Lansing-East Lansing, MI Development

[LMich]

And, LCC is one of the biggest offenders in the downtown area, too. They have maybe a handful of nice preservation projects they've done over the years, but relative to the size of their campus, they've been nothing put a bad influence on the urban fabric of that area of downtown. There is absolutely no reason for a "park-like" entrance to the campus, particularly when you consider the ridiculousness that the north end of the campus is a street and it's already basically walled off, and then literally across the street is Durant Park. It simply doesn't make any sense, too, given that the corner they want to demolish is on the other side of the street of the campus.

[LMich]

The owner of this site has been trying to sell this property in downtown Okemos for [y]years[/i], and there now seems to be a plan for substantial redevelopment of this tiny district:

Douglas J plan will reshape downtown Okemos

By Dawn Parker | Lansing State Journal

June 12, 2012

OKEMOS — The owners of the Douglas J salon and spa are planning an expansion that would dramatically remake downtown Okemos.

Doug and Scott Weaver want to buy the property at Hamilton and Okemos roads that includes the Travelers Club International Club restaurant, White Bros. and Triple Goddess Bookstore, Meridian Township Director of Planning and Community Development Mark Kieselbach said.

But those buildings could disappear.

Doug and Scoot Weaver plan to wants to build a new home for Douglas J on the site - a three-story, 30,000 square-foot building at the intersection to house the Douglas J Salon and Spa. The company currently operates a salon and spa at 4663 Ardmore Ave, about a block from the site of the proposed project.

Scott Weaver, co-president, did not respond to a message seeking comment. William White, who owns the businesses, said Comerica Bank, which owns the property, is reviewing the proposal. White had owned the property but it went into foreclosure in 2010.

White has been attempting to find partners to redevelop the site.

A second building at Hamilton Road and Ardmore Avenue would provide 18,000 square feet for commercial space on the first floor and residential dwellings on the second and third floors.

Kieselbach said the proposal should go before the planning commission at its meeting June 25.

The full township board is scheduled to hear the proposal July 3.

...

[LMich]

The LSJ has a rendering of the new downtown Okemos project:



I honestly can't tell which way this thing is oriented, but it looks that whichever way it is it's more auto-oriented than the buildings currently at the site.

[uaarkson]

Oh well. It looks nice at least.

[Hayward]

Parking is a reality in this place, but that driveway is enormous for no reason. The design of the building is nice. Definitely an improvement. There's an okay 1940ish brick building on the corner, but this building is an excellent substitute.

[LMich]

Two big pieces of news...

City officials have been able to retain Davenport University, downtown, after nearly losing them in a botched deal in another location downtown a few months back.

Davenport University to get new downtown Lansing campus

By Kevin Grasha | Lansing State Journal

June 20, 2012

The way Mayor Virg Bernero sees it, keeping Davenport University in downtown Lansing is crucial to the city’s continued growth.

That’s why last year he fought for a deal, which ultimately fell apart, that would have moved the university’s Lansing campus to city-owned property.

“I was adamant they stay downtown,” Bernero said Wednesday, minutes after Davenport’s president announced at a Tuesday morning news conference the university had reached a deal with a local developer to buy and renovate a nine-story building at the corner of Grand Avenue and Allegan Street that will become its new campus.

The $10 million project is scheduled to be completed in summer 2013 and open before the start of that fall’s classes. The renovations will begin this fall.

Davenport intends to expand its local campus from about 800 students to as many as 2,000. Bernero said he wants the city to benefit from that growth.

...


The project will transform the 55,000-square-foot building — the former site of a Fifth Third Bank branch and currently home to a few other businesses — into a facility that will house colleges of business, technology and health professions.

“We always wanted to be in the city limits. We’re pleased this location came about,” Davenport University President Richard Pappas said in an interview. “It puts us in the center of the city with Lansing Community College and Cooley (Law School).”

...

Up at Eastwood, they've finally landed a hotel brand at The Heights.

Lansing Township plans new $15M hotel for Eastwood expansion

By Lindsay VanHulle | Lansing State Journal

June 20, 2012

LANSING TWP. — A $15 million hotel is one step closer to reality for a mixed-use development taking shape north of Eastwood Towne Center.

