Downtown Grand Forks

[forksandspoons]

Good to see the new, 89 room hotel downtown is still in motion. Sounds like it is scaled back a bit with less office space. 

https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/government-and-politics/7321501-Grand-Forks-advances-tax-break-for-scaled-down-hotel-redevelopment

[SIOUXFAN97]

3 hours ago, forksandspoons said:

Good to see the new, 89 room hotel downtown is still in motion. Sounds like it is scaled back a bit with less office space. 

https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/government-and-politics/7321501-Grand-Forks-advances-tax-break-for-scaled-down-hotel-redevelopment

only potential upside to this is maybe there is more room for the st johns block project to proceed?

[ksixpack]

On 12/14/2021 at 8:23 AM, forksandspoons said:

Good to see the new, 89 room hotel downtown is still in motion. Sounds like it is scaled back a bit with less office space. 

https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/government-and-politics/7321501-Grand-Forks-advances-tax-break-for-scaled-down-hotel-redevelopment

Scaled back?…I wonder why and what was scaled back. Tax incentives weren’t scaled back I’m sure. Always perks my ears when I hear scaled back; never a good indicator.

[Cratter]

Maybe after construction has started they'll "rescale" is back up like the hospital.

[SIOUXFAN97]

i see some nice new windows going up at the St Johns Block...is this finally the start of that reno?

[SIOUXFAN97]

[SIOUXFAN97]

ICON put a sign on the window calling this project Block V.... Any links to what the final results will be.. Assuming scaled down from what it was originally?

[SIOUXFAN97]

Old muddy rivers

[ksixpack]

On 3/11/2022 at 1:31 AM, SIOUXFAN97 said:

Old muddy rivers

Anyone know why work has halted here since about the time this photo was taken 2 months ago?

[SIOUXFAN97]

23 hours ago, ksixpack said:

Anyone know why work has halted here since about the time this photo was taken 2 months ago?

wondering the same thing

 

[gfNDfan]

The car wash on 17th and Columbia (Old Hardees) is in the same weird state of construction LIMBO -- nothing happening there either.

The strip mall with House of Punjab/Noodles/Erbs and Gerbs has some new construction going on cutting their parking lot in half - guess what it is?

ANOTHER STRIP MALL in the least shocking news of all time.   Just what GF needs...now with LESS parking for businesses what don't move in.  Perfect!

[Green Banner]

Strip malls and apartments that's what Grand Forks does!

[Kab]

I keep wondering why people complain about building things in Grand Forks.‘what’s wrong with a strip mall, you don’t want the services?

isn’t it nice to be able to pull into a strip mall and purchase things without going to a huge Walmart or target or Costco to get something you need?

please keep building these things and maybe Grand Forks can start catching up to Fargo and Bismarck, I also see the Sanford purchase of land as a good thing for Grand Forks, it will bring a surge in development and won’t hurt Altru

just my 2 cents.

[NoiseInsideMyHead]

7 hours ago, gfNDfan said:

The strip mall with House of Punjab/Noodles/Erbs and Gerbs has some new construction going on cutting their parking lot in half - guess what it is?

ANOTHER STRIP MALL in the least shocking news of all time.

I thought I heard that was to be an EV charging station, although my first thoughts were either strip mall or a reconfigured drive-thru for perma-closed McDs.  Either way, there really isn’t going to be much parking left for the original building.

[tnt]

17 minutes ago, NoiseInsideMyHead said:

I thought I heard that was to be an EV charging station, although my first thoughts were either strip mall or a reconfigured drive-thru for perma-closed McDs.  Either way, there really isn’t going to be much parking left for the original building.

Regardless, if the Columbia Mall owners don't fix the frontage road, nobody will want to go there anyway.  Surprised some of those businesses aren't making a bigger deal out of those road conditions. 

[geaux_sioux]

46 minutes ago, NoiseInsideMyHead said:

I thought I heard that was to be an EV charging station, although my first thoughts were either strip mall or a reconfigured drive-thru for perma-closed McDs.  Either way, there really isn’t going to be much parking left for the original building.

The engineer that laid out that parking lot should be shot. Worst design I’ve ever experienced. Bottlenecks everywhere and a ridiculous slope to enter off a tight turn. Garbage.

[Green Banner]

1 hour ago, NoiseInsideMyHead said:

I thought I heard that was to be an EV charging station, although my first thoughts were either strip mall or a reconfigured drive-thru for perma-closed McDs.  Either way, there really isn’t going to be much parking left for the original building.

Mayor Bo confirmed it was a strip mall yesterday on KNOX 

[The Sicatoka]

3 hours ago, Kab said:

I keep wondering why people complain about building things in Grand Forks.

They forget there's something worse than building things ... it's not building things.

Building shows hope and progress.

Not building shows the opposite. 

[NoiseInsideMyHead]

10 hours ago, tnt said:

Regardless, if the Columbia Mall owners don't fix the frontage road, nobody will want to go there anyway.  Surprised some of those businesses aren't making a bigger deal out of those road conditions. 

Amen. 

There are lunar craters jealous of the size of some of the potholes in front of PetSmart.  Come to think of it, the lot near Petco is utter dog s#!t, too.

That solves it! GF hates your pets. And your vehicle's suspension. 

[Cratter]

12 hours ago, Kab said:

I keep wondering why people complain about building things in Grand Forks.‘what’s wrong with a strip mall, you don’t want the services?

It's trendy to be a hater.

[NoiseInsideMyHead]

Strip malls are fine - and obviously serve a purpose - but I submit that primary retail corridors need a balance between thoughtfully planned strips and open footprints for free-standing casual dining restaurants and other businesses.  There was a stretch in GF when it seemed that every inch of frontage along various roads was being hastily filled with cookie-cutter strips that subsequently sat vacant.  In some cases, those vacancies lasted YEARS.  (Looking at you, former Golden Corral site.)

[SIOUXFAN97]

2 minutes ago, NoiseInsideMyHead said:

Strip malls are fine - and obviously serve a purpose - but I submit that primary retail corridors need a balance between thoughtfully planned strips and open footprints for free-standing casual dining restaurants and other businesses.  There was a stretch in GF when it seemed that every inch of frontage along various roads was being hastily filled with cookie-cutter strips that subsequently sat vacant.  In some cases, those vacancies lasted YEARS.  (Looking at you, former Golden Corral site.)

the jimmy johns on washington and 11th....2/3 empty for years now.

[gfNDfan]

45 minutes ago, SIOUXFAN97 said:

the jimmy johns on washington and 11th....2/3 empty for years now.

That's exactly it - I don't have a problem with building strip malls I have a problem with how they can't fill them.   The old Golden Corral is just now starting to get tenants after how many years?  

[gfNDfan]

53 minutes ago, NoiseInsideMyHead said:

Strip malls are fine - and obviously serve a purpose - but I submit that primary retail corridors need a balance between thoughtfully planned strips and open footprints for free-standing casual dining restaurants and other businesses.  There was a stretch in GF when it seemed that every inch of frontage along various roads was being hastily filled with cookie-cutter strips that subsequently sat vacant.  In some cases, those vacancies lasted YEARS.  (Looking at you, former Golden Corral site.)

Missed this earlier - what he said:-)

[The Sicatoka]

13 hours ago, Cratter said:

It's trendy to be a hater.

You are correct in that assessment.