Yah true. But id rather they look a little outdated then like "the cheapest thing they could build at the time" looking. Lowest common denominator is never the right answer.
Campustown Redevelopment
- Thread starter Haverhill
- Start date
Yah true. But id rather they look a little outdated then like "the cheapest thing they could build at the time" looking. Lowest common denominator is never the right answer.
Does anyone know where this proposed tower is located? www.sbaarchitecture.com/multi-family.aspx?project=E+Towers%7cAmes%2c+IA
(Opinion: I hope this rendering goes back to the drawing board a bit)
I believe this was proposed for a site a few years ago, it never got off the ground and the site has since been redeveloped. It is an odd rendering, think it was mostly meant to show massing/shape and that the building would be mostly glass. If it would have got farther along probably would have gotten some better renderings. Pretty sure a building with that much glass wouldn't meet the campustown tax abatement standards (need to have a good amount of brick or stone among other things). The abatement standards are actually one of the reasons we don't see anything too unique proposed (like some of those IC projects above), because they don't think they would fit into the character of campustown.
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I think the campustown projects have added people and retail to campustown that wouldn't have been there before. Also, the buildings are better looking than what was there before imo, especially on that corner across from the MU (that space was incredibly underutilized). I think we will see more investment in the facade and businesses along Welch now too.
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Sports Page Bar and Grill under construction right now at the old wallabys location.
That 3rd building is damn ugly. Looks like some of those older apartments up in the Twin Cities.
My thoughts exactly. They must of taken their inspiration from the crack stacks seen below.
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I think the style of that third one is called Eastern Bloc Revival. Anybody that doesn't realize that is awful should never be able to make any decisions related to architecture ever again.
So far I am not very impressed with what the city council has approved so far, design-wise.
Ames is falling pray to what many suburbs do where they accept every proposal without question just to get as much built as possible without considering the long-term urban consequences.
I feel like most of these approved structures lack significant design standards and could be much better. Check out what they are building in Iowa City and you will see what I mean.
There are a lot more than these too. Ames needs to pick up their game!
I'm not a huge coffee drinker but I liked what they had at the MU convenience store that is next to the bookshop. Think it was coffee from the Roasterie in Kansas City which is/was owned by an ISU alum. Anyway, I imagine the Starbucks will take a bite out of their income.
So far I am not very impressed with what the city council has approved so far, design-wise.
Ames is falling pray to what many suburbs do where they accept every proposal without question just to get as much built as possible without considering the long-term urban consequences.
I feel like most of these approved structures lack significant design standards and could be much better. Check out what they are building in Iowa City and you will see what I mean.
There are a lot more than these too. Ames needs to pick up their game!
Buildings two and four look good, but I struggle to understand how one and three will ever look good, under any context. The reason I like the two new buildings at Lincolnway and Lynn is that they weren't the cheapest possible solution.
This monstrous apartment/mixed-use complex is being built in Lawrence across from the stadium. Its a really cool building but I'm scared it won't fit the neighborhood at all. The new development of "Block 1" in Campustown seems to fit much nicer in its own surroundings.
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So far I am not very impressed with what the city council has approved so far, design-wise.
Ames is falling pray to what many suburbs do where they accept every proposal without question just to get as much built as possible without considering the long-term urban consequences.
I feel like most of these approved structures lack significant design standards and could be much better. Check out what they are building in Iowa City and you will see what I mean.
There are a lot more than these too. Ames needs to pick up their game!
#2 looks like Mercy West Hospital in WDM?
Some of these places look like what a good paid full time person should be living in. I couldn't imagine having a kid in college wanting with what I assume are crazy high rent pricing.
So far I am not very impressed with what the city council has approved so far, design-wise.
Ames is falling pray to what many suburbs do where they accept every proposal without question just to get as much built as possible without considering the long-term urban consequences.
I feel like most of these approved structures lack significant design standards and could be much better. Check out what they are building in Iowa City and you will see what I mean.
There are a lot more than these too. Ames needs to pick up their game!
Iowa City is twice the size of Ames. We hold our own thank you very much. Plus, our campus is 5,000,000 better than the concrete campus they have there. They need to pick up their game!
She would have never noticed it if you could have offered her a Runza. Wish we could have one in Ames.
There are 2 types of development happening in Iowa City.
1) Luxury student housing with retail/office on the first floor. The ones going up in Iowa City are very similar to the ones along and near Lincoln Way in Ames. Most are built prior to securing main level business tenants. In fact, Iowa City has dozens of empty main level spaces in the new buildings.
2) the second type of development happening in Iowa City (one of the pictures above is for the Linn/Court parcel) involves retail/business on the first level with high end condos above; selling north of $300,000 per unit. These developments are often built after they have already secured main level business tenants.
Iowa City has a much larger and different demographic than Ames in that students, faculty,staff, and young professionals can all live in the same area near downtown. The Campustown area in Ames will likely always be student centered so I would not expect to see the types of buildings in Ames that we will continue to see near downtown Iowa City.
Maybe at some point, downtown Ames will attract faculty, staff, and young professionals and some urban style lofts/condos could be built there.
Depending on your point of view, Ames has 'suffered' from having 2 'downtowns'. Adding the Somerset area north of campus didn't help either. And now it appears that Ames is going develop housing near the research park for young professionals, furthing adding to the decentralized retail/restaurant environment.
1) Luxury student housing with retail/office on the first floor. The ones going up in Iowa City are very similar to the ones along and near Lincoln Way in Ames. Most are built prior to securing main level business tenants. In fact, Iowa City has dozens of empty main level spaces in the new buildings.
2) the second type of development happening in Iowa City (one of the pictures above is for the Linn/Court parcel) involves retail/business on the first level with high end condos above; selling north of $300,000 per unit. These developments are often built after they have already secured main level business tenants.
Iowa City has a much larger and different demographic than Ames in that students, faculty,staff, and young professionals can all live in the same area near downtown. The Campustown area in Ames will likely always be student centered so I would not expect to see the types of buildings in Ames that we will continue to see near downtown Iowa City.
Maybe at some point, downtown Ames will attract faculty, staff, and young professionals and some urban style lofts/condos could be built there.
Depending on your point of view, Ames has 'suffered' from having 2 'downtowns'. Adding the Somerset area north of campus didn't help either. And now it appears that Ames is going develop housing near the research park for young professionals, furthing adding to the decentralized retail/restaurant environment.
The city is currently studying adding more housing downtown with a class at ISU leading the study I believe. Think there has been talk for a while about developing the lot east of city hall and another smaller area north of city hall is proposed for affordable housing.
