Central Lansing Construction and Development.

[RustTown]

I think the plan was dropped. I have an email contact in the planning department concerning creative reuses like what was planned, and from what I got from the reply it seems that the developer dropped the plans. The same thing happened to the proposed renovation and addition of the Michigan Mutual Building on North Capitol. It's on hold indefinitely.

[hood]

While it's dissapointing that these plans were dropped, I'm sure new plans for both these sites will come up in the near future.

[RustTown]

Just a small update of Printers Row, and some random shots. I hadn't been by the site in weeks and was surprised at how fast its coming along. They are also working very hard (finally) on the rull restoration of the historic Kerr House into office space, again. I didn't actually go into the neighborhood to see if they had started on the other rowhouses along St. Joseph:

From South Grand Avenue and East St. Joseph Street (I really hope they bury the utilities, but I doubt they will or they would have done it when digging out the foundations)

Closeup

Looking southeast along South Grand Avenue

Random

The many churches that line Ottawa Street, the area in the back could benefit heavily from some dense infill now that there is extra parking for St. Mary in the Roosevelt Garage.

Ferris Park Apartments, built in 1966, and surrounded by historic homes.

The old Carnegie Library (built 1902), now part of the LCC campus. Once facing demolition, it will become part of the new University Center.

Former Cherry Hill Schoot (built 1922), now the home of the UAW Local 6000

St. Mary Cathedral and Roosevelt Parking Garage (state-owned)

Michigan State Capitol and Captiol View (near 100% occupancy)

Ottawa Street Power Station

Riverfront Towers and the Prudden Motor Wheels Factory renovation

Sunset

Near Eastside Panorama

[DITR]

Up-date from Diamonds in the Rough:

402 S. Washington fully leased--Green House Bistro--March-April 06

303 S. Washington "Porter Bldg.--historic detail will be cleaned up in the spring

208 S. Washington "Ranney Bldg." sandstone starting soon

206 S. Washington--not my project--3 lofts up-stairs done soon--retail/rest. first floor

109/111 S. Washington--gutted and ready to get started--"Capitol Lofts"

[RustTown]

Welcome! I learned about you guys via the Lansing City Pulse last year, but had no idea you guys were doing that many projects. Keep up the great work!

Question, can you describe 109/111 S. Washington and the "Porter Building?" I can visualize both blocks, but don't know exactly which building is which. Is the Porter the one at the southeast corner of Washington and Washtenaw?

[RustTown]

I just realized that 109/111 S. Washington is the Capitol Pharmacy building just south of the 101 S. Washington! That's really great to hear! I was also reading through the city council agenda and noticed that Tony Gentilozzi (another downtown property owner/holder) has put out an NEZ for the Secretary of State Building (old Rite-Aid Building) right across the street. I wonder what he is doing with it? I know there is additional office space on the second floor. It would be great to see him add another story or two of lofts to the top. I'd also like to see Kositcheks do something with their store's facade refacing it and maybe adding another story for residential development. This would really fill in the "holes" on Washington.

[jaredw]

What does NEZ mean? Also, do you think the Roosevelt parking garage is what the MSU parking garage will look like?

[RustTown]

No, the MSU Parking Garage is actually going to look like a building. The Roosevelt Garage is nice, though, especially for downtown Lansing where most of the parking architecture is horrible.

An NEZ is a Neighborhood Enterprise Zone, and getting the city to declare one means that the developer gets certain tax abatements, or something similar. It's what you try to get when you can't declare something a brownfield.

[RustTown]

Diamonds in the Rough, are you the Shawn Elliott they did a story on not too long ago in the City Pulse?

I just realized where the Porter Building is. It's the historic, 3-story building with Cottage Inn as the retail tenant. It's one of the most impressive low-rises along that stretch.

Question, though. Who's doing the renovation of 206 S. Washington Sq? I'm so glad they removed that ugly facade that had been put up on it. I wish all other downtown property owners would do the same. There has been many facade improvements since 2000, but there are quite a few more that should be done (i.e. Frisbee's, Clems Comics, Daily Bagel...)

And just more generally, it would be good a developer come in and demolish the modern 1-story, 305 and 307 South Washington. It's so awkward to see one-story buildings on the square, and pretty ugly ones, at that. It's a total underutilization of the site. Couple that with the gated gravel lot on the other side of the street adjacent to the Knapps and Cooley Library, and that block of South Washington could really benefit from some infill.

