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  #661  
Old Posted May 29, 2014, 8:15 AM
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I'm sure you know how incestuous the developer/architect community is in this town. Studio Intrigue does "hip/trendy" with low-grade materials for cheap, so they are basically the only game in town for the time being. It's like the IKEA of Lansing architecture. I expect as higher-end development eventually comes, we'll start to see developers branching outside of town, but this wave of stuff hitting the urban area (Stadium District, Marketplace, Midtown, etc...) is going to be crappy looking between the cheap materials and the fact that they are always trying to mash as many faux-historic design elements as they can into one development.
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  #662  
Old Posted May 29, 2014, 11:35 AM
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The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) is really moving along. I'm so glad to hear about this whenever it comes up. They are currently excavating the tunnel for the beam and the target area for the beam.

Quote:

Matthew Dae Smith | Lansing State Journal

FRIB site excavation making quick progress on MSU campus

By Matthew Miller | Lansing State Journal

May 29, 2014

EAST LANSING — Digging the hole is the first step.

Since Michigan State University broke ground on the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams in March, crews have been excavating the site of the $730 million federally funded nuclear science research facility.

They have removed 86,000 cubic yards of dirt, pumped out more than 43 million gallons of water, opened up a 1,500-foot-long chasm on the north side of Wilson Road, and they’re still digging.

“The bottom of this, where the linac tunnel is, will be 40 feet deep,” said Chris Thronson, conventional facilities deputy director and FRIB project engineer, gesturing to the floor of the pit, which was crawling with bulldozers, diggers and drilling rigs.

The “linac” is the superconducting linear accelerator, the machine at the heart of FRIB. It will be housed in an underground tunnel with concrete walls three feet thick.

The target area for the machine’s heavy ion beam will be at the site’s western edge, where crews are digging down 55 feet to make room for additional shielding. Building in the middle of campus and just inches above the water table, MSU has committed to radiation levels far below what’s allowable.

...

The concrete work will start next month and last for at least a year. The structural steel comes after that. The 227,000-square-foot building is slated to be done by 2018. It will cost $165 million.

...


Matthew Dae Smith | Lansing State Journal


Matthew Dae Smith | Lansing State Journal


Matthew Dae Smith | Lansing State Journal
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  #663  
Old Posted Jun 2, 2014, 10:55 AM
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Looks like the panneling is going up on Midtown. From their facebook page on May 31:



This thing is so ridiculous it just might work. lol I'm just glad this thing is literally along the border of the city and not downtown. Gillespie has to stop putting drive-thrus on his buildings; it defeats the entire purpose of the development.
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  #664  
Old Posted Jun 5, 2014, 8:23 AM
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The Gillespie Group got a drone up in the air to do shots of Marketplace (Phase 1) on June 2:


Omicron Photo/Michigan Drone Photography


Omicron Photo/Michigan Drone Photography


Omicron Photo/Michigan Drone Photography

BTW, it appears The Outfield at Oldsmobile Park across the street is speeding through to approval. I was actually surprised to hear how quickly the city council wants to get it through; they are usually more about slowing things down. Also, the parking lots you see particulary in the first shot is the planned site of Lansing Kewadin Casino that also seems to be moving forward after a recent Supreme Court ruling in another Michigan Native American casino case. This is turning into a fairly solid district, we just need more urban stuff (retail) along the streets, but it seems that residential always comes first in this chicken/egg scenario.
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  #665  
Old Posted Jun 12, 2014, 11:50 AM
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News:

- The Outfield and the stadium renovation were approved in a 7-1 vote by City Council on Monday. Stadium upgrades begin construction and renovation at the end of this season, and the construction of the apartments begin when the stadium upgrades wrap up by the start of next season with a completition sometime in 2016.



- The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians formally sent an application to the Department of the Interior to put the Kewadin Lansing casino land in trust to begin the process of developing the downtown casino. Despite a recent ruling by the Supreme Court that states can not sue tribes (only the U.S. government can), there are still other ways the Michigan attorney general plans to go after tribe members, individually, to try and stop the casino, so this is far from a done deal.



