My dad talked about that tunnel on Michigan before, he grew up in the area and used it from time to time. I remember him saying that it was still there, they just filled it in.
BTW, I think that's the best picture I've seen of the old post office.
A bit more information on 930 West Holmes from this Monday's city council meeting. They want to use the existing property for climate-controlled storage and logistics, with secondary retail and office usage. I'm still not sure what this means, and that mix of uses sounds like a mess, quite frankly. They also make a note that the rezoning of the property excludes the areas/buildings fronting Holmes and Washington, so that those areas can be developed according to the Design Lansing master plan, which seeks to turn this area into a sort of town center. They are allowing the rezoning now that the warehouse G-2 usage is confined to the center of the property away from the major streets, and have prohibited the owner from fencing off parts of the parking lot for outside storage.
There will be two commercial spaces approximately 14,000 square feet in size at the front of the old EDS Center with storage space on the interior of the building.
I was just searching around the CBRE website and saw that Old Town's Terry Terry has bought 1125 North Washington Avenue at the western edge of the district, and will renovate the property for rent as retail/office.
This is in between the Walker Building and the old dance studio that was supposed to be a multi-story project which I haven't heard about since they proposed it. Anyway, there is a 2,540-square foot office building fronting Washington and in the back a 2,175-squre foot garage. Both buildings on the property will be renovated. This was part of a March 4th press release.
I've wondered what happened to that proposed development, it wouldn't have been anything major but seeing new construction in Old Town would be great. On the subject of Old Town, I really expect to see something go up on the Fish Ladder lot and the small lot at Turner and Grand River, I'd hope for something particularly special for each of those sites. I'm still surprised at the unrenovated buildings Old Town, it's easy to forget just how far it has to go and how impressive it could be if all the gaps were filled in.
What small lot are you talking about at Turner and Grand? Sir Pizza's lot?
I'm actually kind of heartened by how well Old Town has done with so little new construction. For awhile, there was quite a bit of turnover; it seems as full as its been in a long time. I just passed by the eastern end (the block between Larch and Cedar) and was surprised to find every one of the storefronts filled on the north side of the street. I knew they were redoing the Young Landing Building, but hadn't been by in awhile. With that, there are really only a few scattered vacancies, so it's really time to start getting around to new construction.
I saw a lot of workers on the roof of 518 East Shiawassee, recently. The former automotive parts warehouse is being renovated as high-tech office space by the Gillespie Group. It seems work had slowed down on it, but it's now looking near completion on the outside at least. It comes with a 10-year minimum lease for companies looking to rent, so this appears to be long-term which kind of points to there being no major redevelopment of the surrounding area. It also comes with a full 87 parking spaces. I'd imagine this would include the lot at the corner with Cedar, but that's not included in the property, so maybe they can fit all of that immediately around the building. Either way, this makes it a bit tricker for the Outfield to work around whenever those begin construction.
It also appears that the L-shaped property site next door at 325 North Larch is also being marketed by Gillespie Group. This is the old HVAC services property that wraps around the historic home which houses the dyslexia institute.
BTW, the frame for the new scoreboard at Oldsmobile Park was put up this weekend. It's quite a bit more masive than I imagined it be in person. They also have some playground equipment installed behind it. I was kind of surprised as they aren't finished with the concourse, and it appears it'd be hard to manuever all of the trucks and other equipment around. Meh.
Regarding Old Town I was talking about the lot directly at the corner, Sir Pizza may own/lease it but I'm not sure.
It's disappointing to see Gillespie offering long term leases on his properties in that area. I was under the impression that if the casino were to happen a good bit of that block was promised for a parking garage, I don't know what to make of all that.
Excellent. I'd always imagined that at least part of one of these old sites would be used for renewables, though, I imagined it'd be wind turbines. 20MW for a solar facility is a monster of a solar project. The good thing about solar from a develope'rs perspective, too, is that if the land ever became really valuable, it'd be fairly easy and clean to dismantle the array and move it somewhere else. I'm a bit surprised that no one in the local media seems to have caught wind of this. Also, it appears we're only talking about the Verlinden site on the city-side of the tracks, which leaves plent of room for development on the township-side of the tracks.
It's better to see the land used than not used, but I'm not thrilled to see a solar farm there. I'm surprised that solar panels are economical in Michigan at all, but I guess with them getting cheaper and more efficient it was going to make sense eventually.
It says in the article that the former GM site is "in the running" and goes on to elaborate that it's one of several sites under consideration and that it may be spread across multiple locations. I wonder what the timeline on this is?
Comments
BTW, I think that's the best picture I've seen of the old post office.
There will be two commercial spaces approximately 14,000 square feet in size at the front of the old EDS Center with storage space on the interior of the building.
This is in between the Walker Building and the old dance studio that was supposed to be a multi-story project which I haven't heard about since they proposed it. Anyway, there is a 2,540-square foot office building fronting Washington and in the back a 2,175-squre foot garage. Both buildings on the property will be renovated. This was part of a March 4th press release.
I'm actually kind of heartened by how well Old Town has done with so little new construction. For awhile, there was quite a bit of turnover; it seems as full as its been in a long time. I just passed by the eastern end (the block between Larch and Cedar) and was surprised to find every one of the storefronts filled on the north side of the street. I knew they were redoing the Young Landing Building, but hadn't been by in awhile. With that, there are really only a few scattered vacancies, so it's really time to start getting around to new construction.
It also appears that the L-shaped property site next door at 325 North Larch is also being marketed by Gillespie Group. This is the old HVAC services property that wraps around the historic home which houses the dyslexia institute.
BTW, the frame for the new scoreboard at Oldsmobile Park was put up this weekend. It's quite a bit more masive than I imagined it be in person. They also have some playground equipment installed behind it. I was kind of surprised as they aren't finished with the concourse, and it appears it'd be hard to manuever all of the trucks and other equipment around. Meh.
It's disappointing to see Gillespie offering long term leases on his properties in that area. I was under the impression that if the casino were to happen a good bit of that block was promised for a parking garage, I don't know what to make of all that.
http://www.midwestenergynews.com/2015/03/11/planned-project-would-nearly-double-michigans-solar-capacity/
It says in the article that the former GM site is "in the running" and goes on to elaborate that it's one of several sites under consideration and that it may be spread across multiple locations. I wonder what the timeline on this is?