I am really happy to hear that the rats have moved on. I have never seen one down there. I use to see them all the time in fancy Boston and NYC, and that would always freak me right out, people out there are very "yeah so?" about them. I have seen these little critters that I had to do a double take on because they kind of look like a rat, I think that they must be muskrats,they have otter like features and with a long bodies and tails. One little animal that seems to be doing well are the black squirrels, they were once only found in East Lansing, now I see them all over town. People on the West side have been seeing coyotes, the empty lands over there are prefect for coyotes. Again out east I would hear and see them all the time, the ones that live on Cape Cod are a high breed of red wolf and coyote so they are big and have full coats, not scruffy. They once had a large feral cat population in town but no more.
I was wondering about how and when certain street where rebuilt. South Washington in REOtown is so nice, it is such a relief to turn down that street now framed by green trees and great looking street lamps,the smooth pavement feels and looks great. Also Holmes Road on the south side is also so nice to drive on. Were these projects part of the federal stimulus program, or a state funded programs. Also on some neighborhood streets like Barnes Ave, there was some effort taken there with rotaries and street islands and new curb lines, but there and other neighborhoods it seems they stopped at the curb. Why did they not rebuild the street as well? I guess I am wondering how we can get this road work started around here again. Does the city ever take on road building projects on it's own anymore? Last year they paved six blocks of W. Mt. Hope when the whole of that street from the river to East Lansing needs repaving, why did they stop? Has anyone heard about how the state is going to spend the money [next year] for roads? Let's do it already.
Thank you Mich, that was very interesting, and kind of sad to know just how the city has so little money to spend on the streets. I guess what we need to do is vote for people who will make infrastructure a priority. I have only been driving around Lansing for a year and it has made me crazy, you guys who have been here all along must be furious about it, how did this happened in the capital city of the auto culture? I think a city full of beautiful smooth streets to drive your new Camaro on would be a great tourist attraction and save tons on wear and tear of city and private vehicles.
After seeing them painting the old factory at Mt Hope & Washington it reminded me of my imagined redevelopment of it, I decided I'd share my progress. I haven't done much with my model in awhile but I think it's far enough along to get my idea across.
A refresher on the idea: The basic concept is to turn the Atmosphere Annealing building into a new City Market with a greatly expanded scope while renovating the remaining multifloor factory/warehouse buildings into a combination of mostly residential and retail, while providing great streetscaping and highly landscaped open areas throughout. The rail line that cuts southwest/northeast would be turned into a semi-major street running from Washington to MLK, it would offer access to Washington Park and integrate with neighborhood streets as much as the neighborhood would allow. There would also be several other new streets cutting through the property, once again integrating with existing neighborhood streets as much as possible.
I've given the layout and function of the new market a fair amount of thought, but the larger multi-floor buildings are truly blank slates. While I imagine them becoming almost entirely residential and retail space (and maybe a relocated RE Olds museum); they could easily be used for office, laboratory or high-tech/clean industrial without detracting from the larger development. For the future, there would be a considerable amount of potential new development on the edges of this project along with the possibility for new construction in some of the more central open spaces.
I'd truly love the opportunity to figure out the feasibility of this as there are certainly some potential obstacles, but after much thought it seems more plausible than it once did. The biggest potential roadblocks are: Atmosphere Annealing and QD own and use their respective buildings, the railroad tracks there were bought by a local rail company intent on growth and still (rarely) serve Reid Machinery on MLK and of course the obligatory industrial clean-up. Then the big one: getting the City and public behind and then funding the new market. I still believe that redeveloping this old factory complex should be a priority for the city, if it can feasibly be done as a mixed-use district it could become one of the coolest/most interesting neighborhoods in the city.
Any opinions/critiques/criticisms welcome, that's why I'm sharing this. It'd also be nice to hear if there are any properties/buildings that other people have had their own visions for.
Some Google Maps aerials vs my model (before and after):
Aerial looking south:
Aerial looking north east:
Closer view looking south:
View of Atmoshpere Annealing/Market building:
Close up of market building's atrium:
Close up of parking ramp:
Overhead view showing highly landscaped plazas in red and potential amphitheater location in yellow:
And lastly, if anyone's interested here's the SketchUp Model (Dropbox link): Mt Hope and Washington
Wow so cool, I wish you were a billionaire developer! Does the same company own the whole complex? They have also painted all of the buildings along Mt. Hope that use to be a drop forge. It has been all painted at the same time, that's why I wonder. It does look better.
I really like your big thinking, and sense of design and urban planning. A nice trolley from downtown through REOtown to the Mt Hope area here, maybe a line going up that new street to MLK and looping back down to Holmes and back down S Washington, to get a north south development going like Michigan Ave . This could be a new city center that could grow to include the Holmes MLK area, that really needs some help now. Of course this is kind of dreaming but it is fun to think about what I would do if I could here in Lansing. This is what the REO plant could have been had they not burned it down. I could see MSU put it's new Hospital in this complex making a new medical center with Mclaren. Or maybe the city could have a city hall annex and police department located here. This way they could renovate the city hall with more freed up space and keep a classic mid-century building downtown. [I hate the Lake Trust Building idea]. Lansing is already a city that has large and small industry mixed into our neighborhoods, this idea embraces the idea that urban housing and industry can be in one great neighborhood.