- Dewpoint, Inc. - a Lansing-based IT support services company - is moving 133 workers from its East Miller Road office in far southeast Lansing to the renovated Knapp's Centre down on Washington Square in the heart of the CBD. They will fill over 10,000 square feet on the second floor. They plan for the move to be completed by the end of the summer.
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  #666  
Old Posted Jun 12, 2014, 12:15 PM
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Great news about Dewpoint! As far as I know, we haven't had any major moves after MSP and BCBS moved downtown. This is smaller in comparison, but still quite a few bodies.

LMich, what's your opinion on the potential for new office? Any idea what our occupancy rate is?
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  #667  
Old Posted Jun 12, 2014, 1:05 PM
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I haven't seen any recent numbers, but Class A office space in downtown Lansing seems to have been in single digits vacancy rates for years, now. I guess that the CBD just maxes out but never surpasses the limit. I wonder, too, when someone will take a chance on a speculative office tower. There could have been quite a few given all of the companies that moved downtown, but all of them chose stand-alone headquarters, and no developer seems to have offered any of them (at least publically) anchor status in a speculative building.
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  #668  
Old Posted Jun 12, 2014, 11:46 PM
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You got me curious about office vacancy rates, Lansing's downtown has a very low 3.2% Class A vacancy rate:

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  #669  
Old Posted Jun 13, 2014, 9:21 AM
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I knew Class A vacancy was sub-10. I did not think it was sub-5. Someone needs to build something on spec. They could certainly fill it. Perhaps something at the corner of Michigan and Grand.

Not a development, but the Gillespie Group put this shot up on their facebook page on June 13:


Gillespie Group facebook

Sure, it's an advertisement for them, but I really like how much extra texture a billboard can add to an urban area. I know this is heresy to a lot urban planners, but a well-placed billboard doesn't have to take away from anything.
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  #670  
Old Posted Jun 20, 2014, 10:41 AM
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Updates. Lots of mall stuff, this week:

- The Regal Lansing Mall Stadium 12 & RPX at the Lansing Mall on the westside has a grand opening on July 12. This mall was built onto the mall, and is the first new multiplex out that way in years. The 50,000 square foot building will have 2,337 seats.


Greg DeRuiter | Lansing State Journal

- Kind of embarrassed for the area on this one, but across town at the Meridian Mall in Okemos over 300 people camped out for the thursday opening of a new H&M clothier. Still, the 20,000 square foot store signals a major move forward for the mall, which will begin a 50,000 square foot expansion soon.


Rod Sanford | Lansing State Journal


Rod Sanford | Lansing State Journal

- On the northside of town at the Eastwood Towne Center in Lansing Township, an Apple Store is rumored to open late next month. The $4 million, 6,000 square foot store will be the first in the Lansing area.


courtesy photo.

- Back at the center of things, the Knapp's Centre renovation on Washington Square in downtown Lansing is nearly complete. Here are some photos from the LSJ of the:


Matthew Dae Smith | Lansing State Journal


Matthew Dae Smith | Lansing State Journal


Matthew Dae Smith | Lansing State Journal


Matthew Dae Smith | Lansing State Journal


Matthew Dae Smith | Lansing State Journal
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  #671  
Old Posted Jun 26, 2014, 11:30 AM
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About a mile-and-a-half up Michigan in the center of the eastside near Michigan and Clemens, a group of businesses are cobbling together a plan to grow a new commercial brand: East Town. They want to replicate the coalescing that brought us Old Town in North Lansing and REO Town on the near-southside.

Quote:


Welcome to East Town

By Allan I. Ross | Lansing City Pulse

Jun 25, 2014

Twenty years ago, Old Town wasn’t Old Town. It was North Town, a Bohemian neighborhood that even the people who lived there called “seedy.” Today, the quaint boutique district is home to art galleries, home decor stores, hair salons and a yoga studio. The New York Times even gave it a shout-out last year in an article about the Broad Art Museum. Old Town represent!

