Grand Rapids news (Ionia: leasing, hotel, neighborhood)

[Zenstyle]

Now if only something concrete would happen on the northeast corner of Fuller and Wealthy!
(No pun intended.)

[mjlo]

https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/ne...w-tech-center/

GVSU continues to plan more density and students in it's downtown campus. No official announcements yet.

[mjlo]

https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/ne...-grand-rapids/

Developer wants to convert an empty 1950s office building and some surface lots into a residential project. This is on State St. between Jefferson and Lafeyette. This is at the edge of the area around St Mary's/Trinity Health's medical/research campus. I think this area on the edge of downtown, right before Heritage Hill starts is the next big area of infill. This neighborhood is a patchwork of surface lots just waiting to be built on.

Developer is taking this to the HPC to get their take on it. The HPC has seemed a bit more logical of late. Hopefully they will continue that trend, and not vote in favor of keeping a non-descript, architecturally non-significant box along with surface lots over infill. Though it can be hard to predict with them.

[Zenstyle]

Except for the brick pavement, State Street is like something out of the Old West. Few trees, not many people around, and fewer buildings. And the City hasn’t finished the street’s re-bricking; half of it is still undone. I’m glad it’s getting some much-needed attention now.

[mjlo]

https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rap...apids-58m.html

Story on the amphitheater project, and the city relocating several departments away from some prime river front area. I'm all about this section of the river opening up, still not super excited about an amphitheater. Seems a bit redundant with the arena, especially since it can only be comfortable use around 7 months a year. I do like the renderings in the story.

[mjlo]

https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/ne...redevelopment/

Proposal for 526 units in the former display pack complex. This is another warehouse conversion that would bring more density to the west side of the Creston Neighborhood.

[mjlo]

https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/ne...enue-building/

8 new apartments slated on Division just south of Wealthy. 8 may not seem like a lot, but this represents interest in investing is progressing further south down Division, in a stretch that has seen disinvestment since the 70s. As I understand there are other underutilized/derelict properties with interest in them at the moment. Will be curious to see if more news starts coming out of the area.

[Zenstyle]

^ Thanks for this. The article doesn’t mention anything about the site being a brownfield, so one wonders why it’s been neglected for so long.

[mjlo]

Originally Posted by Zenstyle

^ Thanks for this. The article doesn’t mention anything about the site being a brownfield, so one wonders why it’s been neglected for so long.

Agreed. I am ashamed to admit that I don't know enough about how Brownfields work, but I'd be surprised if a property like this didn't qualify under the definition.

[mjlo]

https://www.courier-journal.com/stor...s/70413620007/

52 more(income restricted) apartments approved for the Belknap Lookout neighborhood. One of my favorite neighborhoods in the city. The transformation this neighborhood has gone through has been pretty big, especially considering future plans. I'm surprised it's not talked about more.