Lansing Township’s Eastwood Downtown Development Authority, which oversees the shopping center, on Thursday is expected to release plans for the six-story, 128-room Hyatt Place hotel. Pending final approvals, it would be built in The Heights at Eastwood, a $47 million public-private project that also includes new restaurants, a parking garage and upscale apartment units.

Township planning commissioners Wednesday unanimously approved a final site plan review for the hotel, sending it to the township board for consideration.

The nearly 82,000-square-foot hotel would go up on roughly an acre north of Eastwood Towne Center and the NCG Cinemas movie theater, the site plan shows. It also would share parking with tenants of the apartments, to be managed by Lansing Township-based DTN Management Co., and restaurant and shopping customers.

...

Construction would start in September and wrap in 12 months.

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[Michagain]

Good news. What would even be better is if Davenport ripped off that nasty 60s concrete/pebble facade and threw on some glass or something else.

Oh, and maybe put a structure on that current lot w/ first floor retail (I know I'm dreaming!)

[LMich]

I've always wondered what that building looked like before it was "modernized." I haven't been able to find any pictures of it, and very little information on it besides that it was constructed in 1922.

Anyway, Niowave up at the historic Walnut Elementary in the Walnut Neighborhood (west of Old Town) is looking to expand.

Niowave planning $10 million Lansing expansion

By Lindsay VanHulle | Lansing State Journal

June 23, 2012

Niowave Inc. is planning to expand its Lansing headquarters to develop and test new particle accelerators, a move economic development officials say will help establish the area as a leader in an emerging high-tech field.

Niowave is asking the city for a tax incentive package that would waive $233,312 in personal property taxes for the 14,000-square-foot expansion for the next six years. That package is contingent on the 6-year-old company hiring 15 to 25 more workers within two years.

The Lansing City Council is scheduled to receive the request Monday.

...

Jerry Hollister, Niowave’s chief operating officer, said the company plans to add 14,000 square feet to its Walnut Street headquarters in a move executives say will allow them to produce new commercial uses for their superconductors. The Navy and medical professionals are potential customers. Hollister said the expansion is estimated to cost $10 million, but it could be higher.

...

he addition would be used as a testing and demonstration facility for the radioisotope and laser projects, Hollister said. Depending on interest, that could require an additional expansion within three to five years to focus on manufacturing the devices.

...

[LMich]

Some news out of EL...

City Center II is dead. The city finally pulled out because the other developer could never get his act together.

And, now this...

Greg DeRuiter | Lansing State Jouornal

Desist order issued on St. Anne Lofts in East Lansing

By Dawn Parker | Lansing State Journal

June 28, 2012

EAST LANSING — Whether the fifth floor of the St. Anne Lofts project will remain or have to go is yet to be decided.

The city Wednesday ordered work stopped on the project because officials discovered work had been done on a fifth floor earlier this month.

Howard Asch, East Lansing’s code enforcement director said it will remain in effect until the City Council makes a decision on what to do about the unapproved floor.

Asch said the floor was marked “future” on the project’s plans. Work will be permitted on the fifth floor only to the extent workers need to secure the four other floors against the weather.

“The permit expressly excluded the fifth floor,” Asch told City Council members Tuesday.

Permits needed

The City Council must approve a modified site plan and special-use permit for the fifth floor before construction can resume. In addition, a building permit is needed. Asch said that process involves reviewing the proposed construction for compliance with the building code.

Kris Elliott, who owns the property and is the project developer, did not respond to requests for comment.

The mixed-use project in downtown East Lansing has been a hot topic following the recent collapse of a portion of the incomplete building. The incident is said to have been caused by a pile of gypsum drywall estimated to weigh 9,000 pounds.

...

Just lots of bad developer news coming out of EL, lately.

[Hayward]

The developers will get their way eventually...

[LMich]

Oh, no doubt. This is a procedural thing. I can't imagine them taking away the fifth floor, which I'm pretty sure is mechanical, anyway.