A similar transformation is well under way in REO Town a couple of miles to the south, while downtown Lansing has continued to draw large crowds, even if the focus there has shifted away from retail toward restaurants and bars. But hey, traffic is traffic.

And with those three areas humming along, a fourth neighborhood is primed to join the ranks as the capital area’s newest hotspot. A novel experiment on Lansing’s east side has local businesses reaching out to their neighbors to forge a new(ish) identity for the diverse neighborhood. That outreach involves transforming the block into a hub of social activity, including adding outdoor pianos, tables with umbrellas and the creation of “parklets” that will try to turn passerby into lollygaggers.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to East Town, Lansing’s newest … Town.

...

A series of brainstorming sessions — a technique called charrettes, which condenses months of meetings into a single week — was held last year and earlier this year. Business owners and community members were brought together to think up ways to maximize a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to fund the Capitol Corridor project, intended to transform the stretch of Michigan and Grand River avenues between the Capitol and Webberville into a bustling center of activity. A rapid transit bus system is also part of the plan, which could debut as soon as 2017.

White said to be a success, this project will take the combined effort of municipalities, business districts and neighborhood associations working together. East Town is the first blush of that type of effort.

...

Probably the most eye-catching addition will be the parklets, where barriers will block off two parallel parking spaces on the street — one in front of the Avenue Café, the other in front of Emil’s — to create public space in the street. Andy Kilpatrick, transportation engineer for the City of Lansing, provided technical guidance for the parklet setup.

“From the city’s perspective, this was very easy to implement,” Kilpatrick said. “This was the first time this was tried in Lansing. And from transportation perspective, I’m eager to see how this works. Michigan Avenue is going to be reconstructed in next five years and this will help us start to see what the move important use of this space will be.”

...
I was always surprised this area didn't have a brand, already. I was also curious driving by the last few weeks about the new street elements I was seeing, and now it all makes sense. It's funny, because just last year this area was going through a major transition that had it looking very vacant, and I was thinking it was on its way down. Within just the last few months a lot of buildings were sold and new tenants found and it's off to a great start, again. What really needs to happen, however, it near development directly to the east to really sustain this.
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  #672  
Old Posted Jul 8, 2014, 8:53 AM
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The rumored Hilton brand we heard about earlier this year to go up at Eastwood has been formally proposed. All of the new hotel plans at Eastwood will put online hundreds of new hotel rooms in the area. Too bad they are at a suburban freeway interchange with bad traffic.

Quote:


Hilton Homewood Suites extended-stay hotel planned near Eastwood

By Lindsay Vanhulle | Lansing State Journal

July 7, 2014

LANSING TWP. — Construction on a new hotel proposed near Eastwood Towne Center could start this fall, Lansing Township officials said.

Developers have submitted site plans for Hilton Homewood Suites — an extended-stay brand of McLean, Va.-based Hilton Worldwide that caters to travelers on longer trips — that would open near the upscale shopping center at Lake Lansing Road and U.S. 127.

The township’s planning commission is expected to review the site plans July 16, said Steve Hayward, executive director of Lansing Township’s Eastwood Downtown Development Authority, which manages the area near the shopping center.

Developer Mike Eyde, whose newly created Preyde II LLC company would own the hotel, did not return calls seeking comment. Documents show the hotel would be four stories and have 109 rooms.

Hilton Homewood Suites would be built north of Showtime Drive and west of Towne Center Boulevard near Eastwood, documents show.
A cost estimate has not been disclosed.

...

A Homewood Suites hotel would join several others under construction or operating near the freeway interchange.

A $15 million, 128-room Hyatt Place hotel from Chicago’s Hyatt Hotels Corp. and a $10 million, 121-room Fairfield Inn & Suites from Bethesda, Md.-based Marriott International Inc. also are under construction near Eastwood.

