The first of the 3 building is standing, pitched roofline, large windows, sitting close to the street corner. Not very exciting so far, but it is good to see buildings going up there. I could have seen a building like the one they are proposing on the north side by the river on Grand River Ave. They never ask me about these things.
Looks like a fourth building is being added to REO Gateway Apartments according to media reports on Tuesday. None of us are fans of the architecture, but the increased density will be nice. Though, I'm surprised they are going to cram it somewhere on the existing site without adding parking? This would be a first. Still waiting for Gillespie to fill that ugly parking lot in front of Marketplace with Phase III. lol
Edit: Looked up the parcel viewer and the little 67 x 300 lot next to the main one is the one a building permit issued at the end of February is attributed to. Perhaps they will join - or have already joined - it with the main lot. Now I'm curious if this will be identical to the other three or if this is a different style and scale.
I'll never understand this project's siting. If I am not mistaken it was pitched (although not applied for yet) under the old zoning so it got away with not being oriented to the streets. Unfortunately to fit with available space building #4 will be sited at the southeast corner of the property - could be cool along the river, but it won't add to the urban streetscape feel along Washington Ave. It will be the same 3-story, 24-unit apartment building as the other three. I think Mr. Forsberg was working on a masters in urban studies? so I am hoping the metro area will get some cooler designed developments. His plan for 3700 S Waverly was really nice but it doesn't seem he has been able to obtain the property yet.
edit* I forgot he just got $1m in RAP funds for S Waverly so we'll see. The project also got $20,000 in facade improvement grant money.
I mean, two of the buildings are at least oriented toward the street. This is a strange site being wedged in between a freeway and a river, so I'm not really disappointed about the siting, much. It's crams quite a of density on a relatively small site with less parking than is typical for developments in this town; it's much better than what Gillespie did with either Marketplace or the Outfield, honestly.
The architecture and single-use are another story I won't go back over, though. lol
I wouldn't compare Marketplace or Outfield to REO Gateway. The former are mediocre while REO Gateway is garbage imo. The added density is the only upside, which doesn't count for much since just about anything else built there would have also added density. They're literally generic 24 unit suburban complex buildings plopped down on the lot about as close together as possible, it's almost like the developer did this out of spite. One silver lining is that they'll probably only be there a few decades.
I've never been a fan of the architecture of Gillespie's projects and have hoped for taller buildings, but I don't hate the parking lots that he's left undeveloped. I hope he continues to wait to develop them until he can pull something off a little more special than what he's built so far. Plenty of opportunities for 4-5 floor five-over-one apartment buildings further north on Larch/Cedar, I want to see some more substantial buildings in the core of the Stadium District.
There was a "dream plan" for this site a few years ago that included a hotel and housing, it was just a dream however, a good one, it had a much more urban looking buildings along the river and right up to the sidewalk on S. Washington. They have put in some landscaping and a couple of nice murals at the REO Gateway, but it could have been a better addition to the neighborhood. Up on the other side of the river, the Washington Apartments building at 927 [I know the address from living across the street and having to call the police often] seems to be vacant, this seems to me to be a prime building for rehabilitation. It sits on a huge lot [perhaps in the flood plain] with room enough for another building. It already is an apartment building so it would be easier to rehab. than a school or office building.
927 S Washington was just added to the national register of historic places opening up some tax credits. It is pink-tagged so should be vacant until it is rehabbed. I've heard alternate rumors of renovation and sale, but income from 63 units is a significant amount to just let go for nothing. A remodel permit was pulled last fall and just expired without any inspections being done.
Yeah, one of the big obstacles doing anything beyond renovation (expansion) is that it's very firmly in the floodplain, which is why I'm assuming nothing else was ever built on the large lot. And with the city's policy of actually offering to buy out (small) property owners in the floodplain, I don't expect that to change.
But, yeah, I definitely expect someone to snap that property up sooner rather than later. Too close to downtown and too much development along Washington, there, to leave it empty for too long.
Great news that there's an extra tool now available to help get 927 Washington renovated, I really like that building and would love to see it get a proper restoration someday. As for the land behind it, I'd imagine the traditional solution of using the ground floor for parking in the flood plain would be feasible here, just not enough demand yet.
I hope to see the whole River Point neighborhood become a full-on part of downtown someday. Rebuild the River St bridge to better connect to downtown and encourage mid-rise & high-rise construction. In the long run the area around the City's South St garages and the area along Hazel up to Penn will probably also become much more downtown-like. (This is one of the areas I've thought about a lot, I can't help but to throw out my speculation for the next few decades)
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Edit: Looked up the parcel viewer and the little 67 x 300 lot next to the main one is the one a building permit issued at the end of February is attributed to. Perhaps they will join - or have already joined - it with the main lot. Now I'm curious if this will be identical to the other three or if this is a different style and scale.
edit* I forgot he just got $1m in RAP funds for S Waverly so we'll see. The project also got $20,000 in facade improvement grant money.
The architecture and single-use are another story I won't go back over, though. lol
I've never been a fan of the architecture of Gillespie's projects and have hoped for taller buildings, but I don't hate the parking lots that he's left undeveloped. I hope he continues to wait to develop them until he can pull something off a little more special than what he's built so far. Plenty of opportunities for 4-5 floor five-over-one apartment buildings further north on Larch/Cedar, I want to see some more substantial buildings in the core of the Stadium District.
But, yeah, I definitely expect someone to snap that property up sooner rather than later. Too close to downtown and too much development along Washington, there, to leave it empty for too long.
I hope to see the whole River Point neighborhood become a full-on part of downtown someday. Rebuild the River St bridge to better connect to downtown and encourage mid-rise & high-rise construction. In the long run the area around the City's South St garages and the area along Hazel up to Penn will probably also become much more downtown-like. (This is one of the areas I've thought about a lot, I can't help but to throw out my speculation for the next few decades)