Lansing has a non-motorized trail plan. So, I had actually heard of this. The plan is quite extensive. Another trail that may even be under construction, now, is a connection of the River Trail's south head to a trail in Delhi Township along Sycamore Creek.
Looking at the map, it appears that the trail along Pennsylvania will be on-street, and that will eventually go up to and on the viaduct over the railroad tracks outside Ingham Regional/McLaren.
Thanks for sharing, I'm very glad to see a few things in that plan. My favorite potential new pathway is the one that will continue east from this new one on Jolly, I was thinking not long ago that it would be great too see a path through the gravel pit area along 127. That's really a pretty large area and there's no public access to it now that I'm aware of. I'm also happy to see the potential pathway along the railroad tracks that pass by Mt Hope and Washington, but that corridor is worthy of a whole discussion in and of itself. Lastly, I really hope that they have a tangible plan to extend the Rivertrail to the north west, but I'm not sure how much faith I can put into that.
On another note, they have peeled away the protective film on one section of tiles on the Knapp's and it looks pretty great, if you haven't checked it out you should.
I've always heard that the hardest part of extending the trail beyond Dietrich Park in the northwest is that property owners simply wouldn't be for it. Unlike where most of the rest of the trail was developed (i.e. old railways, natural areas, etc...), to get it through the northwest would literally mean having to try to aquire parts of backyards of dozens of single family homes on the river, which simply isn't practical. The only other option would be an expensive boardwalk to get it to the parks up that way.
What I imagine they'll eventually do up that way is extended along Grand River with some bike lanes or a path next to the existing sidewalks along the street. But, then, it really isn't a part of the River Trail, anymore. They are even having difficulty extending the trail from its western end in Moores Park to Grand River Park. Apparently, they were originally visualizing a pedestrian bridge across the river, but that proved too expensive. So, they've been trying to take it on-street along Moores River Drive until you get below Frances Park, and then take it on a trail until you get to Waverly, and from there take it on a pathway over the bridge, and then up Old Lansing Road to the park, but the township hasn't been that helpful.
On downtown, I honestly haven't really been down there much, this summer. I'll definitely go take a look at Knapp's though. Market Place is reverting back to what I thought. Gillespie was kind of sneaky in making the clean-up of the site sound like imminent construction, but nothing's been going on on the site since they cleared it.
A pretty major development is planned for Old Town. It'll be a mixed use building immediately north of the renovated Walker Building which sits at the corner of Washington and Grand River. I saw the rendering on the news - and you can kind of see it in the LSJ photo. I really like it. It's nothing too overwhelming, but large enough not to just be something that doesn't do justice to the site.
From the LSJ:
LANSING — Within the next year, a blighted block in the city’s Old Town district should be home to a new mixed-use development featuring apartments and retail shops.
On Wednesday, Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, officials with the SMTS Real Estate Group and other community leaders unveiled plans for the $3 million project Bernero called the next step in the continued revitalization of one of Lansing’s oldest neighborhoods.
“Vibrant, thriving cities have great buildings, great places for people to live and work and Old Town increasingly is becoming that place,” Bernero said. “It’s projects like this that help make that happen.”
Developer Sam Saboury wants to demolish two of the three abandoned structures at 1113-1119 N. Washington Ave. The three parcels sit on just over a half-acre , with the buildings containing about 6,400 square feet of retail space and nearly 4,500 square feet of warehouse space, according to city assessment records.
In their place, crews plan to remodel the remaining structure and build a three-story addition.
In all, the 25,000-square-foot complex should contain about 5,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor, though no tenants have been lined up yet Saboury said. Plans also call for 24 affordable housing units.
Saboury said he hopes to break ground in about four to six weeks, pending applications for brownfield tax incentives that still need city approval. Construction should be complete within a year, he said.
Parts of the property have been vacant since the late 1990s.