In addition to the East Lansing Hampton Inn, the area also is home to a Courtyard by Marriott and a Holiday Inn Express, part of British hotel chain InterContinental Hotels Group PLC.

Meanwhile, a full-service Holiday Inn hotel could return to the Lansing market with a planned 130-room hotel near Wood Street and Lake Lansing Road. An InterContinental Hotels Group spokeswoman said earlier this year the hotel could open in 2015.

...
The Hyatt Place is the only one with anything interesting about it, architecturally.
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  #673  
Old Posted Jul 23, 2014, 8:45 AM
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The Cedar Street Solar Array on the southeastern edge of downtown was recently updated and expanded allowing it to produce more power. The BWL is really in the beginning stages of taking its renewable portfolio from a bunch of cobbled-together demonstration projects, to something that will actually supplement the baseload stations in the system. We're still talking peanuts, here, but this is also a good way to reuse some land that couldn't be used for little else.

BWL Expansion

Quote:
uesday, July 22 — The Lansing Board of Water and Light unveiled the expansion of 385 solar panels at the Cedar Street solar array Tuesday, almost tripling the generating power from 54 kW to 158 kW.

The expansion allows the collection of 817 panels along Cedar Street. The array sits above the 10-million-gallon drinking water reservoir, across from the Dye Water Conditioning Plant.

“Lansing is now the proud home of the largest municipal owned solar array in the state of Michigan,” said Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero.

BWL General Manager J. Peter Lark said the new solar panels cost a third less than the older panels and can produce approximately three times the output of power.

“Solar is great for the city, because it’s available when people need the power the most,” said Lark. “When it’s a hot, sunny day, we need the power for all the people running their air conditioning.”

...

The new panels are also angled at 30 degrees, adjusted from the older 40 degrees, to try and capture more sunlight.

“As these companies compete to make panels more efficient,” Knudstrup said, “we’re going to be able to generate more power with newer panels.”

A new community solar project was also announced, allowing companies and organizations to set up solar arrays from which BWL customers can purchase the generated power, said Lark, without installing the panels on their homes.

...


What was interesting to find out - and maybe I just missed it when it was proposed - but the REO Town Cogeneration Plant has solar panels on its roof.
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  #674  
Old Posted Aug 12, 2014, 11:42 AM
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This has got to be one of the least urban-minded projects I've seen anyone do in the inner-city in a long time. But, Hepler's Metro Flats at Prudden Wheel was granted a special land use permit, last night. It's a bunch of stacked containers with ground floor parking further oriented around a surface lot. This is being built on vacant land and an existing surface lot immediately to the north of Motor Wheels Lofts in the old Prudden Wheel Factory and across the tracks from the Prudden Place Apartments, all of this at the northeastern fringe of the downtown area (techically outside of downtown).

Quote:


Lansing modular apartment housing project wins approval

August 11, 2014



A developer’s plan to build 200 modular apartments near Oakland Avenue and Prudden Street on the city’s north side received the go-ahead Monday from the Lansing City Council.

The Council unanimously approved a special land use permit for Summit Street Development LLC.

Developer Harry Hepler has said he wants to build prefabricated units with phone-controlled appliances, flexible space and adaptable furniture on a vacant parcel bounded by Oakland on the north, May Street on the south, Prudden on the east and a former rail right-of-way on the west.

The property is zoned heavy industrial. Residential is allowable there as a special use.
I believe the plan is that since this is right next to the railroad tracks to ship the containers directly to the site via rail for assembly.
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  #675  
Old Posted Aug 13, 2014, 8:03 AM
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The LSJ has finally gotten around to to covering the train station project.


Rod Sanford | Lansing State Journal

Bye, bye, storage shed. lol
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  #676  
Old Posted Aug 14, 2014, 1:04 PM
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The Park District, the massive redevelopment of the eastside of downtown East Lansing, took another step forward. But, more interesting is that the one major parcel just outside of the Park District, the Citizens Bank Building at the northwest corner of Abbot and Grand River, has also gotten another proposal.

