That's great to hear that it's moving forward! Two years since the last update on the project and the costs have raised 150%. This will be very good quality residential in-fill.
Next week's planning and development commmittee has a request by the Eydes wanting to amend the OPRA certificate to extend the date of completion of the project to December 2019, since it would expire in a few months otherwise. This actually shows me they are still serious about this since December 2019 isn't that far off if you're going to be renovating a building of this size. Even moving it off to then so the certificate doesn't expire would mean construction would have to start on this one very soon.
So the minutes from the last meeting are up, and provide some details. They are looking to start full renovation in September instead of December, with them already having done interior demolition. They've also slightly reduced the number of apartments down to 96 from 103. The price-points are actually reasonable for a location literally blocks from the capitol, in fact, cheaper than many of Gillepsie's larger apartments on Michigan Avenue. They will be priced $710-$950.
Anyway, I guess this was a committee vote to amend OPRA certificate, which hasn't been approved yet.
Haven't seen anything, but I'd guess the September 2017 partial rendering is what is still planned. It seems like the European micro-units concept originally proposed has been dropped or at least modified.
Looks like there is a new design. Anyway, and update:
19 years after fire, long-vacant downtown apartment building could reopen by the end of 2019
LANSING — Before the end of the year, people could call Oliver Towers in downtown Lansing home.
It would be the first time in nearly two decades.
The eight-story building at 310 N. Seymour Ave., which was damaged by a fire in 2000, is set reopen in November or December.
Mark Clouse, general counsel for the Eyde Company, which purchased the property in late 2015, said the developers have spent the last year working on interior tear-out and environmental remediation.
So glad there's movement on this. Seems like it's in good hands with Eyde. The design looks really nice. It will be great to have permanent residents at this site in this part of downtown.
I'd love to see LCC work with a developer to build a mixed-use 5-story building immediately north of Oliver Towers - market the residential portion towards LCC students and and put a bar, a coffee shop and a fed-ex/kinkos on the ground floor. (could even be a BW3). This would make a nice little stretch of retail on Capitol Ave, in conjunction with the businesses in the parking garage across the street. The residents at Oliver Tower and the new building and LCC students would keep all the businesses open. Plus it would give something for the neighbors to the west to walk to. There are a lot of people living in this northwest downtown neighborhood and they have no retail worth walking to.
Not to be too negative, but that color scheme looks like barf. For the life of me I don't understand why, since the 1970s, developers/designers get stuck in decades-long ugly neutral color fads. Right now it is grey, grey, grey, which looks dingy and soulless. In the 80s, it was poop brown, ecru, and off white, in the 70s, it was brown, brown, brown, and mustard yellow. Very lazy design IMO.
Recently, I had a friend at work trying to convince me that grey was a great interior wall color as it hid dirt really well... I didn't have the heart to tell him that it was because that color makes the walls look dingy and dirty!!!
I would say that it is true that browns and tans were the colors of choice back then, when I think of it I don't know why except that it was different than the '50's mod-colors more natural I guess? this is a rehab so they are kind of stuck using the exterior brick color that is there. It looks like the new windows and railings will add some flare. I agree a shade of color that contrasts the with browns and beiges would be nice. I'm really glad to see this building finally be rehabilitated even when it was new it looked like the most average public housing block, one of those "oh this is what we got out of urban renewal" buildings like the ugly parking ramp across the street.
I'm really not unhappy with this design or color scheme given what they started with. The materials at least look decent, the light colored material looks like stone, the brown is brick while the black might be some of the cheap paneling. I have to say, I still would have rather just seen this building tore down though.
Comments
That's great to hear that it's moving forward! Two years since the last update on the project and the costs have raised 150%. This will be very good quality residential in-fill.
Next week's planning and development commmittee has a request by the Eydes wanting to amend the OPRA certificate to extend the date of completion of the project to December 2019, since it would expire in a few months otherwise. This actually shows me they are still serious about this since December 2019 isn't that far off if you're going to be renovating a building of this size. Even moving it off to then so the certificate doesn't expire would mean construction would have to start on this one very soon.
So the minutes from the last meeting are up, and provide some details. They are looking to start full renovation in September instead of December, with them already having done interior demolition. They've also slightly reduced the number of apartments down to 96 from 103. The price-points are actually reasonable for a location literally blocks from the capitol, in fact, cheaper than many of Gillepsie's larger apartments on Michigan Avenue. They will be priced $710-$950.
Anyway, I guess this was a committee vote to amend OPRA certificate, which hasn't been approved yet.
@MichMatters Are there new renderings for this or is it still supposed to look like the rendering a few posts back?
Haven't seen anything, but I'd guess the September 2017 partial rendering is what is still planned. It seems like the European micro-units concept originally proposed has been dropped or at least modified.
Looks like there is a new design. Anyway, and update:
19 years after fire, long-vacant downtown apartment building could reopen by the end of 2019
https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/2019/01/10/oliver-towers-apartment-reopen-end-2019/2513295002/
So glad there's movement on this. Seems like it's in good hands with Eyde. The design looks really nice. It will be great to have permanent residents at this site in this part of downtown.
I'd love to see LCC work with a developer to build a mixed-use 5-story building immediately north of Oliver Towers - market the residential portion towards LCC students and and put a bar, a coffee shop and a fed-ex/kinkos on the ground floor. (could even be a BW3). This would make a nice little stretch of retail on Capitol Ave, in conjunction with the businesses in the parking garage across the street. The residents at Oliver Tower and the new building and LCC students would keep all the businesses open. Plus it would give something for the neighbors to the west to walk to. There are a lot of people living in this northwest downtown neighborhood and they have no retail worth walking to.
Not to be too negative, but that color scheme looks like barf. For the life of me I don't understand why, since the 1970s, developers/designers get stuck in decades-long ugly neutral color fads. Right now it is grey, grey, grey, which looks dingy and soulless. In the 80s, it was poop brown, ecru, and off white, in the 70s, it was brown, brown, brown, and mustard yellow. Very lazy design IMO.
Recently, I had a friend at work trying to convince me that grey was a great interior wall color as it hid dirt really well... I didn't have the heart to tell him that it was because that color makes the walls look dingy and dirty!!!
I would say that it is true that browns and tans were the colors of choice back then, when I think of it I don't know why except that it was different than the '50's mod-colors more natural I guess? this is a rehab so they are kind of stuck using the exterior brick color that is there. It looks like the new windows and railings will add some flare. I agree a shade of color that contrasts the with browns and beiges would be nice. I'm really glad to see this building finally be rehabilitated even when it was new it looked like the most average public housing block, one of those "oh this is what we got out of urban renewal" buildings like the ugly parking ramp across the street.
I'm really not unhappy with this design or color scheme given what they started with. The materials at least look decent, the light colored material looks like stone, the brown is brick while the black might be some of the cheap paneling. I have to say, I still would have rather just seen this building tore down though.