I don't know how long it's been there, but it seems as if there has been a construction/demolition access point for a chute carved into one of the windows near the top of the Mason Building for months, now. So I imagine they are well into the renovations.
Monday, Jan. 20 — In searching for plans to promote sustainability and ecologically friendly infrastructure in Lansing, Bob Johnson, the city’s director of planning and neighborhood development, found inspiration in the form of a long-shelved city plan from 1987.
The Yamasaki Plan — named after Minoru Yamasaki, the influential architect behind several projects in Michigan as well as the designer behind the original World Trade Centers — proposed a greener Lansing. Featuring significant water features and cultivated shrubbery, the park-like plan envisioned a massive mitten, accompanied by the Great Lakes, to serve as a reminder of the state at large within the capital. The showcase was proposed in the area between the Capitol Building and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Last week, city officials received word from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that Lansing was one of three state capitals selected to receive support to design and implement new sustainable space, a move that Johnson hopes will spark an environmental renaissance in the capital region.
A 14-acre parking lot situated between state offices and the Hall of Justice — in the same area as the Yamasaki Plan — is the target of the planned renovation. EPA officials hope to transform the sprawling concrete slab into a green space while offering tangible benefits to Lansing. The Yamasaki Plan will serve as inspiration, Johnson said.
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The next few months will be critical for the project, as city and state officials work to determine the scope of the project and consultation with the environmental agency gets underway.
Regional businesses and consultants will be brought on, according to the EPA, and any interested parties are invited to check FedBizOpps.gov for opportunities. After several design charrettes and generating final design recommendations, EPA officials estimate the project will take six to nine months.
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I've been complaining about this parking lot in between the Hall of Justice and the rest of the complex for over a decade, now. lol
They make it sound as if it's a sure thing. If done well, you're right, this could be huge. Having a large urban park with water features and sculptures and what not would be great, especially if similar to that old design. All those people will have to park somewhere, I guess this means a new parking ramp is inevitable?
You'd hope. It'd be easy to find a spot for it. They could build it on one of the many huge surface lots around the museum or behind the Cass Building or even in front of Constitution Hall. There are so much wasted space on the westside of downtown that you have so many options. lol
Another step backwards: This week's council agenda shows the Granger Group asking for a special land permit that would allow them to demolish the long-vacant Walter Neller Building at the northwest corner of Allegan and Grand to use as a surface lot. Built in 1938, while not architecturally significant - and while I eventually expected it to be brought down - it does it's best to fill a prominent corner right to the sidewalk.
With this demolition and with one exception (at Washtenaw and Grand), you'll essentially have a continuous line of surface parking lots on the westside of Grand from Kalamzoo to Michigan. I've been advocating for years for this corridor to actually build up instead of becoming a back lot for Washington Square, and this is a step in the wrong direction. This just doesn't make any sense, not because the building is so important, but because we can't keep accepting the core of downtown (Washington Square) to be surrounded by surface parking like some mall or suburban office park.
Really, someone needs to put up a parking garage spanning Grand from Kzoo to Washtenaw (with some groundfloor retail), and call it a day, so these other areas can actually be developed into actual useful buildings.
I noticed that on the agenda also and I totally agree with you. While I expect to see that building go, I'd rather it sit abandoned than for it to become a parking lot. I actually think the Council may reject their request, I certainly hope they do.
So, happy to hear about Reach's expansion. The buildings aren't particularly architecturally significant, but they frame the street, nicely, and it would be a crime to see them demolished. So glad to hear they are going to be saved and made presentable, because that area has been rough for years, now.
I seriously doubt the council will reject the SLU for the Walter Neller Building, short of the downtown neighborhood coming out in numbers for its saving, which I don't expect, either. I'm trying to remember the last time the council denied an SLU for surface parking, and I literally can not remember such a thing ever happening in my time following the council.
I forgot to mention that Granger (under the LLC Summit Associates), also owns the parking lot, next door, which is actually part of the Walter Neller parcel. That lot at Michigan and Grand is one of the most embarrassing entrances to downtown, and despite its prominent location, even during the day, I never see the lot full. This expansion of the lot only exacerbates the problem. I've been dreaming for years that someone would do something with that site. I would even tolerate just something mid-rise if it meant getting rid of the parking. To me, it seems like an awesome location for something that's predmoninately retail. Being right across from the hotel, and just across the river from the Lansing Center to serve tourists.
I didn't get to see it, but it seems that one of the big things to come out of Bernero's State of the City, last night, was that he's considering what to do with city hall. This potential moves dates all the way back to when Hollister was mayor. I doubt this will go anywhere this time, either. When your city is running deficits every year for years on end, it gets harder every year to negotiate a good rent or find the money for the purchase of a suitable city hall space, let alone building anew.
