Yeah, Neogen loves redoing these older schools, and I'm glad we have a successful company doing that in Lansing. In so many other cities in this state the schools end up standing empty for decades and either rotting or eventually cleared leaving holes in residential neighborhoods that are rarely redeveloped.
Sure Lansing and its downtown has a long way to go and does need work. More mid/high rises are needed, more people need to live downtown, and what about breweries? More shops are needed. More museums and a performing arts center would be nice. The west end of downtown is dull. But along with the critiques we should take pride in its accomplishments. Lansing is home to many of us...
It looks like the Fleet Services Central Garage has been officially opened down on E. South Street. I only post this because it leaves the Central Garage directly north of Oldsmobile Park on N. Cedar largely empty, I imagine. And, with Ballpark North dead, I wonder what the city will do with it, now? Just because Gillespie isn't going to develop anything up that way, anymore, doesn't mean other developers may not be interested. I'd send out a big RFP on this if I were the city and get it attention.
Another small development I noticed is a Family Dollar being built on a large empty lot on the NW corner of Aurelius and Cavanaugh. I almost think it may have something else going in as well because this is a very large lot. It's kind of disappointing as it would have been nice to have a more residential development put in. There is a Dollar General a quarter mile west on Cavanaugh. These dollar stores seem to be popping up all over and I'm not sure how many we need.
Not sure I'm big on a Family Dollar at that location, but I'm glad it's commercial space given how little neighborhood retail there is along Aurelius. There is so little that one can walk to if you live on that side of town that I don't think it should have been more residential.
I'm disappointed, too, in the quality of retail the neighborhoods are getting, but I do understand the reason for it. Lansing - and Michigan as a whole - lost so much personal wealth during the recession. I don't think we realize, sometimes, how hard even our more successful cities in state got hit.
This must have happened within the last week or two, but the streetlamps along Michigan Avenue between the Capitol and the 400 block have been convereted to the silver/white LED from the orange sodium bulbs like what happened on Grand Avenue. Still not sure which I like better, aesthetically, but it's definitely a change. The orange always feel warmer and inviting, to me, but the white lights provide more coverage.
Also, the speed limits look to have been raised on Cedar and Larch, downtown, 5 MPH. So, you've got parts running 40 and 45 MPH instead of 35 and 40 MPH. Hadn't heard any discussion on this from the city or anyone else. People basically drove this, anyway, but it was surprising to see the raise, and not just on the Capitol Loop portion.
Pretty big news. Niowave is constructing a 50,000 square foot manufacturing facilit up at the airport in its foreign trade zone for the manufacture of radioisotopes used in diagnosted test and such. This advanced manufacturing is exactly the kind of jobs we need to be building in the region.
The local media is reporting that the Senate voted on beginning the process to sell their office building - The Billie S. Farnum Office Building - across from the Boji Tower. A few new details is that they are talking to local developers including Joel Ferguson and Ron Boji to find space nearby. All of this is still not set in stone, as no one knows what the House will do.
I think I remember saying when this was first brought up that there is no suitable space nearby as far as space is concerned, but the stories seem to mention Capitol View and the Boji Tower as options. It'd mean they'd have to kick out a whole helluva lot of tenants - particularly in the Boji Tower, which has been at 90+% occupancy for years - to make room for the Senate staff. There seems to be zero mention of new construction, only leasing or buying existing space downtown.
The leasing options blows my mind. Why would a tenant that big, and a state tenant in a very Republican environment all about fiscal tightness, lease when they are already in a building they own? It has been state policy to buy whenever they can, which is why the House office building eventually went to the state a few years back. While the heating and cooling system in the Farnum may be out of date, I'm really skeptical of the word "crap" used when Richardville was describing the condition of the building. It's not even close to being decrepit enough where it'd have to be condemned, so why are we talking about possibily leasing other space?
My preference is that they either get a new building, or they stay put. The state has already done the lease-buy game with Ferguson, before (Anderson House Building, MSP Headquarters, etc...), and it always end in arguments and controversies over the prudence of state government leasing or buying space.
I was thinking about this recently and the only other thing I could think of would be for Boji to tear down the Tower parking ramp and build on that lot, parking could become an issue though. He could conceivably do a lease to own on Capitol View, the State is already the largest tenant there anyway.
Comments
Lansing downtown
Sure Lansing and its downtown has a long way to go and does need work. More mid/high rises are needed, more people need to live downtown, and what about breweries? More shops are needed. More museums and a performing arts center would be nice. The west end of downtown is dull. But along with the critiques we should take pride in its accomplishments. Lansing is home to many of us...
I'm disappointed, too, in the quality of retail the neighborhoods are getting, but I do understand the reason for it. Lansing - and Michigan as a whole - lost so much personal wealth during the recession. I don't think we realize, sometimes, how hard even our more successful cities in state got hit.
Also, the speed limits look to have been raised on Cedar and Larch, downtown, 5 MPH. So, you've got parts running 40 and 45 MPH instead of 35 and 40 MPH. Hadn't heard any discussion on this from the city or anyone else. People basically drove this, anyway, but it was surprising to see the raise, and not just on the Capitol Loop portion.
I think I remember saying when this was first brought up that there is no suitable space nearby as far as space is concerned, but the stories seem to mention Capitol View and the Boji Tower as options. It'd mean they'd have to kick out a whole helluva lot of tenants - particularly in the Boji Tower, which has been at 90+% occupancy for years - to make room for the Senate staff. There seems to be zero mention of new construction, only leasing or buying existing space downtown.
The leasing options blows my mind. Why would a tenant that big, and a state tenant in a very Republican environment all about fiscal tightness, lease when they are already in a building they own? It has been state policy to buy whenever they can, which is why the House office building eventually went to the state a few years back. While the heating and cooling system in the Farnum may be out of date, I'm really skeptical of the word "crap" used when Richardville was describing the condition of the building. It's not even close to being decrepit enough where it'd have to be condemned, so why are we talking about possibily leasing other space?
My preference is that they either get a new building, or they stay put. The state has already done the lease-buy game with Ferguson, before (Anderson House Building, MSP Headquarters, etc...), and it always end in arguments and controversies over the prudence of state government leasing or buying space.