Creston Neighborhood

[joeDowntown]

7 hours ago, RiversideGR said:

for those interested, it looks like MiEN is offering a tour of the Baker building next week.

Link to register: Michigan (a4le.org)

also included an additional rendering for the corner of Ann and Monroe:

 

Can’t wait for construction to start. Love the signage in the rendering. 

Joe

[RiversideGR]

The developers of the former Display Pack property are bringing a proposal for a mixed-use development in front of the Creston Neighborhood Association this week. I don't know many other details, but it will be interesting to see if this takes off.

[thebeerqueer]

12 hours ago, RiversideGR said:

The developers of the former Display Pack property are bringing a proposal for a mixed-use development in front of the Creston Neighborhood Association this week. I don't know many other details, but it will be interesting to see if this takes off.

Thanks for the heads up. Does anyone have a link to what they're proposing?

[RiversideGR]

42 minutes ago, thebeerqueer said:

Thanks for the heads up. Does anyone have a link to what they're proposing?

I don't....the neighborhood association email didn't provide much detail other than "mixed-use" and 500+ residential units (!!!). Going to the neighborhood is usually a first step, but we have seen proposals for this property fizzle out in the past. I am hoping that with all the new apartments on Plainfield and the upcoming work on the riverfront along Monroe that this one will be different.

I have no inside information, but it would be awesome if the ground floor of the building was a Bridge Street Market-style grocery store. That is really needed in that area.

[joeDowntown]

That’s exciting. At one point I had seen some plans with a renovation of the main building, plus. We residential buildings on site. This could be a BIG project!

[thebeerqueer]

4 hours ago, RiversideGR said:

I don't....the neighborhood association email didn't provide much detail other than "mixed-use" and 500+ residential units (!!!). Going to the neighborhood is usually a first step, but we have seen proposals for this property fizzle out in the past. I am hoping that with all the new apartments on Plainfield and the upcoming work on the riverfront along Monroe that this one will be different.

I have no inside information, but it would be awesome if the ground floor of the building was a Bridge Street Market-style grocery store. That is really needed in that area.

Okay, thanks for the information. I rent in a collective in this area and am always curious about what might happen with this property. 

[Jonesey]

I have renderings somewhere.  The plan was to demo the one story portion, renovate the the existing building, add two residential buildings along Monroe and Caledonia and then build a 600 space parking garage along Taylor.  The interior would be greenspace.  I thought this project was dead, but I'm guessing these massive old factory projects take a long time.  My doing some quick math I would guess the two new buildings and parking garage would be 5-6 stories.  Hopefully it happens, it would be a great catalyst to make the area like N. Monroe.

[Zads]

Here's the piece from Crain's Grand Rapids. Sadly, this means demolishing the old factory. That's too bad because that would be great for apartment lofts in the area. But boy does it bring a wealth of apartments into the area that we sorely need.

"The Oak Brook, Ill.-based commercial real estate investor plans to build two separate, four-story structures on the north and south end of the site at 1340 Monroe Ave. NW. Plans also call for a 627-space parking deck in the middle of the property between the two apartment buildings."

https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/real-estate/developer-plans-526-apartments-at-massive-grand-rapids-factory-redevelopment/

[gvsusean]

1 hour ago, Zads said:

Here's the piece from Crain's Grand Rapids. Sadly, this means demolishing the old factory. That's too bad because that would be great for apartment lofts in the area. But boy does it bring a wealth of apartments into the area that we sorely need.

"The Oak Brook, Ill.-based commercial real estate investor plans to build two separate, four-story structures on the north and south end of the site at 1340 Monroe Ave. NW. Plans also call for a 627-space parking deck in the middle of the property between the two apartment buildings."

https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/real-estate/developer-plans-526-apartments-at-massive-grand-rapids-factory-redevelopment/

They could replace it with something attractive at least  

[RiversideGR]

32 minutes ago, gvsusean said:

They could replace it with something attractive at least  

Call me crazy, but I actually really like the aesthetic. 

1 hour ago, Zads said:

Here's the piece from Crain's Grand Rapids. Sadly, this means demolishing the old factory. That's too bad because that would be great for apartment lofts in the area. But boy does it bring a wealth of apartments into the area that we sorely need.