[hood]

The biggest joke about that gravel lot next to Cooley is that they allowed them to tear down those buildings quite recently, for the purpose of making a parking lot . I would like to see Cooley either utilize that land or sell it. I get the feeling that when Cooley builds their project where the Towne Centre building is they may raze their library building and build a parking ramp, which I wouldn't like to see, but for them it makes sense.

Those one story buildings are pretty aggrevating, especially the metal grate they put above them, to make them appear taller. I think a good 3-5 story, small mixed use development would go good there.

[RustTown]

Yeah, that whole block is a mess in terms of urban planning. There is just so much wrong with it.

I mean, the only way to access the gravel lot is by the alley cutting through the block either off of Kalamazoo or Washtenaw. And the cheap, chain-link fence coupled with the lot being gravel is just embarrassing. BTW, when did that occur? I can't remember anything being there, but that.

I've layed out my plan for it before, but I would like to see a developer sandwhich something at least as tall as the neighboring Knapps Centre in that space (6-7 stories). In fact, if the Knapps ever gets off the ground with residential and retail, I think the gravel lot would make a perfect, small, boutique hotel with a 100 rooms or so, with maybe a couple of residential penthouses on the top floor overlooking the square.

For 305-307, I'd like to see something just to fill back in the streetscape. Your know, 3-4 story buildings with residential/office above and retail at ground floor. That block easily has some of the tallest low-rises of South Washington Square making the 1-story buildings with their silly 1-story grates on top look completely out of place.

[hood]

While I can't personally remember when those buildings next to Cooley were tore down, my dad says he thinks it was the mid-90's but may have been the early 90's. i really would like to see Cooley part with that lot and their library so a high rise could be built there. I really think a high rise would go good on S Washington, but I wouldn't want to sacrifice any historic buildings for this, so I think that this site is perfect.

[RustTown]

Printer's Row with its roof under construction: 3/12/2006

[hood]

I like how these are coming together, the only dissapointing thing is that they decided to not have balconies.

[RustTown]

I don't have any photos to share, this week, but Neophase's renovations of the the old Danzo's storefronts is looking great. They finally brought down the wooden scaffolding that had been hiding the entire ground floor storefronts to reveal their work. They are now full glass from floor-to-floor. I'll try and get a picture.

[hood]

I seen that the other day, it looks pretty good. Have you heard if Poppof meats is open to the public yet? I've been waiting to try their meat ever since I heard they were opening up to normal people.

[RustTown]

Normal people. lol

I'm not sure, and had totally forgot they were opening to the general public. You'd think they'd have a sign saying they were open, so I'd figure that they aren't ready yet, but it's just a guess. BTW, I was kind of surprised to see Studio Intrigue advertising their renovations in the former car dealership they recently renovated across the street (I still don't know the name of the loft project). You'd almost think they will be one of the ground floor tenants.

[downtownlansing77]

Wait, was that a joke? I thought Studio Intrigue was moving down there and taking the first floor of that building... Did they back out?.

BTW, I was kind of surprised to see Studio Intrigue advertising their renovations....You'd almost think they will be one of the ground floor tenants.

[RustTown]

Is that what they were doing? I had no idea they were going to be the ground floor tenant. They are currently headquartered in Okemos, right?

Hood, I'm sure Popoff isn't open, yet, to the general public. They look like they are still working on the interior.

[Adieoz]

Studio Intrigue has already relocated to S. Washington on the first floor of the building located just south of the old Standard Oil/Bozzo's Used Cars. It is really an impressive space. I think they have been there for about 3 or 4 weeks. There are loft apartments above the space.

[RustTown]

I finally got around to doing a small development update for today.

March 26th, 2006 - Development

The first phase of the Printers Row Condominiums are coming along nicely. As you can see by the sign on the right, the two small parking lots in the foreground are for sale, finally freeing them up for future development, as well.

A closeup of the northend of Phase I. These "green," energy saving units are being built with quality materials. They don't look cheap like other modern rowhouses I've seen thrown up in some cities.

Looking southeast at Phase I. Phase II are a series of "garden-style" rowhomes (whatever that really means) that will go in behind these.

The historic Kerr House/Mansion is undergoing restoration, and will be an office building, once again. It's one of quite a few Greek-Revival homes in central/old Lansing. The garden-style homes will go behind the house.

Surprisingly, these homes are going up RIGHT at the Grand Avenue freeway ramp in the Cherry Hill neighborhood, right off of I-496, the only and busy freeway that cuts through the heart of Lansing.

