As far as I know, the owner is selling off the building in pieces, with the owner of my friends comic shop probably purchasing the lower floor under land contract.
I recently learned that Old Town is entered in a video contest by Ikea. Its called Small Businesses, Big Dreams. Entries are supposed to tell about the community, promote the businesses, share your visions, and show off the storefronts. The video voted most creative will win a team of designers who will help to transform the interior space of up to 10 businesses. Old Town is currently leading, with 3,387 votes! Buts its only 262 more then the next closest. I think everyone here should vote! It only takes a second to register and do it, plus the contest ends in just 3 more days! Here's the link: http://ikea.shycast.com/contest/1/
The artsy Lansing commercial district finished in first place in the public vote portion of retailer Ikea's "Small Businesses, Big Dreams" contest. That vote makes up 30 percent of the final tally in the race to win a $50,000 "Main Street makeover" from the iconic Swedish home furnishings retailer.
It will be about two weeks before the final winner is announced, said a message posted Thursday on Ikea's Web site.
Congratulations to Old Town, and I hope that they win the judging part of the contest.
Looks like Old Town won the judging part of the contest too for anyone that hadn't heard. That's great news. They get the $50,000 makeover for winning first place.
It says the Main Library would jump from 73,000 to 101,000 sq ft, and Inpression 5 would jump from 30,000 to 37,000 sq ft. All I can say is that I hope they find a way to build a bigger Impression 5, something at least 50,000 sq ft with tall floors and plenty of open space, or at least design the buildings to be expandable.
What I got from the article was that the current Main Library would become a Central Services Building for the system. A new Main Library and Impression 5 combination would be built elsewhere. I hope the expansion goes forward. I'd actually like to see the system expand to other counties, as well as the city of East Lansing. I always use the South Lansing branch, which has recently been expanded. Sounds like improvements for each location at the minimum.
Ok, so these are about a week old. And I make no claims about the actual picture quality. I was having some major exposure problems that day.
Here are some shots of the work going on on Michigan Ave, and the work on Washington near LCC.
Here are a few random shots of buildings getting new facades. It's about time Kelly's replaced that awful awning.
Here's a shot of the exterior of Clem's. The city made them erect this crazy scaffolding thing around the entrance while they work on the facade. It completely covers the front of the store. They're in the process of painting some plywood so people know they're still open. My friend Tom said their sales have dropped 30-40 percent because of all the construction going on. Even some of their regular customers either question whether they're open or not, or don't think it's worth the hassle of dealing with all the construction.
I remember reading something about this building being turned into apartments. Looks like it's well on it's way.
I get a kick out of these signs downtown. Directing people around all the construction. It goes to show just how pervasive it really is.
Additional pictures in the Stadium District, and Hollister threads....
I've been keeping an eye on all this construction and I'm really looking forward to seeing the streetscaped Michigan Ave and reopened N Washington, from what I can tell it will look really nice. The same thing goes for that 5 floor building, I'm suprised it wasn't one of the first buildings to get rennovated.
Comments
Congratulations to Old Town, and I hope that they win the judging part of the contest.
Old Town Eagerly Waits for Ikea Call
It says the Main Library would jump from 73,000 to 101,000 sq ft, and Inpression 5 would jump from 30,000 to 37,000 sq ft. All I can say is that I hope they find a way to build a bigger Impression 5, something at least 50,000 sq ft with tall floors and plenty of open space, or at least design the buildings to be expandable.
Here are some shots of the work going on on Michigan Ave, and the work on Washington near LCC.
Here are a few random shots of buildings getting new facades. It's about time Kelly's replaced that awful awning.
Here's a shot of the exterior of Clem's. The city made them erect this crazy scaffolding thing around the entrance while they work on the facade. It completely covers the front of the store. They're in the process of painting some plywood so people know they're still open. My friend Tom said their sales have dropped 30-40 percent because of all the construction going on. Even some of their regular customers either question whether they're open or not, or don't think it's worth the hassle of dealing with all the construction.
I remember reading something about this building being turned into apartments. Looks like it's well on it's way.
I get a kick out of these signs downtown. Directing people around all the construction. It goes to show just how pervasive it really is.
Additional pictures in the Stadium District, and Hollister threads....