Union Square

[rallymatt]

I was going to say that earlier, Mikey and I actually had an IM discussion about it. How can you compare 300k+ condos with 140k+ Condos... And yeah, you can walk pretty much anywhere from there (I've done it a million times)..

I like the location, sure you don't see the river, but you're closer. And when I toured there, I didn't even hear cars on the highway. Congrats on the new place, which type (size/bedroom) did you pick?

We have a larger unit (like, 1000sq/ft) 2 bedroom's, 2 baths. Front yard, and courtyard.

[GRDadof3]

Actually, I like having traffic or noise in the background at night (or day). Complete silence makes my ears ring. If you want absolute peace and quiet, there is a lot of land available in Grant

You guys missed the fun last night. anticrcdutch went on a big rant with himself (no one else was even posting on the Union Square thread at the time) and was saying all kinds of weird schizo stuff, and then would end his posts with Go Notre Dame! Allan cleared all of his posts. I don't know if we will hear from him again, but it was a good laugh!

[PBJ]

Actually, I like having traffic or noise in the background at night (or day). Complete silence makes my ears ring. If you want absolute peace and quiet, there is a lot of land available in Grant

You guys missed the fun last night. anticrcdutch went on a big rant with himself (no one else was even posting on the Union Square thread at the time) and was saying all kinds of weird schizo stuff, and then would end his posts with Go Notre Dame! Allan cleared all of his posts. I don't know if we will hear from him again, but it was a good laugh!

Well that sucks.. I even checked a few times last night.... Every couple of months someone comes outta the wood works... Notre Dame blows the last couple of years anyways.. Go State..

Back on topic.. i'm with you on the noise, i have to have a fan going when I sleep.... Although when I was at American Seating, the noise from the fire alarm being pulled at 3am constantly was a bit annoying..

[torgo]

Well that sucks.. I even checked a few times last night.... Every couple of months someone comes outta the wood works... Notre Dame blows the last couple of years anyways.. Go State..

Back on topic.. i'm with you on the noise, i have to have a fan going when I sleep.... Although when I was at American Seating, the noise from the fire alarm being pulled at 3am constantly was a bit annoying..

Naah...go USC. Too bad i missed the rants though...they sound entertaining

I have freeway noise a bit at my house, and it rarely bothers me. I like it at night, but during the rush hours it can be a bit much.

amd rallymatt, your condo sounds pretty nice to me

[fluffy]

I LOVE noise! I as well, sleep with a fan. I'm pretty excited to be getting a place downtown soon.

I was wondering if anti-crc was gonna go crazy, but I was hella-busy last night.

Rallymatt, don't get hammer'd!

[GRCentro]

You guys missed the fun last night. anticrcdutch went on a big rant with himself (no one else was even posting on the Union Square thread at the time) and was saying all kinds of weird schizo stuff, and then would end his posts with Go Notre Dame! Allan cleared all of his posts. I don't know if we will hear from him again, but it was a good laugh!

Ah, that must be it. Pro-CatholicIrish.

[GRDadof3]

Ah, that must be it. Pro-CatholicIrish.

Hey, if you're going to be pro-anything, that's not 1/2 bad. Maybe anti-pasta will be back tonight after a few drinks

[publius]

Ah, that must be it. Pro-CatholicIrish.

I love the bulletin board city category for being banned--

It just says "Swoon", lol

Its sad though that in this day and age there are still people who have a mindset based on such large-scale ethnic/religious stereotyping. The poor fellow might be surprised to know there are a good number of crc members on the notre dame faculty, including even the theology faculty, lol

[mike10]

Wow, I haven't checked this board for a few days and some dude with an opinion really got things going. So I would like to comment. First, I'm new to the Grand Rapids area (moved here from Raleigh, NC) I was disappointed at first about the somewhat close minded atmosphere. After my wife and I looked at Union Square we new it was where we wanted to be. Is the neighborhood as "nice" as landmark?.... of course not. But will it be filled with money loving idiots like the anti-dutch person. I'm hoping not. However, I'm also not purchasing a Union Square with the comfort of knowing that it is the best investment of my life. It's a risk. But money comes and money goes. It comes down to doing what feels right.... and Union Square feels right to me. Peace

[twoshort]

However, I'm also not purchasing a Union Square with the comfort of knowing that it is the best investment of my life. It's a risk. But money comes and money goes.

I completely agree with this statement. I won't comment on the rest because this isn't the place for that kind of debate. But this part is spot on.

[Paris Texas]

Yikes. Just came on today and was greeted with the anti-CRC commentary. All religions have extremists, but for the most part, GR has benefited from the CRC presence here in ways that are a pretty good tradeoff for the perceived lack of open-mindedness (e.g., cleanliness, accountability, good work ethic). Union Square is a risk that it will be up to the owners to make work. As for the .35/sq.ft. association fees mentioned by Mr. Hitler in his posting, is this figure accurate? I didn't think they'd gotten that high, although I did catch the veiled slam Moch made about "lower condo fees for new building" in a recent ad for Icon.

[Prankster]

All religions have extremists, but for the most part, GR has benefited from the CRC presence here in ways that are a pretty good tradeoff for the perceived lack of open-mindedness (e.g., cleanliness, accountability, good work ethic).

Talk about stereotyping, the CRC exemplifies cleanliness, accountability and good work ethics? I guess the rest of us Catholics, Baptists and others should be so lucky to have you around to keep us in line. So what you are saying is that without the CRC, none of the good would exist? Or exist at a much smaller scale? Wow, talk about being narrow minded. I'm glad the majority of the CRC does not share your holier than thou attitude.

