Lingg Brewer has had this project under plans for quite a few years. A while back he got in to a fight with the city council about it. There should be mentions of this project that you can find by searching the forum. I hope that this project can get underway now.
Thanks. Well, that he's asking for a public hearing to rezone the property tells me he's finally ready to build this thing. Does East Lansing have online city council meeting packets like Lansing does? I'd like to see a rendering of this? It seems like a pretty tight site, so this is going to do quite a bit to the streetwall, vertically. I imagine parking for this building will have to be off Albert, because the parking garage being across Division and Division being so narrow, the traffic could be (more) horrible in this area.
I expect that he'll have tenants lease a parking spot from the city in the Habitrail parking garage, which would be my preferred outcome.
When the meeting packet is finalized it will be uploaded to http://www.cityofeastlansing.com/meetings/, but I don't expect that to happen until maybe Sunday night before the meeting (which is on Tuesday).
The City Pulse is reporting that the old Jacobson's/Barnes & Noble is being renovated as office space for Jackson National. I'm glad it's going to be reused, but it's disappointing as office space. The interior of that space is specifically designed for something far more public. I mean, the atrium is awesome.
The windows on the old Taco Bell/National Coney Island are all boarded up, with the exception of the door to the building. I didn't hear of any news about a fire there, so my hope is that the windows are boarded up while interior work is being done so a new tenant can move in.
Thank you SO MUCH for getting pictures of the Residences. It actually looks way better than the rendering of it, which is rare. I do wish St. Ann Lofts would have presented a better face to Ann Street Plaza, though; that was definitely a missed opportunity. All and all, though, downtown East Lansing is building up density that is long overdue for a city its size.
JNL has publicly come forward about the Barnes & Noble site. They said that it will be "a training center for college students and others, company leaders said today. The insurer confirmed it is the potential office user for the vacant bookstore at 333 E. Grand River Ave. JNL said it plans hire college students on a part-time basis. Full-time jobs also will be created, but further details were not immediately available. The site also will house the Jackson National Community Fund, the insurer’s nonprofit foundation."
While this is not retail it is quite a positive move for East Lansing, who has struggled to get a significant professional/office build-up. It's unfortunate that JNL looks set on expanding off Okemos Rd, because their new expansion would serve the region much better if it was located in one of the core downtowns (EL or Lansing). However, hopefully this will be a sign of the future and JNL along with other companies will find that they need to be located closer to campus to get students to intern/work there.
An update on the "Park District" development, located on the land that was to be used for the City Center 2 development,
DTN Management Co. was selected by the East Lansing City as staff’s recommendation to City Council. East Lansing Senior Project Manager Lori Mullins explained DTN bodes well because of its sufficient access to capital, positive track record of developing in East Lansing and experience in a wide variety of projects.
City Council will make the final decision on the approval of the precinct lines and the selection of a preferred developer – between DTN Management Co. and Lurvey White Ventures – at its Aug. 6 meeting.
Comments
Update: According to http://develop.metrolansing.com/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=19&Focus=661#Comment_661, he's been trying to get this project off the ground since at least 2006.
When the meeting packet is finalized it will be uploaded to http://www.cityofeastlansing.com/meetings/, but I don't expect that to happen until maybe Sunday night before the meeting (which is on Tuesday).
http://develop.metrolansing.com/pictures/IMG_0016.jpg
http://develop.metrolansing.com/pictures/IMG_0017.jpg
http://develop.metrolansing.com/pictures/IMG_0018.jpg
http://develop.metrolansing.com/pictures/IMG_0019.jpg
http://develop.metrolansing.com/pictures/IMG_0020.jpg
I also got some pics of the interior of the Barnes & Noble through a hole in the paper that was covering the windows:
http://develop.metrolansing.com/pictures/IMG_0021.jpg
http://develop.metrolansing.com/pictures/IMG_0022.jpg
http://develop.metrolansing.com/pictures/IMG_0023.jpg
http://develop.metrolansing.com/pictures/IMG_0024.jpg
Jackson National Life to open training center at former East Lansing Barnes & Noble
While this is not retail it is quite a positive move for East Lansing, who has struggled to get a significant professional/office build-up. It's unfortunate that JNL looks set on expanding off Okemos Rd, because their new expansion would serve the region much better if it was located in one of the core downtowns (EL or Lansing). However, hopefully this will be a sign of the future and JNL along with other companies will find that they need to be located closer to campus to get students to intern/work there.
I'm disappointed to see DTN being the preferred selection, but I am happy to see the project moving forward.