I like the trails? Like @MichMatters said this looks just like the rest of west Lansing. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing, but it’s not very exciting for a blank slate.
I think [of course you want to know what I think!] this plan is very suburban when at least the Saginaw side could have a denser urban layout. Buildings up to the sidewalk and street parking behind or in decks, maybe a grid plan of streets and blocks and a nice big water feature and parkland in the middle, more like a commons, or the the Red Cedar plan. This plan reminds of "Long's Oak Park Village" built in the 70's down on S. Cedar. btw- Wasn't the Waverly Hill built with dirt from building 496? I do not think it is a natural hill.
I'm guessing this is little more than a concept site plan, an approximate idea of what to expect. Given that fact, I'm not terribly disappointed with it given the context of the area. They're leaving the ponds/wetlands and the wooded area, all of the Saginaw frontage will be commercial uses, there are several through-streets and there are no massive parking lots facing Saginaw or Waverly, those are all good things. It'd be nice if the density was higher or if they would add a mixed use/lifestyle center-style element to it but I wasn't really expecting anything like that given the location.
I am just hoping it will not be another "better than nothing" kind of project. Including water and greenway features will be really nice, I was saying that this plan looks very similar the office/residential parks that they have been building in this area for a long time. Not that it was bad just boring. I worked at Long's on Cedar, it is laid out over rolling grassy spaces and some woods, there was over eight acres of grass to mow. Back then these green spaces were devoid of people, no one strolling down the lanes. I would work there from 7 till 4 every day and not see one person who lived there. It's called Autumn Ridge now and was built in the early 70's. I guess that this is a successful model as the developers seem to repeat the concept often.
GRAND LEDGE - An Ohio-based developer has proposed more than 330 luxury apartments on 24 acres of undeveloped land behind a hardware store just inside the city limits.
The project, expected to cost as much as $30 million, would be Richland Residential Inc.'s second housing development in Michigan, according to company Vice President Brent MeHall.
The proposed apartment project would include 84 one-bedroom and 252 two-bedroom apartments.
Each apartment would range in size from 700 to 1,100 square feet, each with its own washer and dryer, hardwood floors, walk-in closets and granite counter tops, MeHall said. He said monthly rent would range from $900 to $1,200.
About 24 acres of around 39 acres has already been rezoned. It's good when this stuff can be situated within the boundaries of existing cities as opposed to largely rural townships.
Public notices are showing that the public hearing for the rezoning of Waverly Golf Course and Michigan Avenue Park in Lansing Township is being set for their May 7th planning commission meeting, at which they'll also decide whether to recommend approval for the township board.
Specifically, they are asking for this to be rezoned from "A" Single Family Residential to "PD" Planned Development for a mixed use development.
Looks like the LSJ covered the public hearing for the Waverly Golf Course proposal, last night. As you can expect, the "very concerned citizens (harumph!)" were out in full force. In any regard, we get some specific numbers for the proposal:
The development would consist of 204 apartments, 60 multi-family duplexes, 76 townhomes and 100 single-family homes. Plans for the site also include 120 units of senior housing, a medical office, a restaurant and more than 45,000 square feet of retail space.
I have some issues with the site plan - for instance, I agree with the idea that the open space needs to be more contiguous and concentrated on one end of the site - but not enough where I'd reject even the idea of the plan outright. Personally, I'd draw a line east-west splitting the site in half. All development would be concentrated north of the line leaving the south end open space. It'd act as a buffer to the more residential areas south and west of the golf course and concentrate the traffic on a road built to handle it.
I'm glad that we're moving in the direction of mixed zoning. Your idea of a buffer makes sense and seems totally doable since the big water feature is already on the south.
I'd like to see higher density on Saginaw and overall residential density, but on the whole, this makes a lot of sense and will be really cool to see happen.
I live over in that area. I'll have to keep an eye out for the next public discussion on it and balance out the NIMBY's a bit.
It looks like Waverly Park's rezoning is up for approval, tonight, looking at the agenda. The planning commission recommended the approval (with conditions) of this rezoning with a unanimous 6-0 vote. If the board of trustees pass this, it'll be interesting to see how the plan is refined and how soon the developer wants to start the development process.
Lansing Twp. — A $100 million redevelopment of the Waverly Golf Course is moving forward.
Lansing Township's Board of Trustees unanimously approved the rezoning of the golf course Tuesday evening.
