I could be wrong, but there seems to be activity in two of the shops near the new vintage shop with the octagon shaped window.Also the for sale sign is also gone from the nice building next to the BBQ shop. It looks like a natural place for a restaurant. Plus there is a least one maybe two new murals on the east side of Washington above the theater group's building next to the Riverside Church. Also a new medical marijuana shop opened, making two in one block. That's cool I guess, there seem to be a lot of mmj shops opening on every major street in Lansing. I would rather,or also, like to see some shops open that would serve all the neighborhood residents like a grocery store, or a coffee shop. It would seem that Lansing's mmj shops are serving a much larger population area than just Lansing.
In other repaving notes at least part of Lindbergh Drive by Potter Park is being repaved, and Michigan Ave. west of Sexton to Waverly is open and is such a pleasure to drive.
I haven't seen the exterior lighting on City Hall, but you have me curious about it now.
As far as southwest Lansing goes, they could do wonders just by doing something with the Holmes & Pleasant Grove intersection. The old school there could become apartments or some sort of community center and all the commercial buildings along that stretch need to be razed or at least get a significant remodel. The entire commercial stretch of south MLK could also use some love although I think it's already on a bit of an upswing even now. Doing something positive with the Waverly corridor itself may be a little more challenging, to the point where it may be better to focus efforts elsewhere.
It is very good that Lansing will start looking at the neighborhood commercial corridors. It is kind of ironic that Holmes Road is one of the few nicely paved roads and is pleasent to drive. I agree that the four corners at Holes,and Cedar, MLK, Pleasent Grove, and Waverly could all use a big make over. Logan Center is a total mess the way the former parking area was developed with ugly strip malls facing different directions, and on the other side is the huge mostly empty area with collapsing parking lots looks like it could be in Detroit or Flint. Even the QD. at Pleasant Grove and Holmes is kind of shabby. It would be great to see these places organized into village centers along the same idea as S.Washington in REO town where the line of small store fronts look like many small town's main street. These four corner areas already serve as village or neighborhood centers and seem busy with a lot of small businesses, they are just poorly or not really planned to be appealing, this could be the area where Lansing could help by creating a nice street-scape. I don't know if S. Cedar Street is included in this area, I have grown to like the interesting mix of everything you can find there. Why not have a bus line like the new Michgan Ave line, down to Holt and up to Dewitt. Line the corridor with Cedar trees and nice street lights.
Waverly is really a mess going in and out of Lansing with bad zoning and worse pavement. The rail crossing just past Lansing Road it the worst in Lansing. How can they just let it go like that?
Kind of a small thing, but I noticed yesterday that Feldman Chevy is tearing down the old brick building on the corner of Michigan & Howard. Don't know if that corner will be empty or if something will be rebuilt. There are signs all around it though warning about asbestos.
I mentioned it when their brownfield proposal came up. If I remember right from reading through the packet, they're going to keep the front portion of the old building they're tearing down at the corner and build onto it. I think they'll also be building a new body shop and doing a couple other small additions. Altogether it's supposed to be at least $3.5 million worth of work.
I don't remember seeing anything on it but that isn't too strange. I'm surprised that GM is letting them keep the old facade. They are pretty strict when it comes to their image standards. Even Terry Hanks wasn't able to avoid renovating.
I could see the dealership being allowed to keep old buildings in some cases, they can probably even design their own buildings with approval. Anyways, I'm just going off of memory as I think the brownfield plan was in the "Letters from the Mayor" section of the July 27th council packet which isn't available anymore, at least not where I normally find them. My post regarding this was on July 25th on page 101 of this thread.
Bill Snethkamp will be building a new Fiat dealership at Pennsylvania & I-96, where the Governors Inn was and the Sonic was proposed. It also says they will add Chrysler and Jeep to their lineup: CBRE press release (pdf)
I think that having an auto dealership in such a prominent spot on Michigan Ave. might not be the best use but I think it might be appropriate in this case Lansing being the place were we make the best cars in America. I am hoping it does not look like the most recent dealership style, like on Pennsylvania Ave. were some of those buildings could be a terminal for a small airport. The different thing about the Story Olds building was that the showroom was right on the street surrounded by grass and trees in front with the cars for sale sort of behind the showroom, not all lined up out on the street. The Ford dealership now Staples was the same, modern show room on Michigan car lots off Michigan. It would seem hopeful that they are saving part of the old building and would be great to front Michigan Ave with buildings not cars.
Bill Snethkamp already added Chrysler and Jeep to their Pennsylvania store when they closed their Mason store. Evidently Champion Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram on West Saginaw was fighting the addition of those franchises so close to them. That will be nice to have that empty lot filled, especially because it's been looking pretty sad lately. Fiat will draw more customers to South Lansing too. Ann Arbor and Grandville are the closest dealers to Lansing.
I was just by the site and they have razed the rest of the building at the corner. Now I'm wondering which building they're supposed to be saving part of, or have plans changed?
Comments
In other repaving notes at least part of Lindbergh Drive by Potter Park is being repaved, and Michigan Ave. west of Sexton to Waverly is open and is such a pleasure to drive.
As far as southwest Lansing goes, they could do wonders just by doing something with the Holmes & Pleasant Grove intersection. The old school there could become apartments or some sort of community center and all the commercial buildings along that stretch need to be razed or at least get a significant remodel. The entire commercial stretch of south MLK could also use some love although I think it's already on a bit of an upswing even now. Doing something positive with the Waverly corridor itself may be a little more challenging, to the point where it may be better to focus efforts elsewhere.
Waverly is really a mess going in and out of Lansing with bad zoning and worse pavement. The rail crossing just past Lansing Road it the worst in Lansing. How can they just let it go like that?
Bill Snethkamp will be building a new Fiat dealership at Pennsylvania & I-96, where the Governors Inn was and the Sonic was proposed. It also says they will add Chrysler and Jeep to their lineup: CBRE press release (pdf)