As for those two apartment buildings on Main, I like the project, but do not think it is anywhere near deserving of an NEZ. That is unless he plans some MAJOR improvements. Lmich has a good idea to tear down the Deluxe and the adjacent apartment buildings and build a new development cut off from main st, it could be a single street stretching from Washington to River St with apartments or rowhouses.
I think the proposal for a combined Main Library/Impression 5 is great. However, I hope that if built on the Oliver Towers Site the development takes up as small of a footprint as possible. To allow for a new R E Olds museum and possibly a new City Hall. The site has ample room for all three, likely with room to spare.
I HIghly doubt you would see any surface parking, and probably not a parking garage onsite. LCC is planning on a second ramp on the Old Central site and the North Capitol ramp is not to far off from needing to be rebuilt, likely larger than before.
I missed the State of the City and the council meeting.
As for being optomistic about not having surface parking, I really don't think it's that far out there. In Lansing property value has not been the driving force for things going taller, it has really been the fact that the area has been labled downtown. And with any municipal development I expect more than a low rise spread out as much as possible with neighboring surface parking. And the reason the Oliver towers site hasn't been redeveloped is primarily because of a couple years of debate as to who actually owns the land and to find a place for the housing commission to move it's offices too. Also, the public would have been angry if they had redeveloped the site without replacing the units first, which they are doing both on S Washington and at the Blind School site.
Many downtown museums (especially science ones) are well over 2 floors, given those are typically in larger cities. However I feel that the city will either build this thig right or not at all. I want to see the library be at least 6 floors and the museum be a minimum of 4 floors. I don't think that that is at all unreasonable or unrealistic.
Yeah, not much progress going on... I have a couple updates to put up, but I haven't been too pleased with much of the news that I have been hearing. Hopefully, the spring will bring more positive development news.
I don't really think the homeless shelter they are proposing to implement is that sustainable. I think they would have to do it as a mixed-income building, with a number of buildings, and make it 20% of the building apartments for the homeless and the other 80% for regular paying tenants.
This idea is definately out there and I don't see it gaining much support, the idea of mixing housing for the homeless with market rate is crazy and regardless this is a horrible location for a homeless shelter/housing. Plus there are already several ideas for the site.
This has nothing to do with development, but did anyone else watch the council meeting this week? What was with the guy talking about his toilet/stool? I just choked on the soup I was eating. I couldn't believe that (or even understand how) someone would stand up there and say all that. Besides, aren't low flow toilets required by federal law, and not by the state?
As much as I'm dissapointed this won't be downtown, I'm happy to finally see a large building go up in that park. It needs a big anchor tenant to help draw other companies. Even on an 11 acre parcel, I would expect the 100,000 sq feet to be on at least 3 floors, but more likely 4 or 5, if they use their land like most of these typ of places do.
yeah, I would expect the building to be around 3 floors tall. I believe much of the 11 acres will be left green with maybe some recreational areas as corporate headquarters like to have. Maybe an acre of parking, and about three acres for the building. That's my guess.
Comments
I think the proposal for a combined Main Library/Impression 5 is great. However, I hope that if built on the Oliver Towers Site the development takes up as small of a footprint as possible. To allow for a new R E Olds museum and possibly a new City Hall. The site has ample room for all three, likely with room to spare.
As for being optomistic about not having surface parking, I really don't think it's that far out there. In Lansing property value has not been the driving force for things going taller, it has really been the fact that the area has been labled downtown. And with any municipal development I expect more than a low rise spread out as much as possible with neighboring surface parking. And the reason the Oliver towers site hasn't been redeveloped is primarily because of a couple years of debate as to who actually owns the land and to find a place for the housing commission to move it's offices too. Also, the public would have been angry if they had redeveloped the site without replacing the units first, which they are doing both on S Washington and at the Blind School site.