[subterranean]

Well, folks...Michigan Brewing Company has gone bankrupt and their Webberville site went up for auction. The downtown taproom, as a separate business, will remain open.

LANSING, MI –- MBC's Downtown Lansing restaurant will remain open and focus on selling Michigan products — despite the closure of the Michigan Brewing Co. brewery, which supplied the restaurant with the majority of its beer.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vox_efx/

The downtown restaurant and the Webberville brewery are completely separate businesses, said Marc Wolbert, general manager for the restaurant. However, the restaurant is a “direct seller” for the now defunct brewery, and is operating under a liquor license that only allows the sale of beer brewed by the MBC Brewery or at the restaurant.

http://www.mlive.com/lansing-news/in...t_and_bre.html

[subterranean]

I know this is sort of a re-up on old news, but I'm happy to hear that Lansing didn't lose the money after all. This is a much needed investment for a region that has seen 164% rise in Amtrak ridership since 2003.

EAST LANSING — East Lansing’s train station will receive an upgrade with $6.3 million in federal grant funding, U.S. Sen. Carl Levin’s office said today.

The funding will be awarded to the Capital Area Transportation Authority, which plans a train station and additional facilities for bus transit, vehicle parking and improved traffic, Levin and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow said in a news release.


East Lansing’s Amtrak station is located at Harrison and Trowbridge roads. It was not clear whether that will be the location for the new facility.

More at LSJ

[LMich]

Knapps is still moving forward. I'm a bit disappointed they couldn't make the underground parking work like they did down the street at the Arbaugh, though.

Rod Sanford | Lansing State Journal

Knapp's building redevelopment taking shape

Lindsay VanHulle | Lansing State Journal

July 28, 2012

To make an old building new again takes time.

But time, as it relates to redevelopment of the former J.W. Knapp’s Department Store in downtown Lansing, is moving a little faster after the building languished for years.

Meridian Township-based Eyde Co., which is repurposing the aging art deco building it owns at the corner of Washington Square and Washtenaw Street, is wrapping up asbestos removal and is expected to seek construction bids within a matter of weeks.

...

The company wants some portion of the building, to be known as Knapp’s Centre, to include five floors of retail, office space and residential units and be ready for tenants in a year.

“We are excited about the building,” Clouse said. “It has withstood time relatively well.”

The $36 million project at South Washington Square and Washtenaw Street is one of the most high-profile redevelopment efforts under way in downtown Lansing. The building has been vacant since 2002.

...

Perhaps the most dramatic change will be the creation of a four-story atrium that stretches from the second to the fifth floors. A series of pedestrian bridges will connect the upper floors, and structural testing is under way to find the safest way to carve it out.

Eyde Co. will relocate its headquarters back to the Knapp’s building, in which it hasn’t been housed for years, and a small-business incubator will set up shop on the first floor, Clouse said.

Until six months ago, underground parking was incorporated into the site plan. Since then, he said, load-bearing concrete columns set about 18 feet apart have become an obstacle.

Parking for Knapp’s now will be through the city’s system, including on-street metered parking and spaces in nearby ramps. Clouse said the goal is to work out a discounted rate for residents to park overnight in city garages.

...


Rod Sanford | Lansing State Journal

A major redevelopment of Lansing Community College up the square...

Lansing Community College clears $67M in work

By Matthew Miller | Lansing State Journal

July 31, 2012

On Monday night, Lansing Community College’s Board of Trustees approved the budgets for a series of renovation projects that will transform the college’s downtown campus over the next 2½ years.

The board also left a key element of the transformation undecided: The fate of the college’s swimming pool.

The plans put forward by LCC’s administration called for the pool to be closed and replaced with a student commons and food court with a glass atrium that would face out onto Grand Avenue and Adado Riverfront Park, all part of an $18.3 million renovation to the Gannon Building.

...

[ColDayMan]

I miss Bill Knapp's. I'm sure it's totally unrelated but whatever. They had damn good chocolate cake!

[Hayward]

Originally Posted by ColDayMan

I miss Bill Knapp's. I'm sure it's totally unrelated but whatever. They had damn good chocolate cake!