I think this project is just about perfect for its location it'd be so good if there were more things like this going on in Old Town. I hope that this is just the beginning for new construction in Old Town, I still wish Richard Karp's project would have happened
Yeah, Old Town would be SO much better with decent residential infill. I mean, it's a great gallery and arts district, but there is so little quality housing in and around it. There are two other blocks I really want to see infilled and built up higher and that is the strip across from the Temple Club, and the area across the street and north of On the Grand condominums on Turner. There are so many great little lots in the neighborhood that could be quality housing. I also really want to see Friedland industries eventually move out of the block south of Pruess. It's so weird to have an active scrap yard in the middle of Old Town.
Yeah, the Karp project would have been awesome. I'm kind of disappointed he took his eye off Lansing to try and take a bite at Detroit (he's doing some properties around Capitol Park, there). He could have a much bigger impact in a smaller city.
EDIT: Speaking of Karp, it appears these buildings were owned by Karp up until late last year.
BTW, to give people unfamiliar with this site a bit more description of it, it's three parcels, two of which have structures on them. The Heeb Building is the most prominent structure on the site and sits at its southern end. It's also the most historic of the two buildings having been built in the very early 1900's. It most recently held a dance studio, though, that was years ago. This building will be renovated. The one-story building directly to the north of the Heeb is less historic and will be demolished. North of that is a parking lot. The one-story building and parking lot will contain a four-story addition to the Heeb. The fourth floor of this addition will be setback from the street, so as not to overwhelm the block.
I'll try and get a picture of the site, soon, and hopefully, we get a clearer internet-friendly rendering to post.
I was looking at next week's city council agenda, and it appears that someone is going to develop 3600 Dunckle Road (this is the former hotel at the intersection with 496) into student housing. Not sure if this is a renovation or new construction. It's on the #20 CATA route, which is based at the campus transit hub.
It's crazy how much student housing is being built on this side of the metro at the moment. You've got multiple projects proposed for Meridian and Bath Townships. While this newest project is technically in Lansing proper, I do wish more of this housing was being constructed closer to the core urban areas in Lansing and East Lansing. Imagine the impact on local retail if even a quarter of these units were going up on Michigan Avenue, or even in the two downtowns.
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Looking at the map, it appears that the trail along Pennsylvania will be on-street, and that will eventually go up to and on the viaduct over the railroad tracks outside Ingham Regional/McLaren.
On another note, they have peeled away the protective film on one section of tiles on the Knapp's and it looks pretty great, if you haven't checked it out you should.
What I imagine they'll eventually do up that way is extended along Grand River with some bike lanes or a path next to the existing sidewalks along the street. But, then, it really isn't a part of the River Trail, anymore. They are even having difficulty extending the trail from its western end in Moores Park to Grand River Park. Apparently, they were originally visualizing a pedestrian bridge across the river, but that proved too expensive. So, they've been trying to take it on-street along Moores River Drive until you get below Frances Park, and then take it on a trail until you get to Waverly, and from there take it on a pathway over the bridge, and then up Old Lansing Road to the park, but the township hasn't been that helpful.
On downtown, I honestly haven't really been down there much, this summer. I'll definitely go take a look at Knapp's though. Market Place is reverting back to what I thought. Gillespie was kind of sneaky in making the clean-up of the site sound like imminent construction, but nothing's been going on on the site since they cleared it.
From the LSJ:
Yeah, the Karp project would have been awesome. I'm kind of disappointed he took his eye off Lansing to try and take a bite at Detroit (he's doing some properties around Capitol Park, there). He could have a much bigger impact in a smaller city.
EDIT: Speaking of Karp, it appears these buildings were owned by Karp up until late last year.
I'll try and get a picture of the site, soon, and hopefully, we get a clearer internet-friendly rendering to post.
It's crazy how much student housing is being built on this side of the metro at the moment. You've got multiple projects proposed for Meridian and Bath Townships. While this newest project is technically in Lansing proper, I do wish more of this housing was being constructed closer to the core urban areas in Lansing and East Lansing. Imagine the impact on local retail if even a quarter of these units were going up on Michigan Avenue, or even in the two downtowns.