Personally, I've always like the location of the existing city hall (especially the plaza with views of the capitol), but I do realize how old and cramped it's gotten, and how much valuable the site is. You could literally put up a new Lansing's tallest on that site with office, hotel, and/or residential space. When I've been inside, you can see even with the reduction of the workforce how cramped the space is with file cabinets in the hallways and such, and the jail area is pretty gross.
Eyde is planning a fairly large (80k sq ft) retail/office/industrial development on N Grand River. There will be two strip mall looking buildings situated on the site of the long empty building next to Peckam. It's nothing special, but I'm glad to see some good things happening along that street.
First, I'll start off with the good. I'm glad we're seeing development in out-city neighborhoods. We need way more of this, because quite a few of our corridors have deteriorated quite a bit from even a decade or so ago.
That said, I find the site plan pretty curious. I know there is an existing lawn out front of the current building, but did they have to keep it in the redevelopment? It looks particularly silly given how little parking seems to be planned at the front of the property. Bring this thing up to the front near the front of the street. lol The only way it makes sense to keep the oversized lawn is if they plan on making the larger building office/industrial, which would be weird, since you'd want the retail component up front (for better pedestrian access to the neighborhood) with any other uses in the back, since workers would likely drive in while the retail would mostly serve the neighborhood.
The architecture is very bland, which is kind of what the Eyde's do, but I'll also chalk it up to that being a very preliminary conceptualization. I just want to see the Eyde's do better. It's like they have the Knapp's Center, and then a HUGE drop-off in quality when it comes to the rest of their portfolio.
Comments
I've been complaining about this parking lot in between the Hall of Justice and the rest of the complex for over a decade, now. lol
With this demolition and with one exception (at Washtenaw and Grand), you'll essentially have a continuous line of surface parking lots on the westside of Grand from Kalamzoo to Michigan. I've been advocating for years for this corridor to actually build up instead of becoming a back lot for Washington Square, and this is a step in the wrong direction. This just doesn't make any sense, not because the building is so important, but because we can't keep accepting the core of downtown (Washington Square) to be surrounded by surface parking like some mall or suburban office park.
Really, someone needs to put up a parking garage spanning Grand from Kzoo to Washtenaw (with some groundfloor retail), and call it a day, so these other areas can actually be developed into actual useful buildings.
Walter Neller Co. Building by NewCityOne, on Flickr
Grand Avenue Looking South by NewCityOne, on Flickr
Some good news out of REO Town, Reach Art Studio has negotiated to buy the whole strip of storefronts where they are. They are going to tear down the middle portion for courtyard and generally fix up the property. Bold expansion: Reach Studio Art Center looks to increase space tenfold, offer more classes
I seriously doubt the council will reject the SLU for the Walter Neller Building, short of the downtown neighborhood coming out in numbers for its saving, which I don't expect, either. I'm trying to remember the last time the council denied an SLU for surface parking, and I literally can not remember such a thing ever happening in my time following the council.
I forgot to mention that Granger (under the LLC Summit Associates), also owns the parking lot, next door, which is actually part of the Walter Neller parcel. That lot at Michigan and Grand is one of the most embarrassing entrances to downtown, and despite its prominent location, even during the day, I never see the lot full. This expansion of the lot only exacerbates the problem. I've been dreaming for years that someone would do something with that site. I would even tolerate just something mid-rise if it meant getting rid of the parking. To me, it seems like an awesome location for something that's predmoninately retail. Being right across from the hotel, and just across the river from the Lansing Center to serve tourists.
Personally, I've always like the location of the existing city hall (especially the plaza with views of the capitol), but I do realize how old and cramped it's gotten, and how much valuable the site is. You could literally put up a new Lansing's tallest on that site with office, hotel, and/or residential space. When I've been inside, you can see even with the reduction of the workforce how cramped the space is with file cabinets in the hallways and such, and the jail area is pretty gross.
Developer Plans $7 Million Redevelopment Near Airport
That said, I find the site plan pretty curious. I know there is an existing lawn out front of the current building, but did they have to keep it in the redevelopment? It looks particularly silly given how little parking seems to be planned at the front of the property. Bring this thing up to the front near the front of the street. lol The only way it makes sense to keep the oversized lawn is if they plan on making the larger building office/industrial, which would be weird, since you'd want the retail component up front (for better pedestrian access to the neighborhood) with any other uses in the back, since workers would likely drive in while the retail would mostly serve the neighborhood.
The architecture is very bland, which is kind of what the Eyde's do, but I'll also chalk it up to that being a very preliminary conceptualization. I just want to see the Eyde's do better. It's like they have the Knapp's Center, and then a HUGE drop-off in quality when it comes to the rest of their portfolio.