Posted May 9, 2024, 11:12 PM
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Detroiter4life
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Back home in Georgia!
Posts: 4,104
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What to know about Lansing's newest city hall proposal
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A new city hall project has been announced but Mayor Andy Schor says there are few details, because it's early in the planning process, which he hopes to keep public for transparency.
With that in mind, here's what we do and don't know about the project.
What do we know about the proposed city hall?
Schor is planning a new city hall, with about 75,000 square feet of space including a first-floor service center where residents could pay taxes, bills, and fines and take care of other city business. The Capital Area Transportation Authority would consider adding onto the new city hall for its own new headquarters.
What don't we know?
There's no firm timeline yet and the city doesn't know which offices will go where or many of the key internal design points. There is no rendering or formal design work. The floorplan, which had been designed based on Schor's previous plans to transform the Masonic Temple into a new city hall, will need to be adjusted.
The current plans will build off the Masonic plans and a 2019 study by Ghafari Associates. That study looked at the parking lot site and determined it was viable for a city hall, Schor said.
Where will the new city hall be built?
It would be built at a surface parking lot called City Lot 1, 425 S. Grand Avenue, at the intersection of Grand Avenue and East Lenawee Street.
What's the deal with the parking lot?
Prior to the pandemic, the 115-car lot was frequently used by state workers and brought the city around $150,000 a year in revenue from parking, said Scott Bean, a spokesperson for the city. In the most recent year, it drew around $6,000 in revenue, which likely isn't enough to cover costs like plowing or maintenance, he said.
A new city hall would convert a portion of the city's surface lots to a better use, Schor said. The city has a reputation for having way too much surface parking, the mayor said, which he blamed largely on state complexes.
Who will develop the project?
The bid for a new city hall was awarded to the Boji Group back in 2021. That older bid for a city hall had been tweaked to accommodate the Masonic project, and some council members objected to the process. The other bidder in 2021, Granger Group, also sought a new bid process this year. The Boji Group declined to comment, through a spokesperson, for this story.
Following the mayor's announcement of the new city hall plans, Jason Granger said in a statement that "Granger is supportive of this decision."
"Mayor Schor has chosen the right direction for the City of Lansing and has made a common sense decision that is in the city's best interest," the statement said.
Can the city use the state money?
The new plan would likely be able to use $40 million in state money, which came with few conditions: There is a "tentative" deadline of Sept. 30, 2027, regarding effort made to work on a campus with other state or local organizations and there is language about "historic preservation considerations or evaluation of alternative options."
The new project would help bolster the city's historic Cherry Hill neighborhood right next door, said council member Ryan Kost.
What about local tax dollars?
The plan could be cheaper than the Masonic redo, which had anticipated a $2 million sale of the existing city hall to supplement the state appropriation and additional brownfield money to fix up the top floors for other tenants. Schor said the new city hall plan would aim at using only the state appropriation.
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https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/...w/73619121007/
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