I seen the name of that coffee shop at the Ranney Building, Cornerstone Coffee. A guy who lives across the street from me is the owner of it, it's a new chain. The first one was in Holt and opened a year ago or so, he is now selling franchises and starting new stores himself, I don't know if this is a franchise or owned by him directly.
According to the "Building Permits" section of the LSJ Ingham is adding a fifth floor to their new heart wing at a cost of over $3 million.
Really? Interesting. If that's the case, I'll add it to emporis.com. Do you happen to have any old pictures of the sign? I've driven by and seen it before, but the builders and architects are on the sign. What I do seem to remember is that one of them is a St. Louis company.
I'm surprised that a coffeeshop is opening in the Ranney Building, as just a few doors down in the former Walgreens Building Deckers Coffeshop is opening up, too. What I hope, though, is that these two stay open after five. I'd hate for them to be like some many businesses on the square: lunch counters that closer halfway through the afternoon. lol
I never di get a picture of the sign at Ingham, but at some point, when I have time and the weather is decent, I would like to get out and get more pictures, of Ingham and other projects.
As for the coffee shops, I'm not sure how much good it would do or how common it is to have them stay open during the evening. I suppose the least they would add would be an open place and a lit up space to the street.
Also, I was reading a story about a person involved in Capitol Bancorp in the LSJ today and it said that they have over 190 employees and currently occupy all of the Business & Trade Center (50,000 sq ft) and one full lfoor of the Pheonix Building (14,000 sq ft) and that they plan to double the number of banks they hold by 2011. This is the most solid evidence I've seen for what I have speculated for a couple years: Capitol Bancorp will need a new building. If they double in size by 2011, which seems likely, infact they may exceed that goal, they may need up to 130k sq ft just to house what they have then. Thats not even allowing for future growth which would be highly likely. I would expect them to build around a 200k sq ft building, the question is whether they will stay downtown...
I sent an email to Bob Tresize asking him a few questions about things going on, her it is:
My email:
" I was wondering if the CIty is actively persuing Capitol Bancorp to
stay downtown, there was article in the LSJ today that said they have
completely filled Business & Trade Center and one full floor of the
Pheonix Building. That encompasses about 64k sq ft, they said they plan
to at least double their number of banks by 2011, to me that points to
one thing, they need a new HQ, and Lansing should be very proactive in
keeping them downtown. I would not be at all suprised to see them put up
a 150k-200k sq ft building and soon, that would be great for downtown.
Also, you stated in previous contacts that there would be a "major
announcement" in December or January, I just wanted to confirm that
Hollister was/was not that announcement. Also, when will we hear about
the Ottawa Power Station proposals and their status?"
His response:
"Yes on Bancorp.
Announcement in January- not Hollister.
Very optimistic on BWL Power Station. Working very hard on this."
I am hoping the "yes" means that the city is already in talks with Capitol Bancorp about a possible new building downtown...
Also, did anyone catch the City Pulse article last week about downtown development in 2006? Specifically it said that "finalizing" plans for the Cooley performing arts center was a priority for 2007. "Finalizing certainly sounds good, maybe we will see an official plan this year, who knows maybe even some construction/demolition.
If they can push this project foward, more power to them, but there is going to have to be a near complete reconstruction. It's just not going to be the same. Still whether it will be a new construction, or if they are going to try and restory the remaining portion, and work on this site will be welcomed.
I saw the article in the City Pulse last week, it was in one of the updates on the front page of the site.
That would be amazing if they could actually still use the building after that fire. I would be left speechless. From what I saw from the road, that building looks like it has no chance of being reused.
I also hope that's what he meant by "yes", I sure hope he doesn't mean, "Yeah, we've thought about pursuing them". Maybe the big plans might have to do with the performing arts center.
Comments
According to the "Building Permits" section of the LSJ Ingham is adding a fifth floor to their new heart wing at a cost of over $3 million.
I'm surprised that a coffeeshop is opening in the Ranney Building, as just a few doors down in the former Walgreens Building Deckers Coffeshop is opening up, too. What I hope, though, is that these two stay open after five. I'd hate for them to be like some many businesses on the square: lunch counters that closer halfway through the afternoon. lol
As for the coffee shops, I'm not sure how much good it would do or how common it is to have them stay open during the evening. I suppose the least they would add would be an open place and a lit up space to the street.
Also, I was reading a story about a person involved in Capitol Bancorp in the LSJ today and it said that they have over 190 employees and currently occupy all of the Business & Trade Center (50,000 sq ft) and one full lfoor of the Pheonix Building (14,000 sq ft) and that they plan to double the number of banks they hold by 2011. This is the most solid evidence I've seen for what I have speculated for a couple years: Capitol Bancorp will need a new building. If they double in size by 2011, which seems likely, infact they may exceed that goal, they may need up to 130k sq ft just to house what they have then. Thats not even allowing for future growth which would be highly likely. I would expect them to build around a 200k sq ft building, the question is whether they will stay downtown...
The Boji's have finally developed themselves a respectable, slightly more interactive website:
http://www.bojigroup.com/
My email:
" I was wondering if the CIty is actively persuing Capitol Bancorp to
stay downtown, there was article in the LSJ today that said they have
completely filled Business & Trade Center and one full floor of the
Pheonix Building. That encompasses about 64k sq ft, they said they plan
to at least double their number of banks by 2011, to me that points to
one thing, they need a new HQ, and Lansing should be very proactive in
keeping them downtown. I would not be at all suprised to see them put up
a 150k-200k sq ft building and soon, that would be great for downtown.
Also, you stated in previous contacts that there would be a "major
announcement" in December or January, I just wanted to confirm that
Hollister was/was not that announcement. Also, when will we hear about
the Ottawa Power Station proposals and their status?"
His response:
"Yes on Bancorp.
Announcement in January- not Hollister.
Very optimistic on BWL Power Station. Working very hard on this."
I guess the "yes" on Capitol Bancorp means they realize that they've outgrown their space.
Also, did anyone catch the City Pulse article last week about downtown development in 2006? Specifically it said that "finalizing" plans for the Cooley performing arts center was a priority for 2007. "Finalizing certainly sounds good, maybe we will see an official plan this year, who knows maybe even some construction/demolition.
Also from this weeks City Pulse, an article on the cold storage warehouse: Charred warehouse may still become arts hub
That would be amazing if they could actually still use the building after that fire. I would be left speechless. From what I saw from the road, that building looks like it has no chance of being reused.
I also hope that's what he meant by "yes", I sure hope he doesn't mean, "Yeah, we've thought about pursuing them". Maybe the big plans might have to do with the performing arts center.