I think there is a vintage photo posted on the history discussion page that depicts Kalamazoo Street in the late 19th century, with this building. That would make it well over 100 years old. It would be great if they were going to do something with this building.
I also noticed the the building across the street[the one with the bowed roof] was clad in new green siding and painted but with no hint of what they are doing with the building. There is an interesting line of brick buildings around the corner along Hosmer that back up to the tracks in the rear. They are now small businesses, it is not a pretty group of buildings but an interesting to see a block of commercial buildings from the 19th and early 20th century still in use.
Two personal remembrances of that part of Kalamazoo street, one being when I was a kid in the early 60's the old bridge over the river was a high much stepper arched bridge, that had this dip at the top of the arch. If there was no traffic my Dad would speed up and pass over the dip so we would lose our stomachs like on a roller coaster, maybe not so safe but fun for little boys. We would beg him to take us over the Roller Coaster Bridge.
Twenty years later I was living on Eureka Street [yes the street girls would stand right outside our house] in this great big place with 10ft ceilings and huge windows. What I have been trying to remember is, were was the little supermarket on Kalamazoo Street? I can remember it was near 8th street but none of the building's there now seem to be were that market was. No big deal but they did have the best smoked pork chops. Does anyone else remember that place? It could be the building with garage doors?
There only store of that nature left on the street, now, is Suset Market, which also has a butcher who sells whatever kind of meet one can think of. But it's a Kalamazoo and East strees at the railroad tracks. I go there quite often for my meat since it's where we used to go when we were little to get meat. We got to know the clerks and owners and such. Other than that an Arts Bar, there isn't much else in concerns to retail on Kalamazoo between Larch and Penn, so I'm not sure it's the same store you're talking about, particularly since I'm not sure how long Sunset has been where it has. At Kalamazoo and 8th is a large old warehouse complex that was converted to offices years ago and on the south side of the street a mechanics shop.
BTW, I've also seen what you're talking about with the old warehouse (converted in a second hand shop a few years ago before they left just a year or two ago) which has been painted. I think Discount Dave had moved in part of his store to this location (which is across from a Dicker & Deal location) when his store down on Washington burned down. I think he left the place last year but it could have been the year before. I've also noticed that a building immediately behind it seems to be storing some kind of pile of something (maybe ground up wood? It almost looks like some kind of grain) in the open air in the last year or so. It's right up next to the railroad tracks, and it made me wonder if they are shipping it by rail or if it's just stored so close to the tracks. The business would actually be at the foot of Hill Street, because everything along Hosmer to the east of it are mechanics, but there is a business or two right back on Hill Street off of Prospect that I have no idea about. I've never been up on Hill Street because it never looks inviting, but I've always wanted to because the views of downtown must be awesome.
That also gets me thinking about the renovation of the old four-story apartment building being redone up on Hosmer just south of Michigan. I just noticed today, that they've done a MAJOR modification to the back of the building facing downtown. There are HUGE windows on the back, like glass-to-ceiling windows. Makes me think that these are going to be some pretty expensive apartments. It's crazy because I was sure when this building burned that that was the end of it, but it just shows the gentrification of the inner-city. The two homes across the street from it have already been redone. ALL of these were low-income housing that hadn't been kept up. Never thought I'd see the day yuppies would find their way to Hosmer. The old liquor/party store on the corner, however, it still borded up.
Thanks for your comments, I could be wrong but I don't remember crossing the tracks to get to the market I was speaking of. This was 1981 so not many folks who live here now, who lived in Lansing back then. This place was an independent super market with moving belt type check out lanes and a full line of groceries so it was not just a convenience store. People in those days had a very bad perception of that area so maybe only neighborhood people went there.It could have been one of the buildings across from Art's on the south side of Kalamazoo. Like I said no big deal. I am going to check out the Sunset Market.
When we were looking for Lansing apartments last spring they were advertising the renovated apartments on Hosmer, [perhaps just the model pictured] and they looked really nice with all the modern features, granite counter tops, nice bath etc. I am sure the view would be great, you can see the new windows from the parking lot of the Stadium District. Hill street is another one of those little neighborhoods that is kind cut off surrounded by warehouses and rail tracks, there several like that in Lansing. It is kind of interesting to look at this area using googlemaps the recording goes from Aug.2015 at Michigan to Nov. 2007 at Kalamazoo. Man it sure looked bleak back then.
