Meijer Coming to Detroit

[iheartthed]

I'm not so sure about an urban model being used in this area. It'd still be the same size and it doesn't make sense to have the land filled with something other than parking or a street line mall. There's sidewalks that cut through the parking lot from Grand River and the two residential streets on the side so it seems they at least attempted to keep it pedestrian friendly. I also think it wouldn't hurt to add more pedestrian walkways on the south side of the property.

I would have rather they build the store up to to the street and put the parking in back. Why not just build the main store right over the site of the school building?

[Jason]

I would have rather they build the store up to to the street and put the parking in back. Why not just build the main store right over the site of the school building?

Then you'd have the entrance to the building in the back, and you'd have a lot of parking lot lights and activity right against the houses.


I think for this kind of format they did a good job. They have a landscaped hill which separates it from the houses which I think is nice. They have a few smaller buildings and some landscaping on grand river, so you're not looking immediately at a vast parking lot. I'd also add that this is basically as urban [[or un-urban, rather), than the school was. The school was on a mega block, with a lot of parking and open lawn, all fenced in, big set backs, etc. Not that that's completely bad, but this won't make that area less urban.


It would have been great if they had done a proper urban store though, with the combined parking and stuff, but it's something that they're building the store at all. Maybe if it goes well they'll consider it more for another store.

[iheartthed]

Then you'd have the entrance to the building in the back, and you'd have a lot of parking lot lights and activity right against the houses.


I think for this kind of format they did a good job. They have a landscaped hill which separates it from the houses which I think is nice. They have a few smaller buildings and some landscaping on grand river, so you're not looking immediately at a vast parking lot. I'd also add that this is basically as urban [[or un-urban, rather), than the school was. The school was on a mega block, with a lot of parking and open lawn, all fenced in, big set backs, etc. Not that that's completely bad, but this won't make that area less urban.


It would have been great if they had done a proper urban store though, with the combined parking and stuff, but it's something that they're building the store at all. Maybe if it goes well they'll consider it more for another store.

Why can't they have entrances on both sides? I've been into urban big box stores with multiple entrances.

Yes, the school was on an excessively large lot, but it was also built to be easily accessible by pedestrians coming from Grand River or McNichols, as well as those coming from the residential areas abutting the property. It's not really a huge deal considering the location, but I wish they would pay more attention to it.

[animatedmartian]

Why can't they have entrances on both sides? I've been into urban big box stores with multiple entrances.

Yes, the school was on an excessively large lot, but it was also built to be easily accessible by pedestrians coming from Grand River or McNichols, as well as those coming from the residential areas abutting the property. It's not really a huge deal considering the location, but I wish they would pay more attention to it.

Schools and retail are zoned differently into a neighborhood. Schools needs access for kids walking, buses, and parents dropping off their kids. Retail needs access for product shipments and shoppers. Residential roads aren't designed for heavy traffic flow or semi-trucks.

A few examples:

Retail:
http://g.co/maps/tj38w

http://g.co/maps/2x2e7

School:
http://g.co/maps/5fe7m

http://g.co/maps/g3hk3

Something interesting about the Home Depot layout is that there is a sidewalk from 7 Mile, but no direct access from Meyers [[pedestrians would have to walk on the yellow striped zone). There are no pedestrian walkways leading to the street behind HD [[Monte-Vista) and that outlot for the drive-thru restaurant has no proper flow and forces people to drive up and around in order to get in and to leave. ALSO, the traffic flowing from 7 Mile goes directly through a parking aisle. Statistically, this is how and where most car accidents happen in a parking lot. This is a particular example of what a horrible big-box urban layout would look like.

[iheartthed]

Schools and retail are zoned differently into a neighborhood. Schools needs access for kids walking, buses, and parents dropping off their kids. Retail needs access for product shipments and shoppers. Residential roads aren't designed for heavy traffic flow or semi-trucks.

A few examples:

Retail:
http://g.co/maps/tj38w

http://g.co/maps/2x2e7

School:
http://g.co/maps/5fe7m

http://g.co/maps/g3hk3

What you say makes sense. So I just looked at the layout again that Parkguy posted and it appears that the only thing preventing the store from being built against the street is the gas station. You could build the store along the street and still have ample room for entrances and exits to the parking lots that would keep traffic off of the side streets... if it weren't for the gas station.

[animatedmartian]

What you say makes sense. So I just looked at the layout again that Parkguy posted and it appears that the only thing preventing the store from being built against the street is the gas station. You could build the store along the street and still have ample room for entrances and exits to the parking lots that would keep traffic off of the side streets... if it weren't for the gas station.

Well, IMO, they don't need the gas station to begin with. That's just something that Meijers will use to get extra revenue rather than having extra retail space that may or may not sit empty.

They could replace the gas station with another retail block but either way the main building will be in the back away from the street. It has to stay in a similar physical shape as most other big box stores for design and interior layout reasons.

Had this been a design for Corktown or Downtown or somewhere closer to the inner-city where space is limited and valuable, then yes you'd be right about them putting the store up against the street. But since this is primarily residential area with low capacity streets with only one or two major roads, the current design makes the most sense.

[iheartthed]

Well, IMO, they don't need the gas station to begin with. That's just something that Meijers will use to get extra revenue rather than having extra retail space that may or may not sit empty.

Agreed.

They could replace the gas station with another retail block but either way the main building will be in the back away from the street. It has to stay in a similar physical shape as most other big box stores for design and interior layout reasons.

If they didn't have the gas station then the building wouldn't need to be set back from the main road[[s), that's my point.

Had this been a design for Corktown or Downtown or somewhere closer to the inner-city where space is limited and valuable, then yes you'd be right about them putting the store up against the street. But since this is primarily residential area with low capacity streets with only one or two major roads, the current design makes the most sense.

Other than the larger lot sizes, the layout of this area is really not that different than the layout of Corktown: major arterial roads with major side streets feeding into them. Also, Grand River from Greenfield through Telegraph is probably one of the few remaining commercial thoroughfares in the city that hasn't completely deteriorated [[outside of downtown and midtown). Probably 80 - 90% of the buildings in that area directly abut the street. Meijer will be the standout for having such a large set back from the street.