Lansing-East Lansing, MI Development

[ColDayMan]

It's an improvement but you'd think they'd go a bit more 'bold.'

[Rizzo]

Portions of the stadium were recently renovated not too many years ago. I think the idea is to merge the two together without the stadium looking too hodgepodge.

[LMich]

They essentially trying to hide the exposed concrete structure, and I think they do a fairly decent job of that with the stone. I like that they are going with a spartan - pun intended - renovation, and not some crazy deconstructionist crap or something too cheekily PoMo, which is what the 2005 addition was.

[LMich]

Looks like East Lansing is closer to picking a developer for the multi-building City Center II project. It appears that only DTN of East Lansing and Lurvey White of Flint are left, is leaning heavily towards the latter:

E.L. City Council to decide on two developers to obtain city land

By Derek Kim | The State News

May 22, 2013

DTN Management Co. and Lurvey White Ventures were recommended to the East Lansing City Council by the Park District Planning Area Review Team to potentially obtain a slot of vacant downtown land including the former City Center II project area to develop projects.

A 14-2 vote at Wednesday’s meeting at City Hall, 410 Abbot Road, eliminated Urban Cultural and Arts District LLC from contention. The decision was the culmination of two months of discussions, where criteria was reviewed, proposals scored, public interviews conducted and a financial review administered for the top three developers.

DTN Management Co. is proposing to build a new parking structure that would have 400 park ing spaces and a 10-story building with hotel and residential units. Lurvey White Ventures’ proposal would include a year-round farmers market, a 120-room hotel with a 200-person banquet center and new parking and residential mixed-use buildings.

The city council will begin discussions on the developers in June and review both developers throughout the summer, East Lansing City Manager George Lahanas said.

...

I'm glad they are leaning away from the local guys. DTN has a reputation for cheapness, and they are seemingly not wanting to work with the neighbors, whereas the city seems to be hugely impressed with Lurvey White. I went to their website and they look like they do good work, certainly better than anything DTN could offer. I believe I posted a snippet of the Lurvey White's plan on the previous page, and it's the one that most respects and builds on the streetscape.

The really ambitious (two ten-story towers) Studio Intrigue proposal was cut.

[Michagain]

Well in other news it looks like a stairwell is being appended to the south-facing rear-end of the new Davenport building on Allegan (former 5/3 Bank).

Also, the back and west sides (haven't seen from the east yet) are being painted black, or at least for now.

It's not clear sure how far they're taking the paint job, or if they plan on doing anything interesting on that ugly, front 1960's facade facing Allegan.

[LMich]

A short photo update:

Market Place: soil remediation work is starting. They tore up the old parking lot and the foundations of the old Lansing City Market. They are going to be taking out quite a bit of soil, as there are all kinds of contaminents since most of the riverfront used to be heavily industrialized.



Knapp's: Work continues on this mixed-use conversion of this old department-story-turned-office-building. They've started adding the windows.



REO Town Cogeneration Plant & LBWL Headquarters: This is just about done.



REO Town Streetscape Reconstruction: This is also just about done. The sidewalks are overbuilt, but that's not exactly a problem. They've also place a small media the runs most of the street between Malcolm X and South streets. It's really nice, and it should set the stage for much larger building being built along it.



East Village: This has moved very quickly. The hill is just about completely developed now, and stuff is selling out before they cab build it. I've complained about the suburban nature of the whole thing, but considering this was mostly an empty field in the inner-city for much of the city's history, and considering the lots are quite a bit smaller (they are actually average-sized city lots) than what you'd find in the suburbs, it could have been worse. Though, a better argument is that if they were going to plat it out on average sized city lots, they could have done alot better with both the siteplan and the cheap-suburbanish architecture.

[Michagain]

Originally Posted by LMich

Though, a better argument is that if they were going to plat it out on average sized city lots, they could have done alot better with both the siteplan and the cheap-suburbanish architecture.

Or at least put the garages in the back. But I guess front-facing garages (which I think are a blight) is not much of a Mid-Michigan concern right now.

[LMich]

I totally agree, man. Outside of them being your typical developer of suburban crap, I'd also assume the front-facing garages had to do with the fact that while the lots have a width similar to that of other established neighborhoods on the Eastside (though, they are a bit wider), they are quite a bit more shallow/not as long as your average lot on the Eastside. Heck, in a perfect world, these all would have been attached single-family homes like the part of the site facing Saginaw.

