I'm not much of a fan of what Neogen has done down there. I'm kind of dumbfounded by the replacement windows they put it, they pulled out the small, somewhat ugly windows only to put smaller, much uglier windows back in and now with highly contrasting panels filling up the old window space, it does not look good at all. I'm also really unhappy that they cut off access to the plaza's parking lot from Holmes, it was very dumb of the plaza owner to allow that.
I'm happy to have Neogen in the city, it's great to see a high-tech industry with good paying jobs expanding here. That being said, they don't do much to improve the outward appearance of their properties. Take Allen St School for instance, with some moderate landscaping and a good deep-cleaning of the masonry that building could stand out in a really positive way, I don't believe that would cost an unreasonable amount either.
Looking it up on the city website, it seems that the Family Dollar site is going to be redeveloped into a 3,300 sq ft car wash. Also, they will be closing access off of Cedar. Seems to be that there are much better uses for such a high-profile corner, but that's what we're going to get.
A car wash! That is just what S.Cedar needs! maybe there will be a nice used car lot around back! With some better planning and development, there could be a nice sort of "urban village center" in the Jolly-Cedar four corners area. I see that with the addition of a huge car wash that's not going to happen, oh well I am sure the city is just happy to have something built there that will be paying taxes, they don't seem to care much about what is built or how in our outer neighborhoods.
I agree that the Neogen renovations are not very inspiring, all the older school buildings in Lansing had similar window replacements installed, the ones at Sexton and Eastern are really ugly IMO. I remember when there were the original windows at Barnes Avenue School and Sexton, I think they were like 6ft tall, and they let lots of light and fresh air into the rooms when open, I always had a hard time not just sitting there staring out of them instead of doing school work.
There is an article in the LSJ.com today about a new restaurant/pizza/provisions shop being put together by the Detroit Frankie's Pizza and the Good Truckin' Diner owners at 3135 S Pennsylvania. Sounds like a good plan but the location has had several different businesses that failed located there over the last few years so I wonder if it is a good location for this type of restaurant/shop? If they create a destination shop like The Roma Bakery where people don't care about the location they are there for the shop it could work. South Lansing does have a lot of residents and when the professional school right there opens again there will be a lot of potential customers.
No, it's generally not a good location for a business. Despite being a main road everything in that area seems to struggle, I guess there's not much to the east and Holmes doesn't go through, neither of those factors help. I agree that if they can become a destination type of place then there's no reason they couldn't succeed as it's fairly centrally located, but it's going to be on them to get people there.
Well, I'm still disappointed that they seem so opposed to at least retaining the original two floor portion of the old school there but at this point I guess I have to assume there's a good reason for them not going in that direction, besides that concern I don't have too much to complain about here. In a perfect world there wouldn't be so much parking directly facing Pleasant Grove but I suppose you can only expect so much, I like that the office building is built up to the corner and I like that it at least attempts a more unique/interesting design.
Obviously that area and specifically that corner have really struggled lately so pretty much any quality new construction is a welcome change, this new proposal is much better than the last one. Ultimately though, I think for this corner to pull out of its rut we're really going to need to see the SW and NW corners here completely redeveloped. The Vons plaza and old Drakes gas station turned liquor store, along with the apartment buildings adjacent to it, weigh heavily on this corner.
The Walter French building got its $1.5m state tax credit approved, they're planning on beginning construction this fall or winter. It's really great to see this moving forward, it looks like it's all but a sure thing at this point.
It is great to see these projects that have been waiting for years [about 4! I wonder why?] to get funding finally moving forward. My Dad older brothers and sister went to Walter French, I am so happy to this renovation honor the original design of a building built when Lansing took a lot of pride in its public structures.
Comments
I'm happy to have Neogen in the city, it's great to see a high-tech industry with good paying jobs expanding here. That being said, they don't do much to improve the outward appearance of their properties. Take Allen St School for instance, with some moderate landscaping and a good deep-cleaning of the masonry that building could stand out in a really positive way, I don't believe that would cost an unreasonable amount either.
Looking it up on the city website, it seems that the Family Dollar site is going to be redeveloped into a 3,300 sq ft car wash. Also, they will be closing access off of Cedar. Seems to be that there are much better uses for such a high-profile corner, but that's what we're going to get.
I agree that the Neogen renovations are not very inspiring, all the older school buildings in Lansing had similar window replacements installed, the ones at Sexton and Eastern are really ugly IMO. I remember when there were the original windows at Barnes Avenue School and Sexton, I think they were like 6ft tall, and they let lots of light and fresh air into the rooms when open, I always had a hard time not just sitting there staring out of them instead of doing school work.
Current site:
Obviously that area and specifically that corner have really struggled lately so pretty much any quality new construction is a welcome change, this new proposal is much better than the last one. Ultimately though, I think for this corner to pull out of its rut we're really going to need to see the SW and NW corners here completely redeveloped. The Vons plaza and old Drakes gas station turned liquor store, along with the apartment buildings adjacent to it, weigh heavily on this corner.
LSJ story (subscribers only)
https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/2022/01/17/walter-french-school-redevelopment-housing-tax-credit/8982328002/