Quote:

Rod Sanford | Lansing State Journal

East Lansing planning commission to review two major development proposals

By Dawn Parker | The Lansing state Journal

August 13, 2014

EAST LANSING — The city’s planning commission will hold public hearings tonight on two separate proposals that could result in a massive remake of the downtown’s western edge.

Two redevelopment plans will go before the commission beginning at 7 p.m. in Courtroom 2, 101 Linden St.

The area has been the focus of multiple redevelopment proposals for nearly 10 years. The city council will take final action at a future meeting.

Lansing Township-based DTN Management, Inc. is presenting a scaled-back plan for the Park District after having been chosen by the city from a group of developers.

The company wants to rezone properties at 314, 328, 334, 340 and 404 Evergreen from multi-family residential to commercial. A city parking lot would also be rezoned to commercial.

An eight-story mixed-use building with retail on the first floor and 84 apartments on the upper floors is being proposed.

DTN’s project would also include another eight-story building with a total of 137 apartments and 437 parking spaces, plus a six-story building with 20 parking spaces on the first floor and 25 apartments above.


...

Park District Investment Group, LLC is seeking to rezone the site of the former Evergreen Arms Apartments, 341-345 Evergreen Avenue, from multi-family residential to commercial.

Darcy Schmitt, East Lansing’s planning and zoning administrator, said she does not know who the principal investors are for Park District Investment Group, LLC. The LLC lists Brent Titus, an attorney with the Foster Swift law firm, as its managing agent. Titus could not be reached for comment.

The company’s plan includes a portion of the former City Center II project, which was deemed financially unfeasible for the city council in 2013. The new project does not require a financial commitment by the city, Schmitt said.

Under the proposed plan, the apartments would be demolished and a four-story mixed-use building with retail on the first floor and 42 apartments on the upper floors would be built.

The investment group is also seeking permission to demolish the former Citizens Bank building at corner of West Grand River and Abbot Road.

The firm wants to build a 10-story mixed-use building with retail and restaurant space, a 120-room hotel with a restaurant, up to 102 apartments and underground parking for 283 cars.

...
DTN's plan (Park District) was posted a few pages back. Here are some elevation drawings of the two proposed buildings not a part of the DTN's plan.

10-Story Mixed-Use: Grand River & Abbot



4-Story Mixed-Use: Evergreen Avenue



Between the Park District, the Citizens Bank Building and Evergreen redevelopment, Showroom Shine Lofts, and the Gateway project - all of which are basically adjacent to one another - this would completely remake the western end of downtown East Lansing.
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  #677  
Old Posted Aug 20, 2014, 8:08 AM
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Developers have landed a big name for Red Cedar Renaissance to eventually go up on the old Red Cedar Golf Course on the far eastside: Hyatt.

Quote:
Hyatt proposed for Red Cedar, LEAP calls announcement premature

By Justin A. Hinkley | Lansing State Journal

August 19, 2014

LANSING — The developers behind the Red Cedar Renaissance project said they have lined up a prominent national hotel chain for the 61-acre former golf course on the city’s east side.

But the head of the Lansing Economic Area Partnership warned Tuesday there are many hurdles to clear before the proposed full-service, 200-room Hyatt hotel opens for business.

Lansing developer Joel Ferguson said the Hyatt — the flagship brand of Chicago’s Hyatt Corp. — will be a “game-changer for Lansing” that will help make the city a destination stop. The hotel is the first specific project announced for the proposed $200 million redevelopment of the former Red Cedar Golf Course.

The city closed the course in 2007 amid budget cuts.

...

Despite Tuesday’s announcement, details were sparse. The new hotel would be developed by Concord Hospitality Enterprises Co., a Raleigh, N.C. company that has partnered with Ferguson on the Red Cedar project. Concord officials did not return repeated calls seeking comment on their plans, including the hotel’s price and how many jobs would be created.

