My favorite places to look are:

• The Lansing City Pulse
• The Lansing State Journal
• The State News
• Capital Gains Media

Also, the newspapers tend to trail project updates by a day or two, so if you want bleeding edge information, you can check the city council agendas/minutes. This is also another way to get some more renderings & site plans of projects that might not be published.

• Lansing City Council Meetings
• East Lansing City Council Meetings
• Michigan State University Construction

For the moment, announcements are pretty exciting. Just check out the message boards at www.develop.metrolansing.com for all the development ogling you can handle.

It’s nice to get a mention in the paper. This is the second time that Develop has been mentioned in the City Pulse. If you’ve come to the website from the City Pulse article, I’d recommend that you take a stop by the forums (that’s where most of the activity is). There’s also lots of valuable information in the project pages.

• Height - 5 Floors / 54 feet
• Size (Sq. Ft.) – Unknown
• Developer - Cron Management
• Units – 36 condominiums
• Construction - Completed September 2008
• Cost - $4.4 million
• Parking Places - 122

Albert Place Condominiums is a condominium development on the old Lot #7, at the Southeast corner of Albert & Bailey streets. This was developed by Cron Management, the developers of Stonehouse Village I. This development has five floors, floors one and two consist of 122 parking spaces, while floors three through five will be condos consisting of 3 one bedroom units and 33 two bedroom units. The building’s facade will be brick and limestone, and will be postmodern in design. The project started near August 2007 and was completed around September 2008. Along with this the developer is proposing another building similar to Stonehouse Village I directly east of Stonehouse Village I and south of this site. That building is slated to have three floors of apartments above ground floor retail.

Project Forum: Albert Place Condominiums Discussion
Development’s Website: Albert Place Condominiums

Cheers to MSU!

For more information, you can take a look at the discussion in the forums or read the press release from MSU.

I’m going to try something again here. Develop has sustained a long period of low blog posts, yet high activity in the forum. If you have some input about a topic that faces Lansing, send it to me in an email. If the content is deemed suitable for Develop, I’ll post it.

I’m looking for in-depth coverage about a specific topic. Something more detailed than your average forum post. Could there be something going on in the Lansing area that you find is a real interested reuse? Are there specific projects that you don’t feel get enough press and you would like to highlight? Is your neighborhood a hidden gem that is just waiting to be discovered?

Let me know about it. Send an email to weinjare at msu dot edu. I’ll make sure to give proper credit for the author.

Thanks, Jared.

There could be quite a busy summer ahead for Lansing and it’s surrounding areas.

In Lansing there are a few projects already underway, and probably many more that will face hearings and public input as they move along with the planning process. Some of the projects include:

• The new Accident Fund headquarters
• Market Place
• Stadium District (finishing completion, with only the retail left)
• Capital Club Tower
• City Center Studios (just announced)
• and plenty more

Over in East Lansing, there is also excitement over many of the projects that have been announced and are under way.

• City Center II
• Stonehouse Village III
• Broad Art Museum
• the new Residence Inn
• and some others that are still in the concept stage, like Stonehouse Village West, and a development on the site of Lot 1

Keep you eyes and ears open for a busy summer, and hopefully we’ll all hear more good news as the days get longer.

• Height – 1-2 floors / 58′
• Size – 71,000 sq ft +
• Developers – The Gillespie Group & Ahptic Studios
• Cost - $9 million +
• Construction – Tentative 2009 Completion

City Center Studios was proposed as a joint venture between local developer Pat Gillespie and Ahptic Studios, with other partners potentially coming on board also. The building will go on the land fromerly occupied by A1 rental, between Cedar & Larch, south of Erie St. The project will have two 24,000 sq ft soundsages that may be combined, the stages will have 50′ ceilings, and numerous other ammenities expected by Hollywood studios. There will be a 2 floor post-production building attached which will house a 70 seat screening room, graphics/animation suites and digital storage.

• Official site: http://www.citycenterstudios.com/
• Discussion: http://develop.metrolansing.com/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=91

• Height - 12 Floors / 170′
• Size – 180,000 sq ft
• Developer – The Lawton Group
• Parking Spaces – 750
• Cost – $60 million
• Construction – Unknown Start / Mid 2010 Completion

The Lenawee is proposed mixed use structure to be constructed on the site of the Old YMCA on Lenawee St. The building was proposed in the Spring of 2008 by the Lawton Group, a local realty company.  The building will have a 4 floor parking garage on floors 1-4, which will also have ground floor retail facing Lenawee, floors 5-11 will be office and the 12th floor, smaller than the rest, will have gym facilities and a rooftop running track. This development is also slated to be LEED certified. Demolition of the old YMCA could begin by the end of 2008, with the new building being completed in mid 2010.

• Official Site: http://www.cbre.com/USA/US/MI/Lansing/property/thelenaweeuserform
• Discussion: http://develop.metrolansing.com/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=87

• Height – 2-3 floors
• Size - Unknown
• Developer – Gene Townsend
• Units – 52+
• Parking Spaces – 138
• Cost – Unknown
• Construction – Spring 2008 start/2011 completion (phased)

Gene Townsend proposes this development for a block of state owned land bounded by Ottawa, Ionia, Butler and Sycamore. The block has been mostly vacant for many years, except 9 houses, 4 of which are currently state-owned and vacant, 2 will be razed the others will be rehabbed or remain with their current owners. The development includes significant new construction, including condos, row houses, a mixed use structure and park space. A total of 28 of the new units will be row houses, 24 will be condos, 1 new single family structure, as well as unknown number of lofts above retail at the corner of Ottawa & Sycamore. Construction is to begin in the Spring of 2008 and be done in phases, possibly through 2011.

Forum: Sobi Square (formerly Ottawa & Butler) discussions

• Height – 4 floors
• Size (sq ft) – ~60,000
• Developer – Lenawee Group (Gene Townsend)
• Units – 43
• Parking Spaces – Underground/Unknown
• Cost - $13 million
• Construction – mid 2008 start/mid 2009 finish

     The Lansing Gateway is a mixed-use project proposed by Gene Townsend. The building will be built on the city owned parking lot on the north side of Kalamazoo St between Cedar and Larch, the  properties to the north will be razed for a new parking lot. It will be four floors and approximately 60,000 square feet, with 33 apartments and 10 condos. The building is also slated to be LEED certified for being energy efficient and eco-friendly. There will be an underground parking ramp for residents and as part of the project a new entrance to the river trail will be constructed across Larch St from the property.

Forum: Lansing Gateway
Development website: Lansing Gateway