[svs650k3]

As for the .35/sq.ft. association fees mentioned by Mr. Hitler in his posting, is this figure accurate? I didn't think they'd gotten that high, although I did catch the veiled slam Moch made about "lower condo fees for new building" in a recent ad for Icon.

When I was thinking about buying in Union Square, they said around .25/sq.ft. but I'd imagine that as they work on the building they will be able to more accurately determine what it will cost to run and then dues will be adjusted accordingly.

[Paris Texas]

Talk about stereotyping, the CRC exemplifies cleanliness, accountability and good work ethics? I guess the rest of us Catholics, Baptists and others should be so lucky to have you around to keep us in line. So what you are saying is that without the CRC, none of the good would exist? Or exist at a much smaller scale? Wow, talk about being narrow minded. I'm glad the majority of the CRC does not share your holier than thou attitude.

Talk about putting words in my mouth. Talk about making assumptions. Talk about narrow mindedness. Maybe if you got the boulder off your shoulder, it would uncover your ears and you would hear better.

I'm just a soul whose intentions are good. Oh, Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood. This site is for condo info, I regret letting myself be dissuaded. Never again!

[GRDadof3]

OK, time to keep this car from skidding off the road. After the posts regarding the perceived "crime" area near Union Square, I took a little photo tour on Broadway Ave from Union Square up to Bridge Street:

Work progressing full force on the West side of the building:

These highway overpasses have been recently redone, and don't look that bad (if you have to have overpasses for neighbors), and there are sidewalks on both sides of the street, including the Mt Vernon one-way under the highway (at left)<<:

Looks pretty ominous

Man....on....bike......

I've seen some rough looking nuns working in the gardens here before. GET OUT!!!

Another church. Lock the car doors!

Whew! Made it to Bridge Street unharmed. But wait, is that.....a BAR, and an IRISH PUB!!!!!

My work is done here.

[twoshort]

A little blurb from the Business Review Western Michigan:

"'There's 36 units still available,' said John Rooks, president of Parkland Realty in Grand Rapids.

Seven of 20 Roof top penthouses, added after the original design, have sold."

"Union Square condos range from $150 to $165 per square foot, with penthouses selling for $172 to $182 per square foot. The company expects buyers to move in May 2006 with completion in October 2006."

So.. 80% sold, 20% still available. Does that match the info we already had?

[svs650k3]

That matches the info that they sent me recently. Apparently they have changed a few floor plans as well so there are more comdos in the 150's range.

[lg4]

Back on topic.. i'm with you on the noise, i have to have a fan going when I sleep....

ahhhh.....a kindred spirit - always a fan on to sleep! White noise - nice...

[lg4]

Talk about putting words in my mouth. Talk about making assumptions. Talk about narrow mindedness. Maybe if you got the boulder off your shoulder, it would uncover your ears and you would hear better.

I'm just a soul whose intentions are good. Oh, Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood. This site is for condo info, I regret letting myself be dissuaded. Never again!

Don't rush off, Paris Texas...I made the mistake of posting too soon when I first

came across a topic I had an opinion on that subsequently became a little 'hot'.

Stick around and get a feel for people's personalities and the format of the different

forums and you'll find lots of interesting people who have the love of urban living,

GR in particular, in common.

Even occassional snarkiness gets forgiven (or deleted!) So, monitor the posts for

awhile and then join back in. I'm squeezing my way back to the bar and I'll make

some room for you, too! Beer for everyone and cheers to those able to purchase new

condo-homes that will become thriving neighborhoods.

[PBJ]

Yeah, I love me some white noise. They actually "play" white noise here at work, and when they turn it off for like an all office announcement, it sounds errily quiet .

[GRguy]

I have some friends that are buying a place here and we went over to look at it last night. What a great project. If anyone has not been over to see the models or the building in general, it is worth a visit. Wow.

[mojitomandy]

I have some friends that are buying a place here and we went over to look at it last night. What a great project. If anyone has not been over to see the models or the building in general, it is worth a visit. Wow.

Thanks for this post. I needed to hear it!

[GRDadof3]

Haven't heard an update on this project in a while. I found this article in MiBiz from a week ago that was missed. Sounds like Rooks has found a possible tenant for the auditorium, which he hopes to announce later this month:

http://www.mibiz.com/absolutenm/templates/...=7660&zoneid=32

He also states that when finished, it will be the largest number of condos in any one project downtown. Drove by the other day and construction crews look to be going to town on the building.

[rallymatt]

Haven't heard an update on this project in a while. I found this article in MiBiz from a week ago that was missed. Sounds like Rooks has found a possible tenant for the auditorium, which he hopes to announce later this month:

http://www.mibiz.com/absolutenm/templates/...=7660&zoneid=32

He also states that when finished, it will be the largest number of condos in any one project downtown. Drove by the other day and construction crews look to be going to town on the building.

We had to confirm our bathroom selections yesterday, and our floorplan (that we changed a bit)

They cut our door opening in the big exterior wall, and they say they will be putting our interior walls in next month (we are on the last floor to be finished)

[Veronica]

We had to confirm our bathroom selections yesterday, and our floorplan (that we changed a bit)

They cut our door opening in the big exterior wall, and they say they will be putting our interior walls in next month (we are on the last floor to be finished)

The place is really great but I still can't get used to it overlooking the freeway.

I do think its a wonderful upswing for the West side though!