...
Surprisingly, this will be the first full-service Hyatt in the state. I was also kind of surprised to hear this would be a Hyatt given that they are building a Hyatt Place up the freeway in Eastwood.
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Old Posted Aug 21, 2014, 8:19 AM
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Fairly significant transit news...

First, CATA has expanded service on Route #12 to LCC's West Campus in Delta Township. The frequency is still pretty bad, but that's true of most CATA routes outside the mainlines. Still, it's an improvement over what was there.



CATA also kind of unexpectedly announced that the thaw between their system and Delta Township is in full effect. Zone #2, which include significantly higher fares ($1.25 for regular ride, $2.50 for Zone #2), has been abolished. That means the few routes that do cross county lines (#3 and #12) are now regular fare in Delta Township. Along with this, CATA is introducing a dial-up redi-ride service which will run from Monday to Saturday.

The ultimate goal, of course, is to eventually get rid of Eaton County's horrible dial-a-ride Eatran and pull Delta fully into CATA, but this is the first step. Everybody basically realizes that Delta Township is far too large a suburb to remain so incredily underserved by CATA, but Eaton County has not been interested in paying their fair share, and Delta Township wasn't going to go in alone up until this announcement. If we can ever win back the county commission, there may be hope that we can finally pull Delta fully into the system and get legit bus service to the township.

As it stands now, you've basically got one legit urban route in Delta which serves the Lansing Mall (the LCC West Campus is the fringe of the township). This leaves a significant part of the urbanized part of the township out to Marketplace without any service, still.
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Old Posted Aug 26, 2014, 8:47 AM
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We've had quite a bit of mediocre urban housing developmnets in the city, lately, but this one is just plain bad all the way around:

Quote:


Project would bring apartments, retail near downtown Lansing

By Steven R. Reed | Lansing State Journal

August 25, 2014

LANSING — A local developer wants to build a four-story building on a surface parking lot on the edge of the downtown area that would include apartments and retail space.

City Council has approved a zoning change that could clear the way for the proposed project located at South Washington Avenue and St. Joseph Street. It would include 51 apartments — from efficiencies to two-bedroom units — ground-level retail and parking, according to zoning documents approved Aug. 11 by council.

One city official described the project as an “amazing, urban-appropriate design.”

Lansing-based insurer Accident Fund Insurance Co. of America has owned the property at 616 S. Washington Ave., which is roughly two-thirds of an acre, since 2001 and plans to sell it. The zoning change and conceptual site plan were submitted by Lansing’s Studio Intrigue Architects on behalf of Investors Equity Group of Lansing, which is managed by local developer Roger Thornburg.

An Accident Fund spokesman confirmed the insurer was working with a potential buyer it would not name. Thornburg owns, manages or has developed several downtown-area parcels, including his office at 611 S. Capitol Ave. and The Dean apartment building, at 727 N. Capitol Ave.

...
I was honestly at a loss for words when I first saw this last week. The thing is bizarre all the way around. First off, 616 South Washington is right at the freeway with the service drive making up the south perimeter. They have the one storefront (which constitutes the "retail") fronting the freeway service drive instead of Washington, our main downtown retail street. The first floor literally looks like a different building than the apartments up top, and not in a good way. I can not believe the developer allowed this rendering out, and for our planning director to describe the project as such:

Quote:
Johnson described the initial project design as “masterful.”

“This is at the top of the heap in terms of what I consider to be amazing, urban-appropriate design,” he said. “I hope it comes to fruition.”
No words.
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Old Posted Aug 26, 2014, 12:36 PM
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The North End Zone expansion to Spartan Stadium opened, yesterday. The 50,000 square foot expansion includes a recruiting center, a new north entrance and concourse, fan restrooms, the Izzo Family Media Center, and something sorely lacking in years past: legit locker rooms worthy of a university of this size and now a team of this caliber.


Ryan Garza | Detroit Free Press


Ryan Garza | Detroit Free Press


Ryan Garza | Detroit Free Press


Ryan Garza | Detroit Free Press
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