

Have a good plan, present it, and we'll move, have a shakey plan, build hype without results, we'll question it.

Not that hard.

[torgo]

I appreciate your responses LocalTalent, but where is the PR? Where is active involvement to tell his side of the story or represent his interest in the best of light? I just don't get why it seems PR is sitting back taking hit after hit in the media to let Faust's credibility slide away.

[Rizzo]

Thanks Rizzo, you nailed it!

Isn't that what PR firms are hired to manage? If I were Faust, I'd say I have nice grounds for a civil suit against my PR service provider...

The rest about lifestyle villages not being acceptable and mixed-use infill not being acceptable are so silly.

[tamias6]

From how I see this, the Riverfront Soap Opra (makes good thread title, GR Dad. Don't you think? ) is a picture perfect result of miscommunication. All three developers gave cryptic answers, because the city of GR was being too vague as to what it wants. Maybe its just me. But asking straight up questions and giving clear cut honest answers is a sign of knowing what one is doing. Neither the city of GR or the involved developers did these things. So its the fault of all involved parties for turning what would have been a great stride for the city of GR and the chosen developer into a billion dollar hoopla that is down right laughable. Because of that, one of two things will happen. Something very lack luster will be built there because the city and whom ever the developer may turn out to be will be too afraid to do something worthwhile on fears of stirring up what has become a hornet's nest of biblical proportions or the river front will remain as it is for the foreseeable future on account that nobody wants to build their period because of this controversy. The key word of the day, fellow Planeteers, is communication.

[Prankster]

Have a good plan, present it, and we'll move, have a shakey plan, build hype without results, we'll question it.

Not that hard.

[Nitro]

I take exception to that line of thinking. Just look at the JW Marriott as an example of a project getting green lighted without any public scrutiny. The only thing they really had to answer for was the location of the helipad.

[NorthEnder]

I take exception to that line of thinking. Just look at the JW Marriott as an example of a project getting green lighted without any public scrutiny. The only thing they really had to answer for was the location of the helipad.

Now don't get me wrong, I feel this project will be a great asset for the city. But maybe a little more public input would have prevented the gulag that Campau St. has become. Just my $.02.

[Prankster]

Huh??? What about the Isreal's tear down? I'd classify that under public scrutiny.

[Kayak1]

Dan Vos, Erhardt and OAK are meeting today to discuss the proposal. From what I here, OAK is taking the lead and having the contact with Faust. I know they are still having dialogue.

[dtown]

No offense, but...

[quoteme3]

I continue to be amazed at the level of emotion displayed on this subject. Every time I am critical of the reception Faust's plan received, I get attacked like I'm threatening the very existence of Grand Rapids. Many of you have formulated opinions of RiverGrand and Faust personally/professionally based on unreliable information or flat-out rumor.

[AlexPKeaton]

So, localtalent, you said you'd reveal your identity if this project died. I take that to mean your connection to the project, not necessarily your name and any other personally identifiable information. Would you care to do so? At the very least it might help us understand why you're so opinionated on the subject.

I've been hesitant to get in on the Faust bashing because we haven't seen a concrete proposal. But it really does look suspicious when the guy gets options on land and doesn't bother paying for them or actually purchasing the land. Did he jump the gun or something? Did he expect the city to move faster and figured he'd only need options lasting a couple months? It's been what, a year since this story broke? Can you fill us in on his side of the story so we can hopefully make a more accurate judgment than you think we're all making?

And, GRDad, you should probably just leave this thread open so that this topic doesn't spill out into the rest of the forum. If people don't want to read it they don't have to click the link.

[DwntwnGeo]

Everyone seems to be jumping the gun on this. The date for proposals is not until the end of this month. After that date, we can see who has submitted and who hasn't. I believe at that time we can ask people to spill what they know about the ones who didn't submit and are out.

[quoteme3]

Everyone seems to be jumping the gun on this. The date for proposals is not until the end of this month. After that date, we can see who has submitted and who hasn't. I believe at that time we can ask people to spill what they know about the ones who didn't submit and are out.

[tamias6]

My thing with the riverfront is that I would like somthing big to happen here to really put GR on the map. Everyone here probably feels the same way. But the stakes are very high so much so that what ever happens to the riverfront will have a massive impact on DT for years or even decades to come. When playing this kind of game, I want both city and developer to make certain that all "i's" are dotted and "t's" crossed. But much to the dismay of many here including myself is that this whole riverfront thing is paning out to be a comunications breakdown mering the whole process in contraversy and politics that stands a very good chance of shutting the whole process down and potentially ruining the city of GR's image as seen by the eyes of outside developers big and small. Such a mared image would no doubt have negative effects on DT's future.

[DwntwnGeo]

I was wondering how long before WoodTV8 started to run stories of the "Developement"

From the WoodTV story:

"I fully expect to see some good proposals coming to us next week," said Mayor George Heartwell.

The city's criteria for the development include a mixed-use business, residential and retail space and the incorporation of the Grand River. It is estimated that the developers have invested six-figure sums in the proposals alone.

A task force committee will carefully go over each proposal and request changes before making their final recommendation to the city commission.

Heartwell hopes the committee will make its final recommendation within 30-45 days of receiving the final proposals.

The Headline talked about Mark London's club getting a liquor license, but it seemed like there was more written about the developement along the river than Mark's club.

The complete article can be read here:

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6090566

[GRDadof3]

OK, actual news on this:

Grand Rapids Development Corp., the Atlanta-based River Grand group, is the only one of the three developers involved in the city of Grand Rapids

[Rizzo]

Yah, good work Schoon!

“I think it really speaks to the potential good going on in the city of Grand Rapids,” Faust said of the excitement. “You know when you have a discussion and someone says exactly what you were thinking? That’s what this is. It’s something that people have felt should be done but have never stepped up and done it.”

[highwayguy]

Exactly one year ago today:

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.ph...=22051&st=0

My, what a long way we have come!

I will be interested to see what Grand Rapids Development Corp. and Duane Faust will propose to the city. Maybe I'm just hopelessly optimistic, but I'm not ready to give up on this project or its developers just yet.

[GaryP]

Exactly one year ago today:

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.ph...=22051&st=0

My, what a long way we have come!

I will be interested to see what Grand Rapids Development Corp. and Duane Faust will propose to the city. Maybe I'm just hopelessly optimistic, but I'm not ready to give up on this project or its developers just yet.

[GRDadof3]

I can't help getting excited about it either. I watched the fox news business journal report last night where they interviewed Joe Moch Sr. who basically said that the city is requiring the developer to spend $1.5 Billion dollars to create enough property tax revenue to fund the city

[Rizzo]

I was told we would get a look at the stuff the following Monday. OR Wood is going to camp out all day at City and get it that way.