I guess the good news is that this probably couldn't make it through the new form-based zoning that Bernero just got passed as part of his budget. This will now allow the city to regulate growth not simply by use but by aesthetics. The new zoning is a direct result of Niowave building a literal pollbarn at their site up in the historic Walnut Neighborhood.

It's taken forever, but it finally looks as if the city won't just have to take anything that comes its way because it technically fitted the zoning classifications.

[LMich]

This isn't going to happen, but it seems that carting off what exists of Lansing Township - five non-contiguous pieces scattered around the urban area - is getting brought up more and more, these days. Lansing would have to be in a far better fiscal situation for this to even get rolling - why would the township want to join a city running perpetual budget deficits? - but Lansing Township hasn't made logistical sense since Lansing's annexation of most of the rest of it cut it into pieces during the 60's.

'Dissolve Lansing Township'

by Sam Inglot | Lansing City Pulse

June 3, 2013

Monday, June 3 — A new Facebook group — started by a Lansing Township resident — advocates for the dissolution of the township and is slowly gaining followers and media attention.

Township resident Joshua Pugh created the Facebook group, “Dissolve Lansing Township,” on April 28. Pugh was on WKAR’s Current State this morning, along with Larry Merrill, executive director of the Michigan Townships Association, to discuss the movement he’s trying to start.


“What this comes down to is establishing a new culture, a new solution-oriented way of doing things, for the mid-Michigan region,” Pugh said on the program. He works as a communications specialist for the progressive political group Progress Michigan. Pugh said he found the discussion on the idea so far to be very “personality oriented“ and “petty.”

...

[LMich]

I was wondering what would happen with the former Genesee Elementary after it was largely vacated, this year. It looks like a local developer has found an really creative reuse for it, and best yet, he's going to reconstruct the thing including the cupola that's been missing forever:

Genesee Street School / Preservation Lansing

Doing it old school

By Lawrence Constentino | Lansing City Pulse

May 29, 2013

It’s doubly fitting that Preservation Lansing will launch its 2013 round of awards with a press conference today at the old Genesee Street School downtown. In a city with a tattered urban fabric, the annual awards tout the value of neighborhood fixer-uppers as well as headline-grabbers like the hulking Marshall Street Armory, one of last year’s winners.

The stately backdrop to today’s event promises to hit both sweet spots with a heavy hammer. It’s a big project with potential to launch a thousand small ones.

Tim Hunnicutt, a Grand Ledge entrepreneur, moved his office into the school two weeks ago with plans to restore the building to its 1912 glory — cupola and all — put in 16 apartments for veterans and convert the ground floor into the HQ of Zero Day, where veterans will be trained in historic preservation work.

“This isn’t a construction training program,” Hunnicutt said. “It’s a community revitalization program.”

...

The Genesee School was built in 1912 to relieve overcrowding in Lansing schools, but fell victim to the city’s undercrowding a century later. Lansing’s heavyweight architect of the 20th century, Edwin Bowd, designed the school, which, Nelson found, has a near twin in Corunna, Mich. The Bowd imprimatur is a big plus. The firm of Bowd and Munson designed nearly every major landmark in the capital area, from Spartan Stadium to the Cooley Law School Temple Building to the Ottawa Street Power Station.

Like almost any century-old building, the Genesee School has taken some hard knocks. The elephantine entrance off of Butler Boulevard was sealed up and a graceful cupola was lopped off the roof. A gymnasium was added in 1962. But it still has the strong bones, heavy wood moldings and overall feel of a solid, early-1900s school, down to the chalkboards.

Last week, those chalkboards were scrawled with the names of 28 field workers, hired by Hunnicutt on a contract with the Ingham County Land Bank. Their goal: Prepare 197 foreclosed houses for an upcoming auction, clearing debris and getting grounds ready for market. In the months ahead, Hunnicutt will pick the most promising workers for three levels of training in construction, with a focus on historic preservation.

..

