I like this, it will be nice to have something attractive on that corner and getting streetscaping will be a big plus. I like the overall design and if the quality is good, in particular if those upper floors are some sort of stone or even a nice tile, it will make for a very good looking small building.
Counting the current parking spaces from Google Maps satellite view, it looks like there is currently 72 parking spaces so the relatively large surface lot will stay. It would have been nice to see the Gannon Ramp at LCC become more accessible to the surrounding businesses so they could share the ramp and design the new one to be more accessible for those uses.
It looks quite dynamic there is a lot going on for a small building. The buildings this will replace are unremarkable but relatively modern so I am happy to see this will be a teardown and building something new, not repurposing the old buildings. With the landscaping and rooftop parking! , it is going to be a very nice urban building. It is interesting that there are developments being built in all directions surrounding downtown, I hope we get to see something like this being built somewhere like the corner of Grand Ave and Kalamazoo someday soon.
I was reading where the Capitol View Apartments building is nearly finished, I really like the rehab. The rents are kind of high for Lansing, there must be a market at those rates, but one could pay a mortgage on a $200k house for $1,200 to$1,500 a month!
I have spoken to QD about the change in the flavor of the milk. They said that yes they closed the bottling plant on S Washington but did not say where they now bottle the milk, he just said it was Michigan milk. I go to QD for two reasons the MSUFCU ATM and the milk. The fellow said to try it again and let them know if the taste was still off. I am not going to try and convince QD that their milk tastes bad I think they should have someone who tastes the product for which their stores are named not me! My husband did buy some QD milk and served it to me without saying it was from QD and at the first sip, I could taste it was the new QD milk, blaa it is so bad I can not believe the QD had not noticed this change. The other day I went in there and all the milk was gone and the clerk said they had mixed the wrong formula and pulled all the milk that day. So I don't know much more than that, and I have given up on their milk, Koger's milk taste right so I buy milk there now.
Yeah, QD is a bit perplexing. On one hand, they are sprucing up some stores (like the one in Holt) and bringing their retail model up to date, but broadly their properties are really outdated (and dilapidated...), and don't seem to offer much more than any other convenience store. Some of their properties look so bad, inside and out, that I avoid using them!
Since they are local and have been in the game for quite a while, many of these stores sit on prime retail sites, so I guess this is why they've been able to hang on as long as they can. But once they get any serious competition, they fold, like the dumpy location on near Fresh Thyme on Trowbridge that is getting turned into a Biggbys. I hope they stay in business, but unless they start making some of the right decision that have been mentioned earlier in this thread, they're going to continue to erode.
They do need to clean up their stores and parking lots. I think the relay on the employees in each store to do these cleaning chores and no one ever checks to see if the work has been done. Some locations like Kalamazoo and Penn. Ave store the employees are so nice but the lots and sidewalks are always a dirty mess. Many places it is kind of a ritual each morning to totally scrub to sidewalks in front of the store with soap and hot water. Maybe QD could start that tradition here in Lansing. :}
I read where they described the look of the new ramp as having an apartment building-like facade. I don't really see that in these drawings. I do not like the idea of another parking ramp on this block of Capitol Avenue. I understand that they need another parking ramp while the old one is being renovated. I would rather they built a temporary structure or building that could be converted for human use after the old ramp comes back online. It might be a good idea to try and reduce LCC student's dependence on automobiles by giving them CATA bus passes like MSU. Or maybe charging a higher rate to park there so some folks would decide to take the bus, ride a bike or even walk! I would like to see a change in the "I have to be able to park in front of the building or I'm not going there" mentality here in Michigan. There are many ways to achieve this change, by making the alternative modes of travel safer, more efficient, more attractive. I know I will spend a long time waiting for these changes. I like that the change in the code that seems to address some of these issues.
While I support the idea of reducing car traffic for an urban campus, I think upping parking rates that would interfere with the core mission of LCC, which is to provide low-barrier education to the community. I'm guessing that a large portion of the student population is made up of commuters who have jobs, families, etc. and need to drive in/out of campus. A free bus pass would be great though, and would hopefully increase the number of folks who voluntarily avoid driving to campus.
Comments
I was reading where the Capitol View Apartments building is nearly finished, I really like the rehab. The rents are kind of high for Lansing, there must be a market at those rates, but one could pay a mortgage on a $200k house for $1,200 to$1,500 a month!
Since they are local and have been in the game for quite a while, many of these stores sit on prime retail sites, so I guess this is why they've been able to hang on as long as they can. But once they get any serious competition, they fold, like the dumpy location on near Fresh Thyme on Trowbridge that is getting turned into a Biggbys. I hope they stay in business, but unless they start making some of the right decision that have been mentioned earlier in this thread, they're going to continue to erode.