Sure, it's a jobs, but to call a car dealership expansion a "gateway" is beyond silly:
LANSING – The site of the former Governor’s Inn will be turned into an Alfa Romeo Fiat dealership.
The project is part of a $4.8 million investment by Bill Snethkamp’s Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram to renovate and expand the dealership at 6131 S. Pennsylvania Ave. City officials have dubbed it the South Lansing Gateway Project, aimed at improving the corridor along South Pennsylvania Avenue near the Interstate 96 onramp.
I really wish the city and the business community would spin less when they do when it comes to this kind of development. This is not the "South Lansing Gateway Project," its car dealership chain expansion. If we're going to use any public money, I think we should be a bit more choosy.
I'm not going to argue that this is a good use of incentives I would argue that this a better use of incentives than the Bud Kouts renovation. At least this Snethkamp dealership is going on vacant piece of land at a location where a dealership will truly be a benefit to the area, as opposed to Bud Kouts who is simply reshuffling buildings while taking up an entire block along an important part of Michigan Ave.
On a side note, Chrysler/Fiat as a company is doing horrible, I'm a little surprised to see Snethkamp making an investment like this. I wouldn't want to be investing in anything associated with them.
Up until the most recent quarter, FCA had five consecutive quarters of profits. Maybe they aren't doing great, but they certainly aren't doing horribly. I wouldn't buy anything from them, but it's not like they are drying up.
Anyway, just poking around some local real estate sites and see that the little America's Best Value Inn motel behind the old Governors Inn is up for sale, not for redevelopment, necessarily, but just for sale.
There has been talk for years ago redoing the interchange which awkwardly splits of the area, but I've always wonder how they'd do it? Essentially, how they fed it into Edgewood, it be hard for a radical redesign.
FCA seems all but doomed to me, virtually all their products are subpar and suffer from quality issues while their CEO has publicly and repeatedly begged for a merger with GM that will never, ever happen. I wish them the best as a Michigan company, but I don't have much hope.
Regarding the Edgewood/Cedar Intersection, I have no idea what would make it better. They got a pretty big grant several years ago to study alternatives and they had three fairly detailed proposals drawn up. None of the proposals were great, I seem to remember liking one that incorporated traffic circles but I can barely remember anything about them. Nothing ever came of it as far as I know, I'm pretty sure it was discussed either here or on UP.
BTW, must have had a major brainfart last night not to include the rest of this project. Apparently, the dealership expansion is a small part of this redevelopment of the site, and I guess you could very much call this a Gateway:
The remaining two acres of land will be marketed for development of a hotel or other commercial use. A sign welcoming people to the city would also be constructed near the interstate onramp.
It seems that the dealership will only take up 0.2 acres of this 2.2 acres, which is great to hear. I was thinking last night that the only thing that would really make sense is another hotel at the site. I guess all I'm interested now is where the dealership will be on the site, facing Pennsylvania or off Ramada Drive.
I like to shop at the Aldi store on Pennsylvania Ave and have found that it is a kind of easy to miss the entrance drive do to the mess of roads and ramps. I also hope they could do something about this because it really does play into my thoughts when I go out there. I could see a giant traffic circle spinning off the traffic for Cedar, Penn. Edgewood and the Interstate, or perhaps a more square block grid and eliminate all the roads merging and crossing with four square traffic lights and lanes. There could be a lot more trees on Cedar and Pennsylvania, slower speed limits, and signage zoning. In the 70's I use to work at Oak Park Village and it seemed very nice and busy in the area around Oak Park, now it looks a bit left behind with closed business and creepy hotels. Any development of the area is great, it does seem very hopeful to expect a car dealership and a sign to transform the area, so it will be interesting to see what else they do, I am a hopeful person so I hope it does.
The dealership is being built on 2.2 out the larger 4.2 acre site.
I found a little on the effort to rework that intersection, the project was called IPACE and it dates to 2006. There's an article from WILX: New Intersection? And the CIty of Lansing's IPACE project page, courtesy of the Internet Archive (Unfortunately they don't generally archive images or pdfs).
Comments
I also noticed the the building across the street[the one with the bowed roof] was clad in new green siding and painted but with no hint of what they are doing with the building. There is an interesting line of brick buildings around the corner along Hosmer that back up to the tracks in the rear. They are now small businesses, it is not a pretty group of buildings but an interesting to see a block of commercial buildings from the 19th and early 20th century still in use.
