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  #761  
Old Posted Sep 19, 2017, 4:33 AM
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Site prep work on 100 Grand/Park District at the northwest corner of Grand River and Abbot is finally scheduled for September 1, and includes demolition of the long-vacant bank building. The project also went through its final tweaks over the past few months.

Aerial


Graduate by NewCityOne, on Flickr

Looking northeast along Grand River


graduate2 by NewCityOne, on Flickr

Looking northwest along Grand River


Graduate3 by NewCityOne, on Flickr

It'll now include a 150-room Graduate Hotel in its eastern wing, 198 apartments in the center and western wing, parking of floors 2 and 3, ballroom and outdoor terrace for hotel (and private terraces for apartments on apartment wing) floor 4, with ground floor retail and hotel and residential lobbies and rooftop terrace for the apartments on floor 13. Hotel lobby is off Abbot, apartment lobby is off Evergreen. There is also a second 6-story apartment building on Evergreen with a rooftop terrace.

Because of East Lansing's strict height limits - stricted than Ann Arbor's - at 150'-0" (which includes the screening off the mechanical penthouse on the hotel wing), this will become the city's tallest off-campus building. Only the office/suites on Spartan Stadium will be taller.
Ugh. For the nth time in over a decade another version of this project dies at this site. It must be cursed.

In this case, the the last piece of the financing for the $154 million project - a $10 million state tax credit - was foolishly believed by the current developers to belong to them, when the credit had actually been granted to the previous owner/developer for the site.

Without this credit, the project goes back to the drawing board, literally and figuratively. They are now going to do a total redesign unless something can be worked out between the current owners and the previous owner who'd lost the property to foreclosure.
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  #762  
Old Posted Sep 19, 2017, 6:21 AM
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Oh for crying out loud.
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  #763  
Old Posted Sep 19, 2017, 6:30 AM
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Like, how are you going to call yourself a developer pushing a huge project for as long as they've been pushing this one, and then try to win a tax credit you didn't even technically apply for? I hadn't even imagined this could happen as it'd never have crossed my mind. this is just basic developer stuff.

If there is any good news it's that Center City District across the street seems to have no hit any major roadblocks. The next step on that project is the September 26 meeting of the Michigan Strategic Fund. I hope to get to the point in the region's development where these tax credits and incentives aren't an absolute must to make these projects viable. Developers will still apply for them, but hopefully there will be a time they'll have a Plan B as it relates to financing if these grants and credits fall apart for a project.

Anyway, prep work for Center City District should start next month if they if they get their last piece of public financing from the Michigan Strategic fund next week. It also seems that the developers for Park District/100 Grand will still start demolition on the existing properties on the site as I believe the development agreement with the city requires them to do that, anyway.

In other development news, it appears that the masonry is going up on the Marketplace expansion. Never realized how good the views are from the place:


Gillespie Group
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  #764  
Old Posted Sep 19, 2017, 4:12 PM
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What has always surprised me about downtown Lansing is that there isn't more infill development on the parking lots, particularly those owned by the state. You'd think that developers and city officials would be chomping at the bit to develop them, with parking below. It could be a condo situation. Instead, you see developers tearing down decent buildings, or proposing to do so, such as the Emil's block, the historic Lansing City Market, the proposed redevelopment of City Hall, the old YMCA, the Stadium District block, etc. I just don't get it.

A few years ago I was having a conversation with a state official who was in talks with Gillespie to build above current low rise historic buildings downtown because Gillespie seemed to think there was nowhere left to build downtown. How crazy is that? A number of years ago I created a map of all surface parking in greater downtown Lansing, which I can't seem to find right now, and it is everywhere. How can't they see that?
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  #765  
Old Posted Sep 20, 2017, 3:53 AM
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It's not the city's fault. The city has wanted that area opened up forever. It's so easy to see that the state parking lots need to be consolidated into a few parking garages. But if the state sees no problem with the current set-up - and that's particularly true with a Republican state administration - these aren't for sale. The city can't make the state sell their own property. And, I imagine it'd take a helluva offer to even get them to consider to sell. More than that, developers hate spending money acquiring land to begin with. It's why so many developments have been developed on city land where the city has basically handed over a lot to a developer (Stadium District, Marketplace, the Outfield, etc...).

It's obvious to us, but this isn't even on the state's radar. They see no problem with their parking operations in downtown Lansing.

I should say another big problem are downtown landlords with no recent culture of urban development who have essentially had speculators. The Eydes - who finally redevelop the Knapps Centre some years back - have been sitting on blocks of land on the west end of downtown since at least 2000, land that could be easily developed. They essentially own everything in between Kalamazoo and Allegan in between MLK and Butler. The Grangers own the old building at the corner of Allegan and Grand that's been vacant for years. They tried to demolish the building a few years ago without any plan for the site once cleared, but the city managed to stop them precisely because of that. There are so many parcels key parcels tied up with land owners who have no desire or intent to develop them.
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  #766  
Old Posted Sep 20, 2017, 2:16 PM
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Ignore the cheesy preliminary rendering, but it looks like the county land bank has finally been able to get a viable proposal out of a developer for the old Deluxe Inn site at Malcolm X and Washington. They've gotten a local developer who plans to put up a 120 to 130-room extended stay hotel by Hilton.

Quote:


Extended-stay hotel planned for former Deluxe Inn site in REO Town

By Harley Hansen | Lansing State Journal

September 20, 2017

An extended-stay hotel could replace REO Town's brightly-colored welcome sign.

On Monday, the Ingham County Land Bank board, which owns the vacant property at the corner of South Washington Avenue and Malcolm X Street, approved the sale of the site to Urban Systems LLC.

The developer plans to build a Hilton extended stay hotel, which would include a restaurant. Site plans include a public green space by the riverfront.

The hotel would have between 120 and 130 rooms, and the project would cost between $10 and $15 million, said Jeff Deehan, a Lansing developer and the principal at Urban Systems.

The parcel would play an important role in bringing together the downtown commercial district and REO Town, he said.
Lansing is hurting for downtown hotel space, so this is good news. Hopefully in pans out. The land bank has been marketing this site for mixed use for years, but there wasn't any takers. Apparently, three different developers over this period have pitched hotels, so I guess they are going with that.
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  #767  
Old Posted Sep 20, 2017, 3:37 PM
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It's obvious to us, but this isn't even on the state's radar. They see no problem with their parking operations in downtown Lansing.
I can see all of that. It's just very weird to me given MSHDA and MEDC's relatively recent fascination with placemaking and infill. I don't think they're doing enough in their own backyard.
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  #768  
Old Posted Sep 27, 2017, 5:51 AM
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The Center City District received the last piece of its financing, yesterday, so construction will start in the next few weeks. Center City District is the downtown East Lansing project with the Target on the ground floor.



Quote:
The site’s plans include a 12-story apartment building on the 100 block of East Grand River Avenue. A small-scale Target with a grocery section will take up the building's first floor.

The developer also plans to build a 10-story structure on the site of City Lot 1 behind the apartment building, which will include retail space on the first floor, parking on the next four levels and a five-story apartment complex for people 55 and older.

The project will add 363 apartments to East Lansing, and the garage will include 620 parking spaces, about half of which would be public.
In other news, a downtown Lansing developer who purchased a long abandoned senior tower two blocks from the capitol has finally secured the final piece of funding to start the renovation of this building into 103 micro apartments (studios and one bedrooms) with over 4,000 square feet of ground floor commercial and retail space. The building has been vacant since a 2000 fire by a disgruntled residence condemned the building. So far, the project doesn't have a name.



Quote:
The eight-story building at 310 N. Seymour Ave. was damaged by a fire in 2000, but a local developer plans to complete renovations on the long-empty structure by the end of next year.

A $13.7 million redevelopment project will include 4,430 square feet of office and retail space on the first floor and 103 "micro-style" apartment units, as well as improvements to the building's facade and courtyard.
Prep work begins in the next few weeks, and they are looking for a December 2018 opening. And interesting story behind this is that the most serious proposal for this property prior to this was a group who'd have turned it into apartments for homeless individuals.


LSJ file photo
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  #769  
Old Posted Sep 29, 2017, 4:42 PM
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^ East Lansing CBD is sure getting taller/newer. Joining the list of college towns getting denser and creating a skyline.
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  #770  
Old Posted Oct 2, 2017, 4:48 PM
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Finally able to put this together.

Barring some concerted and organized opposition, Lansing, Michigan is gearing up either late this year or early next year to adopt a Form-Base Code (FBC) for city zoning, replacing the traditional Euclidian zoning. This all came out of the Design Lansing Comprehensive Plan, the city's most recent master plan released in 2012, which called for the replacement of Lansing's zoning ordinance to speed up the transformation of the city's land-use.

Form-Base Code elevates the design of a structure above a defined land-use for the parcel on which is sits, which is the opposite of traditional single-district zoning. The benefits the city lists for the switch are that it increases the tax base, supports transit choice and levels the playing field for pedestrians in more parts of the city

What this plan will generally do:

- Reduce setbacks, parking (in commercial/retail districts), increase max (and adds minimum) heights, and allow for far more mixed-usage (by right) than the current zoning code.

