General Lansing Development

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  • The capitol commission formed last year voted, today, to open the capitol building on Saturdays starting June for the first time in years according to MLive.com. Glad to hear there will be more to do downtown on the weekends.
  • edited April 2015
    A small development, but it seems that the landowner for the land at the corner of South Cedar & Syringa (just a few blocks north of Jolly Road) wants to rezone the land from "D-1 Professional Office District" to "E-2 Local Shopping District." This land - immediately south of the McDonald's - has been vacant for as long as I can remember, but the site has always been immaculately maintained. The back of its is ringed by some beautiful pines/firs. There is no mention what is planned. D-1 is the kind of zoning for things like banks, and offices for lawyers, doctors, etc...E-2 is a lower-scale retail zoning used for things like convenience stores, bars, and restaurants. If I had to guess, I'm guessing another fast-food joint to go along with McDonalds, but who knows.

    I was always surprised this land sat vacant for as long as it did. The little neighborhood behind this commercial strip is actually a nice little area in the Old Everett neighborhood. It's a long complaint of mine, but I really wish our commercial corridors would better reflect the often fairly nice residential neighborhoods behind them. BTW, Old Everett is the large area bound by Jolly to the south, MLK to the west up to Mount Hope and then Washington Avenue, Greenlawn to the north, and the Jackson & Lansing Railroad tracks to the east. Old Everett was actually takes its name from and old school district in Lansing Township that was not annexed into Lansing until 1949.

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    Lansing Annexation by NewCityOne, on Flickr

    BTW, totally off topic, but if you look at that old annexation map, anyone notice what looks to be a small airport at the southeast corner of Holmes & Waverly? Am I crazy? Anyone heard of the history of that area?
  • edited April 2015
    My first guess would also be a fast food place, but I don't know what else we could expect to go on Cedar St. Maybe another place from down the street getting a new building or one of the new-to-town chains setting up on the southside. I'm really glad to see the Cedar St corridor continue to improve.

    It's certainly looks like it could be an airport there, I'd assume if it were, it was probably just a simple grassy landing strip. Thanks for that map also.
  • edited April 2015
    Looks like this Monday's city council meeting will be fairly quiet as far as development is concerned. Two things that stuck out though rather small:

    - A setting of public hearing for the rezoning of the old Genesee Street School, downtown, from C-Residential to D-1 Professional Office District. The school was renovated for Zero Day, a historic preservation company which employs veterans. D-1 is a higher density zoning, and allows for both the office and the residential units in the building. Haven't been by here in months.

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    - A passage vote is set up for rezoning 1107 East Miller Road, a non-descript medical office building at the northwest corner with Executive Drive on the southeast side. It's going form G-2 Wholesale & J Parking to D-1 Professional Office. The building is currently for sale, so I'm not sure if this is just to move the previous usage to a more legal/appropriate zoning for the area, of if there is a project to redevelop the site. I'd imagine the former since it wouldn't make much sense for something higher density given the area.

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  • edited April 2015
    The LSJ is reporting that North MLK between Ionia and the Grand River is being reconstructed as part of a BWL project. Auto lanes will be reduced from four to three (one each northbound and southbound and a center turn-lane, I imagine) with bike lanes added on both sides. I'm glad for this, after you get up past Willow, the four lanes feel so tight (especially at the turns) that you have to be really careful. This will allow northbound and southbound traffic a little more safety at the curve and up the hills which have very poor sightlines.

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    There also appears there will be streetscape improvements along Capitol Avenue and Shiawasee Street around LCC.
  • GM is going to make a big announcement, tomorrow, about investment at Lansing Delta Township. It sounds like something more major than a product announcement, so I'm guessing some kind of plant expansion.
  • I'm anxious to hear what this is. They're making it sound as if it's something quite a bit bigger than any of the recent announcements. Bernero's quoted as sayings GM's "doubling down" on Lansing. It almost lends hope to another plant altogether out at Delta Township, it has been hinted at in the past.
  • I guess it was just a new product. Meh. From the LSJ:
    The Detroit-based automaker announced a $520 million investment for tooling and equipment "for future new vehicle programs" at the Delta plant, and the move is expected to retain 1,900 jobs, according to a GM press release.
  • Meh is exactly my thought.

    $520 million on equipment is all well and good, but I doubt it really means much for the area other than that GM probably isn't leaving in the near future.
  • I agree, a somewhat underwhelming announcement. I wasn't sure that a separate facility would be built, but perhaps an addition to the existing factory to build additional models. But since no new jobs are announced (retain 1,900 jobs), sounds like the new equipment will support the next generation of Acadias, Traverses, and Enclaves. But a half-billion dollar investment is good news, nonetheless.
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