westvillagecondos.net is up and running now, per Palapinga at urbanplanet. I'm dissapointed with the design compard with old one, however it will still be nice to see a higher quality rendering to be sure.
I wish the rowhouses were taller than in the pictures on the site. The Flats look a bit different than they currently are from my memory, I am not sure if they are going to add to the structure or not.
The article mentions renaming two streets to be collectively known as "West Village Circle". The ramifications of making such a change for the developer are a lot larger than what might actually be thought about at first. In small terms, the business owners and residents of the affected streets will incur costs to change signage, letterhead, and more, yet what it entails for future developments is probably worse.
I agree that these two streets are a little confusing in that they almost run in a circle, but if a developer comes to the city and wants to build a multi-million dollar development, they should not have the right to get to change the names of the streets surrounding it. Could you picture a Holiday Inn requesting "Holiday Inn Drive"? There is history tied to names of roads, and with name changes that history can be much harder to find.
Unrelated to the West Village development, but in the direct vicinity of it, located in Valley Court Park, the city now has finalized plans to build a centennial statue in the park. The statue will cost about $15,000 and is supposed to be a model of close citizens and the city.
I went out and took some pictures in the last couple days. Here is a picture of where the West Village development stands. They have what appears to be the cement in for the steps for rowhouses, and they also have the walls poured for what looks like the garages for these units.
The frame is finished on the rowhouses, and the siding and other exterior work should be coming pretty quick. The units look to be what I would call 2.5 stories tall, with two full floors and then a large pitched roof with windows, but there aren't windows for all the units.
I don't know if it is spin-off from the West Village development or not, but the old Poppa Leos pizza restaurant next to Archive Books on Grand River is now being converted to a Cornerstone Coffee. They have remodeled the facade and built a nicer entryway.
Comments
The article mentions renaming two streets to be collectively known as "West Village Circle". The ramifications of making such a change for the developer are a lot larger than what might actually be thought about at first. In small terms, the business owners and residents of the affected streets will incur costs to change signage, letterhead, and more, yet what it entails for future developments is probably worse.
I agree that these two streets are a little confusing in that they almost run in a circle, but if a developer comes to the city and wants to build a multi-million dollar development, they should not have the right to get to change the names of the streets surrounding it. Could you picture a Holiday Inn requesting "Holiday Inn Drive"? There is history tied to names of roads, and with name changes that history can be much harder to find.
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