That is untrue. It was always dry. and broke apart into thousands of crumbs. But maybe our expectations were lower up in Saginaw.

[ColDayMan]

I don't know what kind of Bill Knapp's YOU had up in Saginaw but the Bill Knapp's in Trotwood never had any dry cakes!

[LMich]

Yeah, but the real question is if the chocolate cake in Trotwood gives one the trots?

And, yes, Knapp's was a local department store like Arbaugh's (picture) a block south and JC Penny (picture) occupied the build at the end of this same block and is now the Cooley Law School library.

[LMich]

Greg DeRuiter | LSJ

East Lansing to seek new developers for site of failed City Center II project

By Lindsay VanHulle | Lansing State Journal

August 8, 2012

EAST LANSING — The blighted buildings at the corner of Grand River Avenue and Abbot Road in downtown East Lansing have for years been pegged as a collective “future redevelopment site.”

City leaders, along with the white banners tacked to several of the buildings, insist redevelopment is coming. But whatever form that takes, it won’t be known as City Center II.

The $105 million, mixed-use project that had been in the works for the better part of a decade is all but dead after the city and developer Scott Chappelle parted ways over financial matters.

Now, both sides want to move on. Chappelle is focusing his efforts elsewhere. This fall, city planning administrators plan to ask for proposals from developers with new concepts for the prominent corner that serves as one of East Lansing’s western gateways. And they intend to move relatively quickly to get efforts moving again.

The city’s readiness to pursue another option after the City Center II project fizzled out is indicative of a desire to make something of a busy intersection that has long plagued East Lansing as an eyesore. At the center of the issue is a divide between public and private ownership that ultimately will determine the direction development takes and its final result.

“We’re looking at this as a new project at this point, or a new planning area,” said Lori Mullins, the city’s community and economic development administrator. “I don’t think there’s anybody that wants it to stay the way it is.”

...

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/a...text|FRONTPAGE

[LMich]

The Lansing River Trail will be connected to Holt, a southern suburb:

$300K grant to help Delhi Township connect pathway to River Trail

by Ken Palmer | Lansing State Journal

August 8, 2012

DELHI TWP. — Johanna Pscodna saw what happened after the township built a fully accessible restroom building along the non-motorized trail at Valhalla Park last year.

In short, a lot more people started using the trail, she said.

“Everybody from senior citizens to parents with strollers to people walking dogs are out there,” said Pscodna, who runs a loop through the park from her nearby home two or three times a week. “We’ve seen rollerbladers out there, long-distance runners. Pretty much across the board, we’ve seen it.”

So Pscodna was happy to hear the township had received another piece of funding to build a connection from the township’s existing trail head at Willoughby Road to Lansing’s River Trail. The connection would add about three miles of trail, officials said.

“If you build it, they will come,” she said, reciting the line from “Field of Dreams.”

“I think it would be a great addition. Once people go to the park and see that it’s open all the way to downtown (Lansing), I think they would be interested in using it. They would go to that park more often,” Pscodna said.

...

The North Trail Connector, as the proposed trail is being called, would link an existing trail between Holt and Willoughby roads to the River Trail in Lansing, allowing runners and bicyclists to go from Holt to Old Town some 10 miles away without having to rub elbows with cars and trucks.

...

Another piece of news in an editorial:

Trail extension helps boost region

August 9, 2012

A project that will help Delhi Township hook an existing trail into the Lansing River Trail is a marvelous example of regionalism showcasing Greater Lansing’s best assets.

Delhi has a trail that runs from Holt to Willoughbly roads. It plans a $3 million project to add a connecting trail going north to the Lansing River Trail.

Once finished, Delhi residents will be able to travel from Holt to Old Town on Lansing’s north side on trails that keep them away from vehicle traffic and offer scenic views of parks, creeks and the Grand River along the way.

...

In addition to the Delhi Township extension, Lansing also has worked on plans to push the trail westward to Grand River Park. The trail already has an eastern connection to Michigan State University. Such unique assets set a community apart. Working together to protect and expand this resource will benefit Greater Lansing’s future.

...