Now there is an architectural firm right here in REOtown I hope you will get a job with, and help them move on to the future and leave 2006 behind!
Thanks. The property has at least four owners; QD owns the building at Mt Hope & Washington, Atmosphere Annealing owns their own building, the two floor warehouse that faces Washington is owned by Vlahakis and the railroad tracks are owned by the Jackson & Lansing Railroad. I'd also agree that a development like this would do a lot to strengthen the MLK & Holmes commercial corridor. I like the idea of City Hall at the Lake Trust site myself, but regardless I wouldn't expect or want to see City Hall move out of downtown, not even to the benefit of my dream project lol. As for the hospital, it's the Mclaren Pennsylvania campus that will be relocating and the Greenlawn campus will remain open, MSU has said they want an on campus hospital. Given the proximity to the Greenlawn hospital, medical offices would definitely be a potential market for some of the space, one that I hadn't really thought of. While a job with an architect is an intriguing possibility that I have considered, I'd have a long and expensive education ahead of me before I'd be of much use to them or anyone else.
Oh I know that MSU is building near the campus and I was thinking of just some departments of city hall in an annex thus freeing up space in the old building., I was just dreaming of what I would do if I was "in charge"! Good luck with school, we need some fresh ideas around here.
I am hoping that everyone who reads this blog will be sure and vote for candidates that support urban development and infrastructure projects. I am thinking that would be candidates who are the progressive side.
Yeah, I second what gbinlansing says. We need people who are willing to accept changes and not require that our communities continue to develop as though they are stuck in the 1960s and 1970s.
Comments
A refresher on the idea: The basic concept is to turn the Atmosphere Annealing building into a new City Market with a greatly expanded scope while renovating the remaining multifloor factory/warehouse buildings into a combination of mostly residential and retail, while providing great streetscaping and highly landscaped open areas throughout. The rail line that cuts southwest/northeast would be turned into a semi-major street running from Washington to MLK, it would offer access to Washington Park and integrate with neighborhood streets as much as the neighborhood would allow. There would also be several other new streets cutting through the property, once again integrating with existing neighborhood streets as much as possible.
I've given the layout and function of the new market a fair amount of thought, but the larger multi-floor buildings are truly blank slates. While I imagine them becoming almost entirely residential and retail space (and maybe a relocated RE Olds museum); they could easily be used for office, laboratory or high-tech/clean industrial without detracting from the larger development. For the future, there would be a considerable amount of potential new development on the edges of this project along with the possibility for new construction in some of the more central open spaces.
I'd truly love the opportunity to figure out the feasibility of this as there are certainly some potential obstacles, but after much thought it seems more plausible than it once did. The biggest potential roadblocks are: Atmosphere Annealing and QD own and use their respective buildings, the railroad tracks there were bought by a local rail company intent on growth and still (rarely) serve Reid Machinery on MLK and of course the obligatory industrial clean-up. Then the big one: getting the City and public behind and then funding the new market. I still believe that redeveloping this old factory complex should be a priority for the city, if it can feasibly be done as a mixed-use district it could become one of the coolest/most interesting neighborhoods in the city.
Any opinions/critiques/criticisms welcome, that's why I'm sharing this. It'd also be nice to hear if there are any properties/buildings that other people have had their own visions for.
Some Google Maps aerials vs my model (before and after):
Aerial looking south:
Aerial looking north east:
Closer view looking south:
View of Atmoshpere Annealing/Market building:
Close up of market building's atrium:
Close up of parking ramp:
Overhead view showing highly landscaped plazas in red and potential amphitheater location in yellow:
And lastly, if anyone's interested here's the SketchUp Model (Dropbox link): Mt Hope and Washington
Download SketchUp Make here: Sketchup Make
I really like your big thinking, and sense of design and urban planning. A nice trolley from downtown through REOtown to the Mt Hope area here, maybe a line going up that new street to MLK and looping back down to Holmes and back down S Washington, to get a north south development going like Michigan Ave . This could be a new city center that could grow to include the Holmes MLK area, that really needs some help now. Of course this is kind of dreaming but it is fun to think about what I would do if I could here in Lansing. This is what the REO plant could have been had they not burned it down. I could see MSU put it's new Hospital in this complex making a new medical center with Mclaren. Or maybe the city could have a city hall annex and police department located here. This way they could renovate the city hall with more freed up space and keep a classic mid-century building downtown. [I hate the Lake Trust Building idea]. Lansing is already a city that has large and small industry mixed into our neighborhoods, this idea embraces the idea that urban housing and industry can be in one great neighborhood.
Now there is an architectural firm right here in REOtown I hope you will get a job with, and help them move on to the future and leave 2006 behind!