The other great part about this, if it happens, is the increased diversity of land owners and architecture downtown. I much rather prefer that we have multiple companies building smaller buildings than trying to get a single developer building a large complex of buildings, even if they are a few stories taller.
If you would like to see something kind of amazing checkout the Googleamaps 2017 photo of this corner, it is a "before picture" from only two years ago that really show how far downtown EL has come in such a short time. It will great to see an office building go up on this surface lot.
It is also very striking when approaching downtown EL from Grand River from the east or west, or Mich Ave. from the west. Those tall new buildings really mark the downtown from a distance!
In other EL/Meridian twp news, I took a trip down Grand River to the edge of Okemos recently and saw a few interesting developments. It looks like Knight's Inn finally spruced up the old eyesore motel next to Whole foods with some exterior upgrades. Nothing amazing, but it looks a lot better. Soldan's pet store did a similar face lift on an old 90's fronted building near downtown Okemos on GR - it now looks like a nice neighborhoody store. And finally, something is going on in the first floor of Element 509 across from the hub... does anyone know if this is a commerical develoment, or are they converting the first floor to apartments?
Looks like this went quickly. In a 4-1 vote, council decided to put the land sale on the ballot next year for the MSUFCU proposal:
East Lansing voters will be asked to decide as part of the March 10 election whether to authorize Council to sell a City-owned property so that another tower can go up downtown, this one a five-to-eight-story office building to be built and owned by Michigan State University Federal Credit Union (MSUFCU).
East Lansing’s City Council voted 4-1 last night to put the land sale question on the March 10 ballot. Council member Lisa Babcock voted against, not because she is against the proposal’s outline but because she said the process was too rushed from the public announcement last week to the vote this week.
The property at the northwest corner of Abbot Road and Albert Avenue currently includes Lot 4, a small City-owned parking lot next to the Dublin Square pub. The project as designed would also involve the City deeding over a piece of land that has until recently included a part of Albert Avenue, street-side metered parking spaces, and a sidewalk. (Albert Avenue is currently being shifted slightly south.)
They did seem to condition the sale with the demand that the building not be over 112 feet. Under the current zoning, a building is allowed to get up to this height with a special use permit, anyway. The only difference is that they seem to have cut off their ability by the code to raise the height to 140 feet with a three-fourths vote of council.
The original Bigby on West Grand River is shutting down soon for its move across the street to the 300 Grand building. DTN owns both the original location and the new building. No word on what DTN has planned for the original building site, but this move is finally happening.
This is pretty sad for me. From the article, "Fathy Shetiah said the new space will be more modern. Though it will significantly fewer parking spaces, it will have a drive-through that the old site did not have."
There's a lot of character in the old location, and this new location won't have that character anymore. Biggby's is Lansing's coffee house, and it has grown to be a very sizable coffee house in the US with about 240 franchises according to https://www.entrepreneur.com/franchises/biggbycoffee/299698.
It's really nice to visit Seattle and see the "original" Starbucks (yes, I know it's not the actual original location but they were able to keep most of its character by staying in Pike Place market since 1971: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_Starbucks).
The city was being very tough with their zoning code, and the zoning in the East Village district is VERY specific. I was glad 7/11 was able to work it out with them since The Hub saved them a spot (and Georgio's) so they wouldn't have to relocate.
This the nicest looking 7-eleven I have ever seen! I think that it was smart for The Hub to offer the former businesses space in their new building. They had those spaces leased to those businesses before the building was built.
Comments
In other EL/Meridian twp news, I took a trip down Grand River to the edge of Okemos recently and saw a few interesting developments. It looks like Knight's Inn finally spruced up the old eyesore motel next to Whole foods with some exterior upgrades. Nothing amazing, but it looks a lot better. Soldan's pet store did a similar face lift on an old 90's fronted building near downtown Okemos on GR - it now looks like a nice neighborhoody store. And finally, something is going on in the first floor of Element 509 across from the hub... does anyone know if this is a commerical develoment, or are they converting the first floor to apartments?
They did seem to condition the sale with the demand that the building not be over 112 feet. Under the current zoning, a building is allowed to get up to this height with a special use permit, anyway. The only difference is that they seem to have cut off their ability by the code to raise the height to 140 feet with a three-fourths vote of council.
https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/2019/12/19/original-biggby-old-arbys-building-east-lansing-move/2704038001/
There's a lot of character in the old location, and this new location won't have that character anymore. Biggby's is Lansing's coffee house, and it has grown to be a very sizable coffee house in the US with about 240 franchises according to https://www.entrepreneur.com/franchises/biggbycoffee/299698.
It's really nice to visit Seattle and see the "original" Starbucks (yes, I know it's not the actual original location but they were able to keep most of its character by staying in Pike Place market since 1971: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_Starbucks).
https://mobile.twitter.com/CityofEL/status/1228695315852689413
The city was being very tough with their zoning code, and the zoning in the East Village district is VERY specific. I was glad 7/11 was able to work it out with them since The Hub saved them a spot (and Georgio's) so they wouldn't have to relocate.