[LMich]

This was news back in late April that I missed, but Lansing's Michigan/Grand River Avenue BRT line has taken a formal step forward, moving into the FTA's Project Development Phase. The press release:

CATA Bus Rapid Transit Advances to Project Development Phase

CATA Laurie Robison, Director of Marketing

April 25, 2013

Lansing, MI – It’s been said that the waiting is the hardest part. When it comes to the Capital Area Transportation Authority’s Bus Rapid Transit – which was approved this month by the Federal Transit Administration to advance into project development – truer words cannot be spoken.

“CATA and its regional partners from both the public and private sectors – we are all thrilled by the good news,” said Sandy Draggoo, CATA CEO/Executive Director.

In September 2011, following an extensive study and upon determining that the BRT is the locally preferred alternative to address transportation issues along the Michigan/Grand River Avenue corridor, CATA submitted the BRT project for acceptance into the FTA’s Section 5309 Small Starts program and approval to move to the next step, called project development.

“Once funding is secured, CATA can proceed with the environmental review process, as well as engineering and design activities for FTA evaluation and ratings, all of which could position the BRT for future federal funding for this project,” Draggoo explained.

The BRT, or high-capacity buses operating in dedicated center-running bus lanes, would serve 28 stations and allow CATA to offer more efficient travel times, fewer stops, and greatly enhanced service along the eight-mile stretch of roadway between the Capitol in downtown Lansing and the Meridian Mall. Similar BRT systems have been effective catalysts in spurring economic development within corridor regions.

[LMich]

Some news on the old General Motors sites that straddle the border of Lansing and Lansing Township on the far westside (Lansing Craft Centre, Lansing Metal Center, Lansing Car Assembly (LCA) - Verlinden). Not good news, but not totally unexpected given the forumer uses of the site:

Cleanup of ex-GM sites in Lansing area could start next year

by Lindsay VanHulle | Lansing State Journal

June 6, 2013

The trust tasked in federal bankruptcy court with the decontamination and sale of former General Motors Corp. factories — including four near Lansing — says it expects to send the results of its pollution tests on the sites to the state this month.

RACER Trust, the holding entity of nearly 90 closed GM plants across the U.S. when it formed in 2011, intends to limit potential redevelopment of three sites in Lansing and Lansing Township to commercial or industrial uses and restrict new tenants from tapping into groundwater wells.

The plans, to be submitted to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, are in response to the discovery of contaminants — including heavy metals such as chromium and lead, volatile organic compounds and other solvents — in water and soil samples at the now-demolished plants.

...

Trust leaders say they anticipate a response from the DEQ about its findings by September. The timeline is accelerated, but reasonable, said Peter Quackenbush, a senior environmental engineer with the DEQ. RACER Trust also has to prepare a correction plan. Formal cleanup could begin in 2014.

...

Both Trigger and Quackenbush say the scope of contamination issues at the three sites is less than would be expected at former auto manufacturing sites. But a previously undiscovered solvent, called 1,4-dioxane, was found at the Lansing Metal Center this spring and will require additional investigation to learn the depth of the problem. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers the solvent a likely carcinogen.

...

Basically, the trust is saying that they are only going to clean up the site to the point that it can support industrial and/or commercial development; if a developer wants to do any kind of residential, they'd have to remediate it further. The city will be slightly disappointed to here this since these are giant sites where they wanted to do mixed use.

My hope is that we can find some grants and/or some magnanimous, deep-pocketed developer to really get these sites to where we can do anything with them. Aerial of the sites:


Lansing Car Assembly - Plant #6 by NewCityOne, on Flickr

[LMich]

Some shots courtesy of Develop Metro Lansing of the Ann Street Plaza developments in the center of downtown East Lansing:

The Residences







St. Anne Lofts



The Residences actually look way better than the renderings. St Anne Lofts actually ended up looking much worse than the renderings.

[LMich]

It seems like this thing has gone through a million hoops, and there is still not a rendering of it, but 600 East Michigan at the eastern end of downtown Lansing was finally granted a rezoning. From the Lansing City Pulse:

Monday, June 17 — The Lansing City Council unanimously approved rezoning a vacant piece of property in the Stadium District tonight to make way for a multi-story, mixed-use development.

The site, 600 E. Michigan Ave., piqued the interest of developer Pat Gillespie earlier this year, who wants to turn the former gas station into a three- or four-story mixed-use development. The rezoning process was held up for months in Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero’s office. The site was rezoned from light industrial to commercial use at the meeting tonight. The property is owned by the Ingham County Land Bank.

