The most recent city pulse out today has the first public announcement of The Hub concept for a site in East Village at Bogue and Grand River. It's a notice of public hearing for October 25th for 918-1010 East Grand River for the construction of a 10-story (132-feet), 347-unit apartment building. It is planned to include 12,220 square feet of retail space on the ground floor, and a parking structure with 158 spaces. I believe the concept includes most of those parking spaces underground and some at the back of the first floor. The 347 units are proposed as market-rate, but with that many units, it's almost certainly geared toward students.
So, I've been keeping up with Lansing's master plan redo which was completed in 2012, which is leading to the consideration of a Form-Base Code (FBC) maybe as soon as next year, which would be transformative in terms of development.
But, I had no idea East Lansing was also in the midst of it's Comprehensive Plan master plan redo. I'd seen the maps, but didn't make the connection that this was a total redo of the zoning code. It's not quite as ambitious and extensive as what Lansing is doing with FBC, but it would significantly remake the zoning code.
@MichMatters I saw your post regarding the new form based code over on SSP, that's the first I ever really looked at it. I had been assuming that it was just another fairly meaningless master plan update, not a fundamental shift in the way things are zoned. I'm pleasantly surprised by what little I've read so far on it. There's a lot of people that think that zoning changes like these are what will save American cities. I tend to agree that this sort of zoning could have a huge positive impact, especially over the longer term. I imagine we may see a lot more small mixed use projects being done by property owners who would have certainly been discouraged by the red tape of zoning changes and/or variances. I'll be very interested to see what what the arterials look like in two or three decades.
There was an interesting article about ELFCO this morning in the LSJ - apparently they are still around in zombie form, and are planning to open a new location in EL with a new business model:
I do remember a time when you could only get hippie foods from Co-ops like ELFCO, so I can't say I'm surprised that they shut their doors last year, given how rapidly their competition has grown over the past 20 years.
I'd always gone to Foods for Living, which was practically next door. ELFCO said Whole Foods was the camel that broke the camels back. I also thought it was really classless for them to set up right across the street; most big chains at least give lip service to them not setting up to run other locals out of business.
I noticed in the notice of public hearings this week in the city pulse that it appears Burcham Hills at the edge of East Lansing is planning an expansion. They will be adding a four-story addition with underground parking and will include 76 units.
BTW, I've been going by the sites of Center City and The Hub, recently, and it's really dawning on me just how significant these will be on the streetscape. I guess I never quite realized how tight the site of Center City is in particular. This is going to be a huge change not just for the skyline but at street level, too.
I agree with you on that Mich. Even over the past few years, the streetscape along Grand River has noticeably changed with the additions of the larger buildings at the far eastern and western edges of downtown EL. I have also noticed that you can see the construction crane from 127, which, along with the stadium, are the only parts of the East Lansing skyline that are visible from the highway... unlike the skyline of Lansing.
Comments
The most recent city pulse out today has the first public announcement of The Hub concept for a site in East Village at Bogue and Grand River. It's a notice of public hearing for October 25th for 918-1010 East Grand River for the construction of a 10-story (132-feet), 347-unit apartment building. It is planned to include 12,220 square feet of retail space on the ground floor, and a parking structure with 158 spaces. I believe the concept includes most of those parking spaces underground and some at the back of the first floor. The 347 units are proposed as market-rate, but with that many units, it's almost certainly geared toward students.
So, I've been keeping up with Lansing's master plan redo which was completed in 2012, which is leading to the consideration of a Form-Base Code (FBC) maybe as soon as next year, which would be transformative in terms of development.
But, I had no idea East Lansing was also in the midst of it's Comprehensive Plan master plan redo. I'd seen the maps, but didn't make the connection that this was a total redo of the zoning code. It's not quite as ambitious and extensive as what Lansing is doing with FBC, but it would significantly remake the zoning code.
http://eastlansing.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=2&event_id=1359&meta_id=54603
Guess I'll have to take a look and see what the details of the updated plan are.
@MichMatters I saw your post regarding the new form based code over on SSP, that's the first I ever really looked at it. I had been assuming that it was just another fairly meaningless master plan update, not a fundamental shift in the way things are zoned. I'm pleasantly surprised by what little I've read so far on it. There's a lot of people that think that zoning changes like these are what will save American cities. I tend to agree that this sort of zoning could have a huge positive impact, especially over the longer term. I imagine we may see a lot more small mixed use projects being done by property owners who would have certainly been discouraged by the red tape of zoning changes and/or variances. I'll be very interested to see what what the arterials look like in two or three decades.
Looks like the Broad Museum will be expanding into the ground floor of the 565 Building (Stonehouse Village VI) still under construction across from the museum. I guess they start moving people in on the first of the year:
https://offcampushousing.msu.edu/property/view/listingid/338021
A little behind schedule.
EDIT
There was an interesting article about ELFCO this morning in the LSJ - apparently they are still around in zombie form, and are planning to open a new location in EL with a new business model:
https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/opinion/columnists/judy-putnam/2018/03/09/putnam-east-lansing-food-co-op-sponsors-farmers-fair-saturday-looks-new-space/406892002/
I do remember a time when you could only get hippie foods from Co-ops like ELFCO, so I can't say I'm surprised that they shut their doors last year, given how rapidly their competition has grown over the past 20 years.
I'd always gone to Foods for Living, which was practically next door. ELFCO said Whole Foods was the camel that broke the camels back. I also thought it was really classless for them to set up right across the street; most big chains at least give lip service to them not setting up to run other locals out of business.
I noticed in the notice of public hearings this week in the city pulse that it appears Burcham Hills at the edge of East Lansing is planning an expansion. They will be adding a four-story addition with underground parking and will include 76 units.
BTW, I've been going by the sites of Center City and The Hub, recently, and it's really dawning on me just how significant these will be on the streetscape. I guess I never quite realized how tight the site of Center City is in particular. This is going to be a huge change not just for the skyline but at street level, too.
I agree with you on that Mich. Even over the past few years, the streetscape along Grand River has noticeably changed with the additions of the larger buildings at the far eastern and western edges of downtown EL. I have also noticed that you can see the construction crane from 127, which, along with the stadium, are the only parts of the East Lansing skyline that are visible from the highway... unlike the skyline of Lansing.