I'll be glad to see a Famous Taco downtown again, they are one of my two favorite resturaunts. Also, they can better sustain business because of deliveries and they are open unitl 4 on the weekends, which will help the downtown bar crowds.
As for the MDA/Capitol View situation, it could very well be that they finally worked out a deal with their lender, it sounds to me like they were just being unreasonable. The MDA and the Boji's want to make the deal happen, and have the money, the lender just was being difficult about putting an addition on their investment. I'm unclear as to how recent his information was but if anything this issue might have been the initial hang-up, the reason why the Boji's weren't confirming anything.
Or, so you're saying the most recent news is what I posted off the agenda, then.
Yeah, Famous Taco is great. If any restaurant has to take over Skyline's spot, I'm glad its Famous, and their deliveries will serve the central city area.
Don't get me wrong, I like Famous Taco too. They have the best black beans of any mexican place in Lansing. And their queso dip is awesome. But I am a Skyline fanatic!!
Lmich, I would assume that either the info off the agenda is the most recent, or the tax credits are transferable to different properties the MDA may consider. I sure hope that the MDA moves to an expanded Capitol View.
There was an article in the LSJ about the Cesar Chavez memorial to be put up at City Hall. This is a great move for the city, and I hope that they will be able to raise the money for it.
This has been in the works for literally years, now. I'm glad the memorial board finally put in the work so that the city council could approve it. The community had been dragging their feet on this. I, too, hope that they'll be able to raise the money, and I really hope that our corporate neighbors will foot a lot of this bill, personally.
Sweet! It appears, now, that Lansing (like Grand Rapids) offers full, online packets of city council meetings meaning they include drawings and such of plans submitted to council. From them, I was able to find out that the monument will be exactly 7'-6" tall and 2,530 pounds. It will also cost only $42,000, which will be primarily raised through private donations and the selling sponsor bricks like what's outside of Oldsmobile Park. The bricks will be used as pavers around the monument:
The Chavez "sculpture" is not what I was expecting. If that is, it ends up looking like what's in the picture. For some reason I had this picture of a statue of the guy, like Sparty, but less muscle-y.
I don't think it was ever referred to as anything other than a monument or memorial. I'm not a bid fan of the architecture, but it's good to see him get a monument, nonetheless.
BTW, the City Council package also shows another small redevelopment taking place on East Michigan Avenue just west of the main core of businesses at Clemens. The whole corridor is dubbed "Midtown" by the Lansing Economic Development Corporation, BTW.
Spadafore Distributing Company is redeveloping the property at 2100 and 2110 East Michigan Avenue. This property currently contains a historic, unoccupied single-family home, and a huge parking lot with an old trailer sitting at the very back of the property. This is on the southside of Michigan between Fairview and Magnolia. The developer will raze everything on site, including the deteriorated parking lot and construct a 4,822 square foot, one-story office/retail structure (possible 3,000 square foot basement) that will have a brick facade. Potential tenants are being identified.
A small redevelopment, but it's great to see East Michigan Avenue starting to form as a cohesive unit.
For the 110 East Allegan discussed earlier, the developer is seeking to transform the upper floors into 4 apartments. It turns out the developer is Mark Peplowski of the Boji Group who's formed this small development company, 60 North, for the redevelopment of this property.
This really makes me angry. Much like the City Market and countless other things the city subsidizes, the community simply doesn't support them. That our only professional theatre has even got to the point of where they are having a hard time paying their rent says a lot about the community that supports them, and in this cases, the community that doesn't support them. That the BoarsHead and the Arts Council exist within a poorly renovated car dealership is simply embarrassing for the arts in Lansing. And, the city is still dragging its feet on a new performing arts center.
You know, it seems for all of the steps we take forward, we take two more backwards.
Comments
As for the MDA/Capitol View situation, it could very well be that they finally worked out a deal with their lender, it sounds to me like they were just being unreasonable. The MDA and the Boji's want to make the deal happen, and have the money, the lender just was being difficult about putting an addition on their investment. I'm unclear as to how recent his information was but if anything this issue might have been the initial hang-up, the reason why the Boji's weren't confirming anything.
Yeah, Famous Taco is great. If any restaurant has to take over Skyline's spot, I'm glad its Famous, and their deliveries will serve the central city area.
http://www.cityoflansingmi.com/Lansing/clerk/docs/COUNCIL_PACKET_4_30_07.pdf
BTW, the City Council package also shows another small redevelopment taking place on East Michigan Avenue just west of the main core of businesses at Clemens. The whole corridor is dubbed "Midtown" by the Lansing Economic Development Corporation, BTW.
Spadafore Distributing Company is redeveloping the property at 2100 and 2110 East Michigan Avenue. This property currently contains a historic, unoccupied single-family home, and a huge parking lot with an old trailer sitting at the very back of the property. This is on the southside of Michigan between Fairview and Magnolia. The developer will raze everything on site, including the deteriorated parking lot and construct a 4,822 square foot, one-story office/retail structure (possible 3,000 square foot basement) that will have a brick facade. Potential tenants are being identified.
A small redevelopment, but it's great to see East Michigan Avenue starting to form as a cohesive unit.
For the 110 East Allegan discussed earlier, the developer is seeking to transform the upper floors into 4 apartments. It turns out the developer is Mark Peplowski of the Boji Group who's formed this small development company, 60 North, for the redevelopment of this property.
This really makes me angry. Much like the City Market and countless other things the city subsidizes, the community simply doesn't support them. That our only professional theatre has even got to the point of where they are having a hard time paying their rent says a lot about the community that supports them, and in this cases, the community that doesn't support them. That the BoarsHead and the Arts Council exist within a poorly renovated car dealership is simply embarrassing for the arts in Lansing. And, the city is still dragging its feet on a new performing arts center.
You know, it seems for all of the steps we take forward, we take two more backwards.