There will be a new bar located in The Venue at East Town (the new, full, name). It will be called "Rajje's Taphouse" in honor of the elephant that escaped the circus at Logan Square Mall in 1963.
Ever since I was a kid the story of that elephant has struck me as very sad. I have said here before that my mom was working at the hospital [I think it was Ingham County] when the injured came in. This was also a time when the movie Elephant Walk was out so I was pretty freaked about elephants as a kid. It is nice to honor the poor beast with this naming of the bar. I did get over fear of elephants as we often saw them at the Hospitaler[spelling?] Circus, which came to the Civic Center every March. We would go downstairs and peck at the Elephants standing there all in a row. They also had elephants at Potter Park. I am glad they have figured out that Lansing Michigan is no place for elephants. Not important but the shopping area was call the Logan Center, and before they filled in the parking lots which were huge, they would often have small carnivals there, that's why the elephant was there in the first place.
I just noticed today - and maybe it happened way back during demolition - but the martial arts studio adjacent to this project has been damaged. A significant part of the facade on the second floor peeled away from the building. I imagine the Gillespie's will be responsible neighbors and help the property owner fix this when construction is done.
I saw that also, I would hope they are going to fix it. I passed by there the other day to check on the progress and I observed that the building seems to be fitting into the spot. I know it is only half up, but I like the way it is right up to the sidewalk. Also in the area the brew pub is back under construction after it seemed to have stopped for a long while. Down the street at the Sky Vue I am still trying to like the siding materials they are using. They have a plastic like appearance, I keep hoping it will all come together and look good when it is finished.
It looks like they topped off the Venue building, I think it fits into that space well. The brewery across the street has seemed to pick up steam with more workers there than I have seen, it looks good.
This one looks to be ready to start move-ins any day. A nice touch I didn't pay attention to on the renderings were the exterior lights on the ground floor which illuminate the sidewalk. They were on this evening, and it's a really nice touch.
Hopefully, this means they can get around to breaking ground on Provident Place a few blocks to the west before the end of the year.
The article mentions that the karate studio and the tattoo shop will be moving in to the building. I wonder what the plans are for their buildings? It would be great if we could save those last two buildings on the block. Hopefully they can just add floors on top and keep the ground floor facade untouched.
Comments
There will be a new bar located in The Venue at East Town (the new, full, name). It will be called "Rajje's Taphouse" in honor of the elephant that escaped the circus at Logan Square Mall in 1963.
The LSJ has more on the story at http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/2017/01/27/bar-named-after-dead-elephant/97049634/
Ever since I was a kid the story of that elephant has struck me as very sad. I have said here before that my mom was working at the hospital [I think it was Ingham County] when the injured came in. This was also a time when the movie Elephant Walk was out so I was pretty freaked about elephants as a kid. It is nice to honor the poor beast with this naming of the bar. I did get over fear of elephants as we often saw them at the Hospitaler[spelling?] Circus, which came to the Civic Center every March. We would go downstairs and peck at the Elephants standing there all in a row. They also had elephants at Potter Park. I am glad they have figured out that Lansing Michigan is no place for elephants. Not important but the shopping area was call the Logan Center, and before they filled in the parking lots which were huge, they would often have small carnivals there, that's why the elephant was there in the first place.
I just noticed today - and maybe it happened way back during demolition - but the martial arts studio adjacent to this project has been damaged. A significant part of the facade on the second floor peeled away from the building. I imagine the Gillespie's will be responsible neighbors and help the property owner fix this when construction is done.
Yeah, Gillespie should be liable for any construction related damage to the neighboring properties.
I saw that also, I would hope they are going to fix it. I passed by there the other day to check on the progress and I observed that the building seems to be fitting into the spot. I know it is only half up, but I like the way it is right up to the sidewalk. Also in the area the brew pub is back under construction after it seemed to have stopped for a long while. Down the street at the Sky Vue I am still trying to like the siding materials they are using. They have a plastic like appearance, I keep hoping it will all come together and look good when it is finished.
It looks like they topped off the Venue building, I think it fits into that space well. The brewery across the street has seemed to pick up steam with more workers there than I have seen, it looks good.
This one looks to be ready to start move-ins any day. A nice touch I didn't pay attention to on the renderings were the exterior lights on the ground floor which illuminate the sidewalk. They were on this evening, and it's a really nice touch.
Hopefully, this means they can get around to breaking ground on Provident Place a few blocks to the west before the end of the year.
I think that this building looks better that I was thinking it would. It sits well in it's place on the block.
The LSJ did a story on the development today with pictures of the exterior and interior:
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/2017/11/09/venue-east-town-opens-its-doors-east-michigan-avenue/822414001/
The article mentions that the karate studio and the tattoo shop will be moving in to the building. I wonder what the plans are for their buildings? It would be great if we could save those last two buildings on the block. Hopefully they can just add floors on top and keep the ground floor facade untouched.
Is Rajje's still happening? Didn't see it mentioned in the article. I was looking forward to that place!
I like that the apartments are renting at a reasonable price. The rent isn't too crazy.