The 121-acre site between Michigan Avenue and West Saginaw Highway is in Lansing Township but is owned by the city of Lansing.
Under a purchase agreement from October, Grand Rapids-based Northern Capital Investments LLC would buy the nine-hole golf course and an adjacent park from the city for about $2.2 million.
Lansing Township needed to rezone the property for mixed-use purposes for the sale to move forward.
The development would consist of 204 apartments, 52 multi-family duplexes, 76 townhomes and 101 single-family homes. Plans for the site also include 120 units of senior housing and 145,000 square-feet of commercial and office space.
And, some info on things that we're changed as a result of public critiques of the original plan:
The developer's most recent plans removed a proposed restaurant and call for preserving additional trees, Hayes said. They're also considering including a public dog park, she said.
The project's first phase of construction is planned to to start this year and will include commercial and retail along Saginaw Highway.
Comments
I think [of course you want to know what I think!] this plan is very suburban when at least the Saginaw side could have a denser urban layout. Buildings up to the sidewalk and street parking behind or in decks, maybe a grid plan of streets and blocks and a nice big water feature and parkland in the middle, more like a commons, or the the Red Cedar plan. This plan reminds of "Long's Oak Park Village" built in the 70's down on S. Cedar. btw- Wasn't the Waverly Hill built with dirt from building 496? I do not think it is a natural hill.
I'm guessing this is little more than a concept site plan, an approximate idea of what to expect. Given that fact, I'm not terribly disappointed with it given the context of the area. They're leaving the ponds/wetlands and the wooded area, all of the Saginaw frontage will be commercial uses, there are several through-streets and there are no massive parking lots facing Saginaw or Waverly, those are all good things. It'd be nice if the density was higher or if they would add a mixed use/lifestyle center-style element to it but I wasn't really expecting anything like that given the location.
I am just hoping it will not be another "better than nothing" kind of project. Including water and greenway features will be really nice, I was saying that this plan looks very similar the office/residential parks that they have been building in this area for a long time. Not that it was bad just boring. I worked at Long's on Cedar, it is laid out over rolling grassy spaces and some woods, there was over eight acres of grass to mow. Back then these green spaces were devoid of people, no one strolling down the lanes. I would work there from 7 till 4 every day and not see one person who lived there. It's called Autumn Ridge now and was built in the early 70's. I guess that this is a successful model as the developers seem to repeat the concept often.
A large, luxury/high-end apartment complex is being proposed in Grand Ledge, probably the most units built inside the city in many, many years, and particularly a big deal for a city so small.
About 24 acres of around 39 acres has already been rezoned. It's good when this stuff can be situated within the boundaries of existing cities as opposed to largely rural townships.
Public notices are showing that the public hearing for the rezoning of Waverly Golf Course and Michigan Avenue Park in Lansing Township is being set for their May 7th planning commission meeting, at which they'll also decide whether to recommend approval for the township board.
Specifically, they are asking for this to be rezoned from "A" Single Family Residential to "PD" Planned Development for a mixed use development.
Looks like the LSJ covered the public hearing for the Waverly Golf Course proposal, last night. As you can expect, the "very concerned citizens (harumph!)" were out in full force. In any regard, we get some specific numbers for the proposal:
I have some issues with the site plan - for instance, I agree with the idea that the open space needs to be more contiguous and concentrated on one end of the site - but not enough where I'd reject even the idea of the plan outright. Personally, I'd draw a line east-west splitting the site in half. All development would be concentrated north of the line leaving the south end open space. It'd act as a buffer to the more residential areas south and west of the golf course and concentrate the traffic on a road built to handle it.
I'm glad that we're moving in the direction of mixed zoning. Your idea of a buffer makes sense and seems totally doable since the big water feature is already on the south.
I'd like to see higher density on Saginaw and overall residential density, but on the whole, this makes a lot of sense and will be really cool to see happen.
I live over in that area. I'll have to keep an eye out for the next public discussion on it and balance out the NIMBY's a bit.
It looks like Waverly Park's rezoning is up for approval, tonight, looking at the agenda. The planning commission recommended the approval (with conditions) of this rezoning with a unanimous 6-0 vote. If the board of trustees pass this, it'll be interesting to see how the plan is refined and how soon the developer wants to start the development process.
EDIT: Looks like the board of trustees approved the project.
And, some info on things that we're changed as a result of public critiques of the original plan: