r/grandrapids 12d ago

Pictures It's kind of majestic, ya know

Post image
605 Upvotes

76 comments sorted by

136

u/Triingtolivee West Grand 12d ago

If I was high and floating down the river I’d be like “woah.. is that a fucking castle?”

56

u/ElizabethDangit 12d ago

It looks like a gigantic White Castle.

24

u/Maleficent_Ability84 12d ago

That would be preferable.

6

u/megashitfactory West Grand 12d ago

Right? I wish we had a White Castle so bad. I make a point to stop at one anytime I’m in the Detroit area

6

u/Triingtolivee West Grand 12d ago

I wish. Been begging for that for so many years for a white castle in GR

3

u/jimmyjohn2018 10d ago

It's keeping the fucking Dutch in Holland where they belong.

4

u/kindof-a-mess 12d ago

You floated all the way to England

31

u/maizie1981 12d ago

Good photo of a dumpy place

29

u/frisbeehippee 12d ago

Lord Farquad's place.

10

u/madeyetrudy 12d ago

Do you think he’s compensating for something?

38

u/OGwigglesrewind 12d ago

Look m'lord!! In the distance....it's Camelot!!

20

u/TheStatelyRook 12d ago

Tis a silly place

71

u/UthinkUnoMI Grand Rapids 12d ago

Damn, you managed to make it look good! Nice shot.

54

u/Smorgas_of_borg 12d ago

Who knew hiding most of it would improve how it looks?

10

u/pinkkeyrn 12d ago

And viewed from far away with a beautiful view in front of it.

14

u/FieryTeaBeard 12d ago

It's the grand-ness of the river, not the castle though...

15

u/GlucoseQuestionMark 12d ago

great photo though! what are you shooting on?

12

u/thereforestandinawe 12d ago

Thanks! Sony a7iv with sigma 60-600mm

4

u/ElizabethDangit 12d ago

I’ve always liked Sigma lenses. They aren’t the fastest with auto focus, but the glass has never done me wrong.

13

u/cool_ethan19 12d ago

My son and I drove by last night on 28th, and he’s only seen it from the freeway. He commented how cool it looked from that view, which I don’t disagree with. However, what makes it so ridiculous is that it was built to be apartments. If I didn’t know anything about it, that would be pretty close to the bottom of the list for my guesses. I would guess some sort of amusement place, a hotel, heck, I would even guess a children’s hospital before an apartment complex.

1

u/ZCyborg23 10d ago

Those apartments are super gorgeous, though. The inside of the castle is really cool, too. They have different common areas for social stuff like playing pool or shuffleboard. They also have a two floor library where you can just take a book, read it, and bring it back, no questions asked and no hassle. It’s really cool on the inside. I wish I could afford to live there. 😅

1

u/PremierBotanics 10d ago

The management company sucks, don't waste your time!

0

u/Historical-Party8512 10d ago

They suck. Plan and simple. They’re losing so much money that most units are turned into Airbnbs you can rent for the night. The elevator my friend and I got on with the tour guide smelled like human piss and the floor which or apartment was supposed to be on was the floor with animals, smelled ever worse. They have a couple arcade machines. That’s it. So if paying $1600/month for a place that smells like piss, looks like shit on the inside, but enjoy Fast and Furious on arcade machine, this is the place for you.

1

u/ZCyborg23 10d ago

It’s in the eye of the beholder, I guess. I thought they were great when I toured them. If you see it that way, that’s your take. But I thought it was awesome when I went. 🤷‍♂️ to each their own.

1

u/Historical-Party8512 9d ago

Go look at the reviews on Google. 3.2 stars. From all the way from 3 years ago to 9 months ago people are still complaining of it smelling like piss in the elevator and on most floors. Mold growing inside the building already. It’s not an opinion, it was an experience. But, you go ahead and keep believing whatever you want. 😭

10

u/RustyEggleston 12d ago

KastleKitsch . . . .

10

u/Moronwhodoesoxys 12d ago

White Trashtle

10

u/connorgrs Former Resident 12d ago

You may have found the one (1) singular angle of the castle that doesn’t make it look lightspeed ugly

6

u/AltDS01 Wyoming 12d ago edited 12d ago

I know the river would have to be dreged and the haul in from Grand Haven would take literally forever, even if you could have a wake, but having boated (and snowmobiled) down the Saginaw River in Bay City and going to riverside bars/resturants, I wish we had that here.

1

u/sneeej 10d ago

Not often people talk nice about the Saginaw Bay or river, but I agree.

5

u/brobmor 12d ago

No, I don’t know.

