gv urban Archives - Stop and Move

Work underway at GV Urban’s Met Block development

On October 1, 2014February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

Way back in February of 2013, GV Urban went before the city with their newest apartment proposal. The plan involved building up the Met Block, named after the old Met Museum. The block is between Van Ness and Fulton, and between Calaveras and Stanislaus.

The plan involved keeping the Met (top corner) and restoring the only other building left standing, on the left.

Problem was, the plan sucked. GV Urban proposed sticking in the exact same template they’ve built five other times downtown, but this time with a hideous façade.

For quite possibly the first time ever, the city pushed back against GV Urban. Aside from the ugly façade, the city was concerned that such a prominent block should break GV’s 3-story barrier, as to match the height of the Met. Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : 1612 fulton brio on broadway broadway construction update crichton place downtown fresno fulton gv urban photo tour2 Comments

A picture review of the latest from GV Urban

On August 25, 2014February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

So I took these pictures back in May. And this is how long it’s taken me to finally get around to this post… Better late than never right? I hope you enjoy.

I’ll start with the Crichton Place project, built on L and San Joaquin. I last posted about these in January, when they were still wooden frames.These pictures were taken shortly before they opened at the end of June. Obviously, they have landscaping now.

We start off here, not too much to say, aside from the standard too-narrow sidewalk.

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Not my favorite color scheme, but Fresno seems to love it.

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Moving back a second, this is the property off frame in the first photo Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : ADA angled parking broadway broadway redesign downtown fresno fresno gv urban parking road diet sidewalk extension sidewalks streetscape12 Comments

Broadway streetscape project almost done, results are disappointing

On June 26, 2014February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

It’s been almost three years since the project was announced, and now the Broadway streetscape project in downtown Fresno is almost done. The plan involved giving Broadway a small road diet, removing a center turn lane and one general lane to add angled parking on each side. The project included absolutely no bicycle accommodations (contrary to the master plan) but did add some amenities for pedestrians in the form of sidewalk extensions at intersections.

Sadly, the project has done many things wrong. The lack of attention to detail shows that Fresno does not have a planner that understands bicycle or pedestrian planning – or even basic ADA. Sort of shocking for a city of half a million. Let’s take a look. Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : back-in parking broadway broadway redesign downtown fresno gv urban streetscape7 Comments

Broadway Streetscape Project Photo Update

On February 14, 2014February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

I’ve a lot of large posts I want to put together….however these photos I took a couple of weeks ago are getting stale, so I need to finish posting them!

Here’s quick look at the Broadway streetscape project. I took some photos a few weeks earlier, and construction has moved slowly. Mind you, the entire project has moved slowly. Here’s the times I’ve written about it, excluding the above link:

September 2011: Project announced
September 2011: Full details – Construction scheduled for 2012 (lols)
July 2013: Comparison with LA Broadway streetscape project Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : city of fresno crichton place downtown fresno gv urban l street project san joaquin street townhouses2 Comments

Construction well underway at GV Urban’s Crichton Place townhouses

On January 27, 2014February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

I swung around downtown a couple of weeks ago to take pictures of a variety of different projects. Today I’ll be posting an update of the Crichton Place townhouses which are being built at L St and San Joaquin.

These technically broke ground 2 years ago, but were held up in a lawsuit. Granville knocked over a couple of 100 year old homes, and the lawsuit claims they didn’t go through the proper process to do so. Now that the lawsuit wrapped up, construction is underway.

The project is two blocks from Fulton, where most of the other GV projects sit. The buildings are pretty much a carbon copy of the units put up at Van Ness near the 180. Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : bike trail Clovis clovis commons el paseo fresno fresno high google maps google maps imagery update gv urban millerton Millerton new town old town trail wal-mart walmartLeave a comment

New Google satellite imagery for Fresno! (Spring 2013)

On September 29, 2013February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

Some parts of the country, including major cities like Boston, only get updated satellite imagery from Google every 3 or so years.

For Fresno, it’s never more than a year before we get the freshest pictures. The latest update, rolled out last week, shows Fresno and the surrounding area as of March 15, 2013.

The previous update, pushed out November of 2012, featured images from August 26, 2012. I did a photo summary of that as well.

That’s less than 7 months between updates! Older images are still accessible via the history slider in Google Earth.

These updates are a great way to follow development in the area, and see how fast some areas are still growing. Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : downtown fresno food desert fresh and easy fresno gv urban supermarketLeave a comment

Fresh and Easy closing is a huge loss to downtown Fresno

On September 24, 2013February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

Note: Because most Fresh and Easy stores will continue business as usual until the end of the year, the chain is still the cheapest way to be high quality food. See end of post for details.

Last week we got the sad news that Tesco had sold the Fresh and Easy chain after months of searching for a buyer. The buyer is “Yucaipa” an investment company better known by its owner, Ron Burkle, a billionaire who has extensive experience in the supermarket industry. Their wikipedia page shows all the companies they’ve dabbled in.

The good news is that the new owners will operate 150 stores, and they may apparently lean towards the healthier side of things. I was worried Wal-Mart or some Dollar chain would come in to sell the cheapest (and worst quality) foods, which is contrary to the Fresh and Easy experience. Others were hoping for Trader Joes, but such a huge expansion would be unprecedented for them. Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : apartments assemi broadway fresno gv urban loftsLeave a comment

A look at the GV Urban Broadway property

On August 7, 2013February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

I’ve been pretty busy lately, not posting nearly as much as I’d like. I’ve been sitting on some pictures I took of the next big GV Urban project for over a month now, and I figured I’d sort of dump them now before they get too old.

Here’s my article about this specific project.Of course, this is the project that will benefit from the Broadway streetscape, eh, parking, project.

It’s in the red rectangle.

There was some preliminary activity. Again, these pictures are over a month old, so I assume there’s been some dirt moving.

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The house will be preserved and restored. Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : 1612 fulton alley downtown fresno fulton fulton village granville gv urban picture review20 Comments

A picture review of 1612 Fulton

On June 16, 2013February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

Last week, GV Urban held the grand opening of their newest residential project, 1612 Fulton, on the corner of Fulton and San Joaquin. I’ve been meaning to write about this place for a few months now, but it keeps slipping away…. Basically, when the project was announced, it included one section of street-wall which was to become the biggest turd built downtown in decades. The Fulton St section looks good, but the section on San Joaquin is abysmal.

While I didn’t attend the opening ceremony, I did drop by a week or so before hand to take pictures, so here they are. By the way, to the GV Urban employed gentleman that oh so subtly followed me in his car during my entire visit….creeping people out is not the proper way to get people to sign leases with you. Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : angled parking assemi back-in parking bike lanes broadway broadway redesign downtown fresno gv urban planning commissionLeave a comment

Next GV Urban project revealed

On April 29, 2013February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

Earlier this year, GV Urban proposed their newest residential project downtown, around the site of the former Met museum. This week they go before the planning commission with their next project, this time on Broadway.

The company has focused almost exclusively on Fulton, so it’s nice to see them branch out a block over to Broadway, which has been neglected. For those not familiar with the area, Fulton is the main street, and has Broadway on one side and Van Ness on the other as other major streets in the area. Today, Broadway is mostly auto-focused businesses, and most of them are closed. Click to read more!