- While it allows for more mixed-use, it also implement higher design standards, and really just add design standards to make them less subjective during a review of a project. This will actually have the effect from a NIMBY's point-of-view of retaining the character of older and historic neighborhoods and structures, with the trade-off for developmers of allowing more usages on more of the city's land.

- Allow changes in a plot's use without having to go through the rezoning process.

- For developers, it speeds up the process of development, as a design is required up front rather than a use and then a rough idea of a design.

- Finally, the code is easier to read and thus more predictable for developers.

Specifically for Lansing by-right, conditional and special usages have been determined by the type of street a lot is on:


Streets by NewCityOne, on Flickr

Map of new district:


Lansing Form-Based Code by NewCityOne, on Flickr

How this works:


How by NewCityOne, on Flickr

And, examples of building-types for the districts:


Residential by NewCityOne, on Flickr


Suburban Commercial by NewCityOne, on Flickr


Multi-Use by NewCityOne, on Flickr

For a full list of uses and design standards:

FBC Introduction, User Guide, and Form Based Zoning Code
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  #771  
Old Posted Oct 4, 2017, 6:52 PM
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Well, with the tweaks of the zoning in the East Village district east of downtown, the developers for The Hub have formally started the planning process with a public hearing before the East Lansing Planning Commission on the 25th.

The Hub will be 10 stories (132 feet) and include 347 market rate apartments, over 12,200 square feet of ground floor retail space, and 158 parking spaces, most underound with some of the ground floor behind the retail.


Core 2 by NewCityOne, on Flickr

The developer is Chicago-based Core Campus. Core Campus is affiliated with Convexity, which is trying to figure out a way to develop 100 Grand at the other end of downtown. Core Campus is constructing The Hub on Campus in Ann Arbor, a 12-story, 124 unit student housing building.
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  #772  
Old Posted Oct 5, 2017, 8:20 PM
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I'm very interested to see what kind of changes Form-Base Code would bring to development in Lansing if implemented, seems like a great way to help guide the character of development to fit the neighborhood.
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  #773  
Old Posted Oct 6, 2017, 6:31 AM
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I'm very interested to see what kind of changes Form-Base Code would bring to development in Lansing if implemented, seems like a great way to help guide the character of development to fit the neighborhood.
It's going to be a mixed bag. It looks like, on net, it expands the boundaries of the core downtown district, meaning it'll allow for more high rises in the core. It also appears it'll allow for more density and housing along the urban corridors (Cedar, Michigan, Saginaw, South MLK, South Washington, Penn...)

At the same time, I notice some some recent urban developments that wouldn't have been allowed to be built by-right. For instance, Skyvue out near Frandor is over 120 feet tall. The new zoning for that parcel would have a max of 60 feet, by-right. The old "E-1 Apartment Shop" which was the city's general mixed-use catch-all has no direct comparison in the new code. It seems the tallest allowed outside of the downtown district (which will continue to have no height limit) will now only be 80 feet.

I'm doing a write-up on all the major changes I see - it's quite a bit - and have so far finished the Residential portion of it. Still have to look into the mixed-use/commercial portion a bit more deeply. Generally, though, it's going to allow for more density, but the biggest change will be the design standards, which will be MUCH more strict in its requirements and demands, particularly as far as building materials are concerned. You're not just going to be able to put up totally vinyl-sided shlock, anymore, for instance.
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  #774  
Old Posted Oct 6, 2017, 10:16 AM
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Some Michigan State University updates courtesy MSU Infrastructure Planning and Facilities Department:

Breslin Center: Phase 1 included a 22,000 square foot addition, expanded concourse andrenovated restrooms and concessions, increased external security features, as well as hooking it up to city water. Phase 2 includes a 30,000 square foot addition and a basketball hall of history.





Solar Carport Initiatives: this project covers five large surface lots (Lots 83, 89, 91, 92, and 100) with solar cells to produce 5% of the electricity the universities uses in a given year. This is part of the universities energy transition plan, which started out by phasing out coal in 2016.





1855 Place across the street from Breslin is complete.









Spartan Stadium: the south end zone project, following on the heels of the north end zone renovation, is mostly completed. It included the construction of 20,000 square feet for bathrooms and concessions, ticketing, and the reconfiguring of Lot 79.



(old pic from July)



The north end zone project was completed in 2014:


Barton Malow


Eli Broad College of Business Addition #2: This project began in June and will be completed in the summer of 2019. It includes the construction of a 100,000 square foot, 3-story addition to the business college.





Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building: This 6-story, 170,000 square foot facility began construction this summer with a soft opening in August of 2019 and a full opening a year after that. As the name implies, it's a kind of catch-all facility which will included wet labs, research space, and office space to support the growth of STEM-related fields.


Clark Construction

Webcam

In that same project, which includes MSU Medical School's Clinical Center, the 4-story, 130,000 square foot Bio Engineering Facility was opened last year in October. The facility is shared by the College of Engineering, the College of Human Medicine, and the College of Natural Sciences.


MSU Today


Vanceva

Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB): The most important project of all in the region, this began in 2014 and won't be ready until 2022. This U.S. Department of Energy project includes the expansion of Michigan State University’s National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (SCL) to study rare istopes. It includes the construction of one of the world's most powerful particle accelators for the discovery of rare isotopes. Most of the facility is being built underground, but includes a lot of new office space above ground.





Photo from February:


FRIB facebook
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  #775  
Old Posted Oct 7, 2017, 1:49 PM
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Finally able to put this together.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LMich View Post
I'm doing a write-up on all the major changes I see - it's quite a bit - and have so far finished the Residential portion of it. Still have to look into the mixed-use/commercial portion a bit more deeply. Generally, though, it's going to allow for more density, but the biggest change will be the design standards, which will be MUCH more strict in its requirements and demands, particularly as far as building materials are concerned. You're not just going to be able to put up totally vinyl-sided shlock, anymore, for instance.
Thanks for your ongoing efforts in compiling all of this information. I appreciate the detail. It's an impressive effort to overhaul the zoning in this way.
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  #776  
Old Posted Oct 7, 2017, 11:19 PM
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It's going to be a mixed bag. It looks like, on net, it expands the boundaries of the core downtown district, meaning it'll allow for more high rises in the core. It also appears it'll allow for more density and housing along the urban corridors (Cedar, Michigan, Saginaw, South MLK, South Washington, Penn...)

At the same time, I notice some some recent urban developments that wouldn't have been allowed to be built by-right. For instance, Skyvue out near Frandor is over 120 feet tall. The new zoning for that parcel would have a max of 60 feet, by-right. The old "E-1 Apartment Shop" which was the city's general mixed-use catch-all has no direct comparison in the new code. It seems the tallest allowed outside of the downtown district (which will continue to have no height limit) will now only be 80 feet.

I'm doing a write-up on all the major changes I see - it's quite a bit - and have so far finished the Residential portion of it. Still have to look into the mixed-use/commercial portion a bit more deeply. Generally, though, it's going to allow for more density, but the biggest change will be the design standards, which will be MUCH more strict in its requirements and demands, particularly as far as building materials are concerned. You're not just going to be able to put up totally vinyl-sided shlock, anymore, for instance.

Right on, Lansing's done quite a lot in terms of revitalization efforts over the past decade only Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids have had more success but it's well past time that the city gets a higher standard of architecture and give those two a run for their money. Not that there aren't cool projects planned and completed but there is still too much cheap "student housing" like residential especially.
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  #777  
Old Posted Oct 13, 2017, 1:14 AM
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Whoa, you go MSU! Great to see all the activity (this coming from a Penn Stater)
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  #778  
Old Posted Oct 18, 2017, 2:12 AM
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Major industrial development for the southwest metro. It's just up the street from the Michigan State Police Headquarters, in fact, and across the river from Lansing proper.

Quote:


130-acre marijuana park to be largest east of Mississippi, developer says

By Eric Lacy | Lansing State Journal

October 17, 2017
WINDSOR TWP. -- Plans are underway to build a 130-acre medical marijuana industrial park in the township that its investors say will be the largest of its kind east of the Mississippi.

Once built, the development called Harvest Park is expected to create up to 1,000 jobs in a variety of marijuana-related fields, said Jeff Donahue, Harvest Park Development LLC's managing director.

"I think the location is perfect," said Donahue, a Lansing native. "It's an area ripe for development."
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Old Posted Oct 19, 2017, 1:27 PM
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It seems 1855 Place - the mixed-use complex across from the arena - was mostly complete as of the last time I posted; however, the official opening of the complex is tomorrow. The university office, retail and residential building facing Harrison Road is still having internal build-out on some floors. Anyway, here's the residential building on Harrison next to the office building:


MSU Infrastructure Planning and Facilities

I usually find that kind of siding as the bane of modern architecture, but they color and texture seems to work on this one, so I'm not too mad about it. Also, there is enough applied masonry that it ends up looking really nice regardless.

Oh, and the plaza between the other residential buildings and the office/retail building is really something:


David Shane | Develop Metro Lansing
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Old Posted Oct 19, 2017, 2:11 PM
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They did a really good job on that.
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