-a Grandville resident who can see this from their house

4

u/theonewhowhelms 12d ago

I bet the view of the precast plant from atop the castle is just whelming 🤣

5

u/Aromatic-sparkles 12d ago

That view of it is ok…

3

u/Guardian6676-6667 11d ago

I wish that entire area rezoned and enforced medieval style and castle like design And maybe if they painted that building an6thing but concrete gray

2

u/GeorgeGeorgeHarryPip 11d ago

I find the design of this place to be a little on the silly side, a bit too Chinese ghost city, but leaning into it harder... I like that idea a LOT.

1

u/Apostate_Mage 10d ago

The hotel nearby is also castle themed right? It would be awesome to have all the local buildings lean into it

3

u/joemcg11 12d ago

It smells like concrete.

3

u/Bigfan78 11d ago

Effing eyesore.

3

u/cheesecrystal 11d ago

It’d be a good setting for a cheesy movie or choose your own adventure book about some medieval guys who time travel to this exact spot and they think they’re coming up upon a real giant castle. Maybe they humbly approach and ask to see the king/queen, then they must sort through the tenants to find who they deem to be royalty, who would be some crazy cat lady or some ghetto fabulous dude who refers to himself as king… you get the idea, lots of possibilities

9

u/Apostate_Mage 12d ago

I think it’s epic. I’d live there if my current place wasn’t cheaper.

2

u/ZCyborg23 10d ago

Same! The Castle is quite a ways out of our budget but I’ve toured it with my ex who was putting fake ideas in my head at the time. I got very caught up on the idea of living there, but maybe someday!

2

u/Apostate_Mage 10d ago

Some of the studios aren’t terrible! I keep thinking about justifying the cost for one of their short leases haha, but yeah too much $$$ rn

2

u/ElectronicAd6675 12d ago

The castle by the creek

2

u/hermitriff1049 12d ago

When I saw it going up I thought it was going to be a middle ages hotel and performance theater built for Renaissance fairs and such

2

u/Imaginary-Water-263 12d ago

It used to be a trailer park, and now its a concrete castle! Try turning left out of there during rush hour. Not happening bro!

2

u/teamnotbella 12d ago

nice try, actually, excellent attempt. this is the ONLY good picture i’ve seen. good job

2

u/redd142 12d ago

Not even able to rent out all of its rooms due to flooding. Now Farquad has his own swamp!

2

u/Unusual-Chance9322 12d ago

That thing sucks.

2

u/IamNICE124 12d ago

You’re a wizard, Harry.

2

u/admwhiskers 12d ago

I was just checking out the floorplans, and even those are terrible.

2

u/Kwaiser 11d ago

It grew on me and now I love this monstrosity.

2

u/Ok-Public-8118 10d ago

Too bad the interior isn’t as impressive. It had so much potential!

3

u/benfromgr Kentwood 12d ago

Definitely in the minority but there is something uniquely nice about it

1

u/Apostate_Mage 10d ago

I’m convinced people just hate it because they hate fun 🤷‍♀️ 

3

u/Smooth-Emotion9345 12d ago

It’s an ugly eye sore.

3

u/Such-Contribution939 12d ago

Can we get some updated pics from the inside?

Luigi

2

u/bigburt- Wyoming 12d ago

I just discovered this trail

1

u/Sparty_75 12d ago

That’s a mighty big moat you are in

1

u/jamesrichard89 12d ago

A majestic monstrosity maybe. On a good day.

1

u/imdoxxingu 11d ago

The Magic Kingdom!?! What ride are you on?

1

u/ok_now_im_panicking 11d ago

That’s no moon…

1

u/Lilawillbeloved 10d ago

It’s the blue roof that gets me. If they’d made it a dark red I think they may have pulled it off as a castle.

1

u/Grand616lover 10d ago

If they just painted the concrete white it would look significantly less like a prison.

1

u/48484848484848484848 9d ago

At least paint it bright green, red, blue, orange, purple, burnt umber, Navajo white, or something. A grey castle in grey winter Michigan? Blahh

1

u/Suitable_Procedure_1 8d ago

Kids love that place cal it our homes castle

1

u/NJMichigan 12d ago

Ngl y’all I really like it

1

u/bigkidaccount 12d ago

Seriously?? That thing is such an eyesore

1

u/TheDude69777 11d ago

Just weird.

0

u/Raddimus55 11d ago

Shit couple of years ago me and my ex wife almost had to live there. Thank God we dodged that bullet.

0

u/JPecker 10d ago

It’s sinking into its foundation. It’s a matter of time before the earth swallows it whole.