Up in Old Town (one of Lansing's historical villages) a mile or so to the north of downtown Lansing 8 more units are nearly finished on the On the Grand Condominium rowhouses that can be seen to the to the far left along Turner Street. More can be added on the back on the bluff along the river.

The design of the expansion is slighty different than that of the other homes. BTW, while I was out there, I saw one of the neighbors picking up trash. The Old Town community is a tightly knit one. Also, a local developer is proposing a 4-5 story condominium building right in the heart of this eccentric district.

The historic Grand River Avenue Bridge through Old Town is being torn down on March 27th, as it is structurally deteriorating. A new bridge with historical motiffs will replace it. This is not the first Grand River Avenue Bridge. The first was a covered bridge, that was then known as the Franklin Street Bridge.

Just down the street from the On the Grand Condominiums, and also on the Grand River, is the Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau. Many even in Lansing have no idea it is even here, and many have argued that it should be in downtown Lansing. This historic building was renovated sometime in the late 90's, I believe, and sits in a river bluff so it has another floor at back below street level.

Some historic storefronts on the eastside of Turner Street.

1214 Turner Street is having two floors added. This unassuming, one-story building was originally constructed in 1891. The two floors will contain lofts.

More storefronts and lofts on the westside of the street. Lansing's old architecture may not be all that over-the-top, but its solid. There stores date back to the late 1870's.

On to downtown, and beyond...

The old Danzo's Hardware Store in REO Town, one of Lansing's original villages immediately south of downtown, is undergoing restoration with retail and second-story lofts. The building is fairly new for the area, constructed in 1911.

The historic Prudden Motor Wheel Factory finally has an ad up. The Motor Wheel Lofts, as they will be known, will be completed in the summer of 2006. I believe there will be anywhere from 120-150 apartment loft units, and they will be "green." This is also next door to the recently completed Phase I of the modern-styled Prudden Apartments. They sit just outside of downtown on the near northeast side.

Just a block to the west is the newly completed Cedar & Monroe Center/Plaza. Not all that impressive, but the land had sat empty for years until Prudden began to rise. Hopefully, more urban types of design will follow as the area becomes more desirable. The downtown marketing group, the Lansing PSD, really wants to have an ordinances that requires new retail constructions within central Lansing, also include at least second-story lofts.

Fresh, a new dining option soon to open in downtown Lansing, is nearly complete in the old Capitol Pharmacy Building on the 100 south block of Washington Square. I was told by another forumer here that it is a salad bar-type restaurant. Ha, ha...it looks like I can see myself in the glass.

The Ranney Building, constructed in 1891, is undergoing restoration, and will include ground floor retail, and lofts on the second and third floor. The modernized facade was recently ripped off the building to reveal the unique structure beneath. The building next door is an unrelated renovation.

Front view of the whole thing. Workers were out working hard on this Sunday afternoon.

And, finally, the building in the context of the neighborhood.

Lastly, just a pic of me on the Roosevelt Garage. I think it's my first pic of myself I've shown here. lol

[Michi]

Wow, what a breath of fresh air! It's so exciting to see all these things going on in the Capital City!! Man, the On the Grand project has really done wonders for the street presence of that area. Look how nice that has turned out to be. It just needs trees and greenery to take away from the blandness of the street. The Printer's Row looks quality and wonderful, and I REALLY like the color scheme of the Prudden Factory Lofts. Just great stuff all around.

The sign should say "Fresh: Healthy Foods to Shower with and Smear on Your Face". I mean, who EATS food?

[RustTown]

BTW, across from the On the Grand Condominiums will rise a Quaker Meeting House, the Red Cedar Friends division currently in East Lansing. They are very liberal-minded, and will be a great fit in Old Town. The community kind of faught against them, at first, but will warm to them, I'm sure. They will build a meeting house that will respect the historic architecture of the area. My only problem is...it's only supposed to be one floor. Hopefully, it's a vaulted and tall floor. I've never been to a Quarker Meeting House before, so I don't know what to expect of the architecture. They also rented out space in East Lansing, so there is nothing local to judge by.

BTW, there are quite a few historic renovations taking place on Grand River Avenue east of Old Town in Northtown (where Pennsylvania terminates into Grand River Avenue). I'll have to get some photos. Also, East Village is still going up pretty slow, but more single condominiums units have been added. Apparently, this hasn't went off as they expected.

[jaredw]

Great pictures and nice update Lmich!

[hood]

Lots going on right now with plenty more to come, thats what I like to see.