He's calling his development Park Place. Close enough to be confusing I agree. I think the idea is that this part of downtown would be called the Park District though.
Wow, I think this could be a good development for the Greater Lansing area as I am trying to think about all the developments going on just outside the city limits. I believe that most folks who do not live here call the whole place Lansing.
There must be a market for all these apartments and it does seems like that part of EL will sure have a lot of people living in a small area but I think that this is the higher urban density that they have been looking for all these years. I wish they could keep the old PO building although I had the worst fish and chips of my life at Dublin Sq. they could lose that place!
Yeah that's looking north west along Evergreen. The sky bridge would connect to Park Place I.
The old post office building which is now Dublin Square is pretty nice. It might not be realistic but it would be great to move it across the street and put it on the City Hall surface parking lot along Abbot Road. The parking ramp behind HopCat should be big enough to absorb the lost spots.
Well, I'm going to raise a stink if the city is willing to knock down the old PO. Otherwise, I like the size, scale, and location of this project... and I've wanted a walkable movie theater in downtown EL since moving to the area!
I think the developer is springing this now is for maximum leverage, because the city is desperate to get those evergreen properties off of the books before the balloon payment comes due in the near future. Otherwise, I would be surprised if the city would allow the old PO to get torn down without a great deal of drawn out hand-wringing.
Also, didn't the article mention that the developer has big plans for the small building at the NW corner of MAC/Albert?
Yeah growing up in East Lansing I just assumed all cities were like that but over time I've found out the hard way (through blank stares mainly) that other cities will approve most projects administratively.
Wow thanks for the detailed research! I hadn't seen the Urban Design Guidelines before. Is there an "existing blockface" for a development like Park District where it encompasses the entire block?
Hey Mich - a minor point about your Aug 23rd post that I forgot to follow up on...
That property (329 M.A.C), and the one next to it are owned by Mark Terry, who is a local landlord, and long-time resident of EL. He tried to get those properties removed from the historical district previously, but was blocked:
It's pretty obvious from this and other articles that the owner wants to upsize the property, but has been pretty ham-handed about doing it. It seems like he is an old fashioned, local landlord who is out of his element as a larger-scale developer...
"Just looking at the public hearing notices in the City Pulse, and see the Historic District Commission is consering a resubmission for 329 M.A.C. Avenue in which someone is requesting to move the entire home to another location to "open the lot for redevelopment." I wonder if there is a plan or if this is just speculative?
This is a lot immediately next door to the St. John the Evangelist Catholic Student Center. This basically marks the northern edge of downtown, currently, and since it's backed up to a city parking garage, this little square southwest of M.A.C. and Linden is one of thew few areas northward that downtown could expand. Since this is a resubmission, however, it sounds like they must have rejected this the first time it was proposed."
East Lansing Info is reporting that the city's lease for the parking lot (Lot 11) behind Beggars Banquet is set to expire in 2020 (a 5 year lease with 3 renewals built in). The owner of the property is the Metzger family, and they could decide to develop on the lot or negotiate a new lease with the city. This and People's Church are the last remaining large surface parking lots in downtown East Lansing.
Comments
Wow, I think this could be a good development for the Greater Lansing area as I am trying to think about all the developments going on just outside the city limits. I believe that most folks who do not live here call the whole place Lansing.
There must be a market for all these apartments and it does seems like that part of EL will sure have a lot of people living in a small area but I think that this is the higher urban density that they have been looking for all these years. I wish they could keep the old PO building although I had the worst fish and chips of my life at Dublin Sq. they could lose that place!
The old post office building which is now Dublin Square is pretty nice. It might not be realistic but it would be great to move it across the street and put it on the City Hall surface parking lot along Abbot Road. The parking ramp behind HopCat should be big enough to absorb the lost spots.
Well, I'm going to raise a stink if the city is willing to knock down the old PO. Otherwise, I like the size, scale, and location of this project... and I've wanted a walkable movie theater in downtown EL since moving to the area!
A couple of other notes:
I think the developer is springing this now is for maximum leverage, because the city is desperate to get those evergreen properties off of the books before the balloon payment comes due in the near future. Otherwise, I would be surprised if the city would allow the old PO to get torn down without a great deal of drawn out hand-wringing.
Also, didn't the article mention that the developer has big plans for the small building at the NW corner of MAC/Albert?
Ah, thanks for the correction!
Wow thanks for the detailed research! I hadn't seen the Urban Design Guidelines before. Is there an "existing blockface" for a development like Park District where it encompasses the entire block?
Hey Mich - a minor point about your Aug 23rd post that I forgot to follow up on...
That property (329 M.A.C), and the one next to it are owned by Mark Terry, who is a local landlord, and long-time resident of EL. He tried to get those properties removed from the historical district previously, but was blocked:
https://eastlansinginfo.org/content/council-denies-request-mac-historic-district-house
It's pretty obvious from this and other articles that the owner wants to upsize the property, but has been pretty ham-handed about doing it. It seems like he is an old fashioned, local landlord who is out of his element as a larger-scale developer...
https://eastlansinginfo.org/content/council-not-following-ethics-rules
https://eastlansinginfo.org/content/bwl-tree-cutting-causes-distress-some-east-lansing
Re:
"Just looking at the public hearing notices in the City Pulse, and see the Historic District Commission is consering a resubmission for 329 M.A.C. Avenue in which someone is requesting to move the entire home to another location to "open the lot for redevelopment." I wonder if there is a plan or if this is just speculative?
This is a lot immediately next door to the St. John the Evangelist Catholic Student Center. This basically marks the northern edge of downtown, currently, and since it's backed up to a city parking garage, this little square southwest of M.A.C. and Linden is one of thew few areas northward that downtown could expand. Since this is a resubmission, however, it sounds like they must have rejected this the first time it was proposed."
East Lansing Info is reporting that the city's lease for the parking lot (Lot 11) behind Beggars Banquet is set to expire in 2020 (a 5 year lease with 3 renewals built in). The owner of the property is the Metzger family, and they could decide to develop on the lot or negotiate a new lease with the city. This and People's Church are the last remaining large surface parking lots in downtown East Lansing.
https://eastlansinginfo.org/content/future-bailey-parking-lot-uncertain