During public comment, David Vanderklok, an architect with Studio Intrigue Architects — the company working with Gillespie on the project — said over the last two or three years there have been two groups interested in the property, but that the industrial zoning “killed the progress both times” because the buildable area was not big enough. The rezoning fixes that issue.

The proposed development would feature a mixed-use structure with the first floor being commercial space and the upper floors serving as 31 residential units, Vanderklok said.

BTW, Lansing is launching a 3 month bike share pilot in August 4. A Michigan start-up is behind it. Not a service I see myself using, but I hope it does well because I can see tourist in particular using it since the inner-city River Trail connects most of activity nodes in the city center.

[LMich]

Update on Davenport's renovated downtown campus in the former Fifth Third Bank Building:

Greg DeRuiter | Lansing State Journal

Davenport University's new downtown Lansing building to be ready for fall semester

By Paul Henderson | Lansing State Journal

June 24, 2013

LANSING — Work is finishing up on a $10 million overhaul of the former Grand View Center building on the corner of Grand Avenue and Allegan Street as the new home for Davenport University takes shape.

Davenport is spending about $10 million on the 55,000-square-foot office building and renovation project that started in August 2012. When finished next month, it will house 21 high-tech classrooms, six laboratories, administrative offices and meeting spaces.

Damon Gonzales, vice president of facilities management for Davenport University, said the university hopes to start moving people into the building at the corner of Grand Avenue downtown by late July.

...

Gonzales said people should expect to see more ‘signage’ go up the over next few weeks including a beacon of the school’s logo on the top of the building.


Greg DeRuiter | Lansing State Journal

[LMich]

After a months-long and contentious debate, the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission finally approved by a vote of 10-9 to put an expansion of the Michigan Flyer bus line to Ann Arbor and Detroit Metro into the regional transportation plan, opening up a grant to expand serivce of the bus line:

Rod Sanford | Lansing State Journal

Michigan Flyer expansion approved

By Scott Davis | Lansing State Journal

June 27, 2013

An East Lansing bus company can move ahead with plans to expand service after receiving approval for the idea from regional planners.

The Tri-County Regional Planning Commission on Wednesday approved the proposal 10-9 to add Michigan Flyer LLC’s four proposed daily trips between East Lansing and Ann Arbor to its regional transportation plan. As part of the plan, the company will receive a federal grant of more than $595,000.

Just a month ago, the 19-member commission, deadlocked on the plan 9-9. One of its members, Ingham County Commissioner Brian McGrain, was absent from the May 29, but he voted Wednesday to approve it. The commission includes representatives from Ingham, Clinton and Eaton counties.

After the meeting, Ody Norkin, vice president of Michigan Flyer, said he expects the company will add the routes by this fall.

The company will use the one-time grant to increase bus trips between the two cities from eight to 12 a day. Buses would continue on to Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus. In return, Michigan Flyer would contribute nearly $149,000 of its own money, and cover the $550,000 cost of a new bus — the sixth in its fleet.

...

It was a contentious debate as this will most definitely take flyers from Capitol Region International Airport, but the debate is about how many. The Michigan Flyer also makes the case that the biggest loser or competition is not what the Flyere does to Capitol Region International, but what it will do to Metro's parking garages since the target audience for this expansion is Lansingites already driving down to Detroit. Essentially, they are making the case that this is also about efficiency and the environment because they'll be taking cars off the freeway.

In a perfect world, you'd see a regional rail connection to Metro, which seems like a no-brainer, but there is currently no passenger rail service between Michigan's largest city and its capital, which is only 85-or-so miles from downtown to downtown and even less than that to their respective urban fringes, of course.

[LMich]

The REO Town Plant officially came online, yesterday. Apparently, it's the first new construction power plant in the state in 25 year:

Rod Sanford | Lansing State Journal

BWL's $182M REO Town plant goes to work

By Steven R. Reed | Lansing State Journal

July 1, 2013

LANSING — With the click of a computer mouse, the Board of Water & Light’s 60,000-horsepower generators roared to life Monday, initiating commercial operations for the utility’s $182 million, natural gas-fired REO Town power plant.

BWL General Manager J. Peter Lark hailed the plant for coming online on time and on budget and for taking the utility into a “cleaner and greener” future.

...


Rod Sanford | Lansing State Journal

This cuts the BWL's overall emissions by 20%, and cuts mercury and sulfur dioxide emissions by 99% by allowing for the closure of three of the six units at the nearby, massive coal-fired Eckert Station.

[Michagain]

Funny enough (or silly enough): one insider at the airport personally related to me that a lot of this contention isn't just about taking traffic and revenue from the airport, but personal animosity between a couple airport/county officials and the operator of Mich Flyer.

[LMich]

I thought my eyes had been playing tricks on me when I saw something shiney on the roof of the capitol, but I guess it was real. They've been really harping in the media on the new carpet in the chambers, though. Meh.

Rod Sanford | Lansing State Journal

Capitol renovations ahead of schedule

By Kristen M. Daum | Lansing State Journal

July 8, 2013

LANSING — The 20-year-old carpet is gone, the legislative chambers are stripped bare, and shiny copper is being set on the rooftop of the Michigan Capitol.

The construction work is part of major renovations taking place to the storied building this summer while lawmakers are on recess, and as of last week, the work was about a week ahead of schedule, facilities director Steve Benkovsky said.

“We’re in pretty good shape,” he said.

Most notably, crews are replacing the ratted and worn carpet in the House and Senate chambers — some of which was held together by duct tape — and also upgrading the wiring for the chambers’ voting, telephone and computer systems.

The $371,000 project began almost immediately after the Michigan Legislature went on a two-month break at the end of June.

Carpeting was replaced on the fourth floor of the building, and crews are also adding an audio loop in the chambers’ galleries to make it easier for people with hearing aids or cochlear implants to listen to the floor proceedings.

The last time such renovations were done to the Capitol was more than 20 years ago, when the building was restored between 1989 and 1992.

The construction should wrap up by the end of August — in time for lawmakers’ scheduled return to full-time work in September. But if contractors stay on pace, the work could finish slightly sooner, Benkovsky said.

Meanwhile, crews are also replacing the west side of the Capitol’s roof, which is slated to cost about $1 million, Benkovsky said.

He said the east side of the roof was replaced seven years ago, but the rest of the project couldn’t be finished until funds were available this year.

Prior to the repairs, crews had to go check buckets under the leaking roof about once a week to dump out rainwater that had drained into them.

“Now since the money is there, we shouldn’t have to worry about that anymore,” Benkovsky said.


Rod Sanford | Lansing State Journal

I don't seem to remember the roof renovation of the other wing seven years ago. Now, if the state government was progressive enough with enough attention to detail to realize how bad a surface lot literally behind the state capitol for state senators looks...It's blight as far as I'm concerned.

[LMich]

A few updates...

- The LSJ is reporting that the developers of the massive Red Cedar municipal golf course redevelopment ($100 million and 61 acres) say that the plan is still moving forward, but doesn't give any additional information. Again, we're treated to talk of national retailers and hoteliers and housing developers falling all over themselves to get in on the project, but little more. The county drain commissioner is still waiting on Lansing to file a petition that would allow him to start the environmental re-engineering of the flood plain. To be honest, I wouldn't sad to see this scaled down or not happen at all.

- The Capital Area Multi-Modal Gateway Project (i.e. CATA /Amtrak station redevelopment) will start construction, next month, where the current station stands at the crossroads of the CN and CSX railways (Amtrak is on the CN railway). I just saw the site plan, and while nothing seems to have really changed, I noticed something I'd never noticed before, and that while it, of course, shows an Amtrak platform, it also shows a platform along the CSX railway directly to the south marked "future commuter service." I've heard nothing of even the concept of a commuter trail in the metro area, so I shot off a quick-fast-and-in-a-hurry email to try and get some clarification on this. Realistically, since the CSX railway goes directly to the station to making up the literal eastern edge of downtown Lansing, you could conceivably have the service without having to build any additional new rail (maybe some sidings). At the same time, the East Lansing Amtrak station is so far removed from where any daily commuters would come from, it seems like an afterthought that they put it on the siteplan.

EDIT: Just did a little more digging to find that the potential "commuter" platform on the CSX track on the south side of the station is in case Lansing ever gets a rail service to Detroit and Grand Rapids. I don't think they understand what "commuter" means. These distances would get us regional/intercity service, not commuter service.