I've been thinking about it, you know that stretch over by Stonehouse Village will going through some very significant growth and potential for growth in the near future.
Just think:
Stonehouse Village 1 has been built, finished, and occupied,
Stonehouse Village 2 development was stopped after the state wouldnt give funding to the developer (still means that there is a plan in sight)
Stonehouse Village 3 is under construction now, and will include a parking ramp (allowing higher densities in the area),
The new Broad Art Museum will be build right across Grand River (supposedly finished by 2010, if I remember right),
The parking lot behind Peanut Barrel, Campus Town Mall, and the old Taco Bell is being expanded (creating room for future growth).
The eastside of downtown East Lansing could become a nice little district in the next four years. It will be interesting to see how it transforms.
I got the copy of the RFP for Lot 1 just a couple minutes ago. I'll upload it later tonight, but some of the bullets to take from it are:
The redevelopment proposal must be "premier quality"
The project must be mixed-use with at least 20-25,000 sq ft of high quality first floor retail (including dining and entertainment), residential and/or commercial uses on upper floors, and sufficient parking to accommodate the project uses and replace the exisiting 148 spaces currently in Lot 1. Any residential components should include a majority (70% or greater) of units to be for sale owner-occupied units.
The RFP also mentions that they expect Museum Place to be under construction within the next 24 to 36 months, and that this project will have to coordinate with the heavy construction of the Museum Place development. There is no deadline for applications. This RFP is the result of the expiration of a previous Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a prior developer.
Please post up here what you think of the request. I thought it left a lot in the air, only really specifying ground floor retail, and not mentioning a minimum amount of square feet for the overall development. I also would like to see East Lansing look to incorporate office in some of the developments, but I understand that they are trying to create a vibrant community at night and many office buildings are completely shut down at night, negatively impacting the liveliness of the downtown area.
To be honest, RFP's for new developments, at their very heart, are written to be vague, to give developers the necessary freedoms they need. I think this one hammers home the needed point, that this lot is to be developed as a quality project.
I agree, they make that very clear. It's just too bad that the previous developer fell through. It would have been really nice to see a 12 story condo tower in East Lansing.
The houses on Louis St are now being torn down. I went by today and there was a large backhoe tearing up some of the properties. The new development will be an apartment building that was spoken of earlier on this discussion.
Comments
Just think:
Stonehouse Village 1 has been built, finished, and occupied,
Stonehouse Village 2 development was stopped after the state wouldnt give funding to the developer (still means that there is a plan in sight)
Stonehouse Village 3 is under construction now, and will include a parking ramp (allowing higher densities in the area),
The new Broad Art Museum will be build right across Grand River (supposedly finished by 2010, if I remember right),
The parking lot behind Peanut Barrel, Campus Town Mall, and the old Taco Bell is being expanded (creating room for future growth).
The eastside of downtown East Lansing could become a nice little district in the next four years. It will be interesting to see how it transforms.
The redevelopment proposal must be "premier quality"
The project must be mixed-use with at least 20-25,000 sq ft of high quality first floor retail (including dining and entertainment), residential and/or commercial uses on upper floors, and sufficient parking to accommodate the project uses and replace the exisiting 148 spaces currently in Lot 1. Any residential components should include a majority (70% or greater) of units to be for sale owner-occupied units.
The RFP also mentions that they expect Museum Place to be under construction within the next 24 to 36 months, and that this project will have to coordinate with the heavy construction of the Museum Place development. There is no deadline for applications. This RFP is the result of the expiration of a previous Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a prior developer.
Lot 1 Request For Proposals
Please post up here what you think of the request. I thought it left a lot in the air, only really specifying ground floor retail, and not mentioning a minimum amount of square feet for the overall development. I also would like to see East Lansing look to incorporate office in some of the developments, but I understand that they are trying to create a vibrant community at night and many office buildings are completely shut down at night, negatively impacting the liveliness of the downtown area.