Two personal remembrances of that part of Kalamazoo street, one being when I was a kid in the early 60's the old bridge over the river was a high much stepper arched bridge, that had this dip at the top of the arch. If there was no traffic my Dad would speed up and pass over the dip so we would lose our stomachs like on a roller coaster, maybe not so safe but fun for little boys. We would beg him to take us over the Roller Coaster Bridge.
Twenty years later I was living on Eureka Street [yes the street girls would stand right outside our house] in this great big place with 10ft ceilings and huge windows. What I have been trying to remember is, were was the little supermarket on Kalamazoo Street? I can remember it was near 8th street but none of the building's there now seem to be were that market was. No big deal but they did have the best smoked pork chops. Does anyone else remember that place? It could be the building with garage doors?
BTW, I've also seen what you're talking about with the old warehouse (converted in a second hand shop a few years ago before they left just a year or two ago) which has been painted. I think Discount Dave had moved in part of his store to this location (which is across from a Dicker & Deal location) when his store down on Washington burned down. I think he left the place last year but it could have been the year before. I've also noticed that a building immediately behind it seems to be storing some kind of pile of something (maybe ground up wood? It almost looks like some kind of grain) in the open air in the last year or so. It's right up next to the railroad tracks, and it made me wonder if they are shipping it by rail or if it's just stored so close to the tracks. The business would actually be at the foot of Hill Street, because everything along Hosmer to the east of it are mechanics, but there is a business or two right back on Hill Street off of Prospect that I have no idea about. I've never been up on Hill Street because it never looks inviting, but I've always wanted to because the views of downtown must be awesome.
That also gets me thinking about the renovation of the old four-story apartment building being redone up on Hosmer just south of Michigan. I just noticed today, that they've done a MAJOR modification to the back of the building facing downtown. There are HUGE windows on the back, like glass-to-ceiling windows. Makes me think that these are going to be some pretty expensive apartments. It's crazy because I was sure when this building burned that that was the end of it, but it just shows the gentrification of the inner-city. The two homes across the street from it have already been redone. ALL of these were low-income housing that hadn't been kept up. Never thought I'd see the day yuppies would find their way to Hosmer. The old liquor/party store on the corner, however, it still borded up.
When we were looking for Lansing apartments last spring they were advertising the renovated apartments on Hosmer, [perhaps just the model pictured] and they looked really nice with all the modern features, granite counter tops, nice bath etc. I am sure the view would be great, you can see the new windows from the parking lot of the Stadium District. Hill street is another one of those little neighborhoods that is kind cut off surrounded by warehouses and rail tracks, there several like that in Lansing. It is kind of interesting to look at this area using googlemaps the recording goes from Aug.2015 at Michigan to Nov. 2007 at Kalamazoo. Man it sure looked bleak back then.
I really wish the city and the business community would spin less when they do when it comes to this kind of development. This is not the "South Lansing Gateway Project," its car dealership chain expansion. If we're going to use any public money, I think we should be a bit more choosy.
On a side note, Chrysler/Fiat as a company is doing horrible, I'm a little surprised to see Snethkamp making an investment like this. I wouldn't want to be investing in anything associated with them.
Anyway, just poking around some local real estate sites and see that the little America's Best Value Inn motel behind the old Governors Inn is up for sale, not for redevelopment, necessarily, but just for sale.
There has been talk for years ago redoing the interchange which awkwardly splits of the area, but I've always wonder how they'd do it? Essentially, how they fed it into Edgewood, it be hard for a radical redesign.
Regarding the Edgewood/Cedar Intersection, I have no idea what would make it better. They got a pretty big grant several years ago to study alternatives and they had three fairly detailed proposals drawn up. None of the proposals were great, I seem to remember liking one that incorporated traffic circles but I can barely remember anything about them. Nothing ever came of it as far as I know, I'm pretty sure it was discussed either here or on UP.
It seems that the dealership will only take up 0.2 acres of this 2.2 acres, which is great to hear. I was thinking last night that the only thing that would really make sense is another hotel at the site. I guess all I'm interested now is where the dealership will be on the site, facing Pennsylvania or off Ramada Drive.
I found a little on the effort to rework that intersection, the project was called IPACE and it dates to 2006. There's an article from WILX: New Intersection? And the CIty of Lansing's IPACE project page, courtesy of the Internet Archive (Unfortunately they don't generally archive images or pdfs).