"The Oak Brook, Ill.-based commercial real estate investor plans to build two separate, four-story structures on the north and south end of the site at 1340 Monroe Ave. NW. Plans also call for a 627-space parking deck in the middle of the property between the two apartment buildings."

https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/real-estate/developer-plans-526-apartments-at-massive-grand-rapids-factory-redevelopment/

Also noted this from the article:

Quote

Franklin Partners’ project is allowed by right and would not require city planning commission approval, though the developers are applying for brownfield incentives for a portion of the property. Ghafari Associates is the architect of the project and Wolverine Building Group will serve as the general contractor.

 

[joeDowntown]

Demolition was not on my Bingo card. In this location, I do like the overall aesthetic and think it may feel more dense than a loft development w/ big parking lot next to it.

It'll be interesting to see how it goes (and how soon). Franklin has done some really nice work in Grand Rapids, so I'm pretty hopeful they will do a good job.

Joe

[RiversideGR]

What really excites me about the three housing developments for Creston is that all are planned for properties that were vacant/abandoned. We aren't losing anything, but we are gaining 700+ units of housing and a few retail spaces. 

[GR_Urbanist]

As long as they build up to the street on both Monroe and Caledonia, and put some bodies in units, I'm good with the trade, even though I wish they would have kept the original structure and just build on the massive empty lot next to it. I really want to see Monroe between Ann and Leonard populated.

[joeDowntown]

From WoodTV. They also had more photos. The layout is huge.

https://www.woodtv.com/news/grand-rapids/apartment-complex-planned-for-gr-creston-neighborhood/

 

[RiversideGR]

8 hours ago, joeDowntown said:

From WoodTV. They also had more photos. The layout is huge.

https://www.woodtv.com/news/grand-rapids/apartment-complex-planned-for-gr-creston-neighborhood/

 

Maybe I'm disoriented but one of the renderings looks like the courtyard opens up to the parking garage while the site plan looks like the courtyards are fully enclosed. It seems like from the resident's perspective it would be nice to be able to walk from the garage to the apartments without having to go outside.

[RiversideGR]

https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/retail/wine-and-floral-shop-coming-to-long-vacant-site-in-grand-rapids-creston-neighborhood/?fbclid=IwAR1xtqiJqrlV00EsU2AEQ6SAHbmDw9W1hplgApTi1WsqpKf56QnZTj9B6pA&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

[joeDowntown]

I’m not a big fan of the pitched roof. It’s a great old building, and trying to add an MCM flair to it seems semi absurd to me (and I love MCM). It’ll be nice to see this neglected building come back online (and I think Creston is a very hot neighborhood), but I think they should just rehab the building without the odd sloped roof addition. 

Joe

[arcturus]

Really like the design and functionality, especially for a FLORAL shop in cloudy, rainy, often cold Grand Rapids.  Brings in the light, can utilize passive solar, and evacuates water without the flat roof headaches.

[GR_Urbanist]

Photo from 2 days ago.

 

Context with its neighbors.

[Zads]

On 4/20/2023 at 9:05 PM, joeDowntown said:

Can’t wait for construction to start. Love the signage in the rendering. 

Joe

https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/real-estate/another-vacant-grand-rapids-factory-is-on-the-market-for-residential-redevelopment/

[ctpgr34]

Creston is starting to get busy!

 

[RiversideGR]

7 hours ago, ctpgr34 said:

Creston is starting to get busy!

 

I'm pumped. How many apartments do we have to build before something finally goes into the Madgrub/Red Ball Jet building?

[RiversideGR]

Not really exciting, but since it’s been a slow news day:

I think the catholic diocese is leasing a portion of the former Sun Title space run a “toddler and baby pantry”.

By the way they repainted the old Sun Title space, it looks like they are breaking it up into multiple tenant spaces. 

[RiversideGR]

Different angle of Lofts on Grove. It looks like the shell of the building is mostly complete and that they are beginning to start on cosmetic/interior.  

 

While driving up Plainfield today, I also noticed that 2156 Plainfield in Cheshire Village is for sale. It has been used as office space but it would be nice to see it converted back to retail or restaurant.
https://workwithmoxie.com/brokerage/#/property/611a3ecb7596b70009799178

Edited May 24, 2023 by RiversideGR
additional info

[droonus2000]

Hey, dumb question... is there sufficient room to drive that crane out of there? Is there more room than I’m thinking on the Grove side? The other end on Plainfield looks barely big enough for a car. 

Part of me really wants to see them crane it out with a monster crane. Just because it sounds wild.