@gbinlansing I'm just a little worried that Lake Trust is going to plop their standard suburban building design and site layout down on that corner. At 3,600 sq ft I'm betting it will only be one floor and would be about the size of a typical suburban branch office.
I'm also not impressed considering what we were going to get at that corner before. They mention a drive-thru, so it's definitely going to be some cookie suburban design at one of the major entrances to downtown. What makes me even more concerned is that 616 South Washington (because of the old project) is now a single parcels which stretches the whole length of the block. There are two older buildings on the "back" of the site; I hope the plan is to preserve them, but it makes me nervous as I imagine that they want a drive-through lane between Capitol and Washington.
We seem to be having the hardest time getting proper development downtown west of the river with a few exceptions.
Lake Trust has a couple of branches designed by Intrigue Studios that are different than most bank branches, I don't really like the designs but they are different. I was thinking that there was a plan for an apartment building that encluded the older building on the corner. I wonder some times when these "developers" make announcements and draw up pictures of buildings that they "hope to build" why they do it. I can see pitching an idea to investors but it makes no sense to me to make a public announcement. When it does not happen it feels like a failure for Lansing development.
There are a couple of developments going up west of the river around the edges of downtown and over by the Capitol Complex. I'm thinking that the land "downtown" is priced too high for buyers and with the parking lots too profitable for any sellers to give up. Perhaps the land prices reflect a different time before other areas became the developments filling the up the spaces to the east of the river, and there was only one downtown.
@MichMatters I can't imagine they'd be dumb enough to try to tear down the buildings at Capital & St Joe, those buildings are unique in this area. If they do propose to tear them down I'll be dragging myself to council to speak against anything on the city's end that would allow for or reward it.
@gbdinlansing You got it right when you said that relatively high land values is a part of what's preventing more development in the core of downtown. That and the fact that daytime parking itself is somewhat scarce and expensive because of the office demand. Parking lots are good money makers and the people that own some of the more prominent ones are developers who likely have long term plans (think Gentilozzi with Michigan & Grand). It's not all bad though, imagine if we saw a building like Marketplace go up at Michigan & Grand and we'd be stuck with that at a prominent location for decades. Old Town, REO Town and Michigan Ave have been building momentum for awhile now, I feel like the core of downtown is due for a building boom of sorts. At the very least I expect some more moderately sized mixed use buildings on the periphery and I'd be surprised if there isn't a new office building somewhat soon.
If anyone reading this pays a lot of money to park downtown, I see people who work downtown park on the 900 blocks of S.Washington which seems to be a 24-hour no-limit free parking zone, from 1000 up to the south, there is a two-hour limit that is enforced once in a while. The parking spaces next to the Fountain Place on Hazel Street are also city-owned free public parking. The lots to the rear are private. If you don't mind a short walk you could park for free!
I couple of notes of possible interest. Quality Dairy has closed its plant on S. Washington in REOtown and has a for lease sign out front. I noticed a change in the flavor of the milk[ not for the better] and sure enough, I took a look to find the building vacated of its machinery and that they don't bottle it there anymore. I do drink a lot of QD milk and went there because it is local, I am bummed to think that this change will be permanent.
Down on the corner of MLK and S Holmes, there is renovation going on at the old Colonial Bar, no sign of what is going in there. I hope it something besides a new pot shop!
I wonder how long the QD site in REO Town has been shut down? It's looked really dead around there for awhile, I was wondering what was going on. It would be good to hear QD get back into locally bottling their own milk but I'm not sad to see them sell that REO Town site, the small two floor building would be nice to see saved but I'd like to see the rest of the complex razed to make way for something more suitable to REO Town.
It might be too much to hope for that the new MJ center would improve the huge parking lot there.
I actually called QD about the milk's bad aftertaste, and the fellow told me that they had not bottled milk there for almost a year. I was surprised to hear that but come to think about it I had not seen the milk trucks coming and going on Washington Ave. for a while now so it was not the move that changed the taste, I guess. I told him I thought it tasted like light oxidation has effected the flavor. He said he would try the milk and get back to me, and wanted me to save a bottle so he could check batches I have not bought any in a couple of weeks. QD is this really crazy Lansing place that I like to shop, the good tasting local milk was one reason. He would not admit to any change in the process or say if anyone else had complained about this, or say where they do bottle the milk these days. I hope they fix it!
QD has done a lot of messing up in the past few years. The same family still owns it, but they've gone through a few CEO's who seem to want to try and take it in a different direction instead of simply improving what they have. They outsourced their ice for a time, which tasted terrible, but I think they went back in-house. I haven't noticed a change in the milk, but I rarely drink milk. It's sad to hear it may have changed. You'd think it'd be the one thing they wouldn't change; "dairy" is right in their name. It's literally what they are known for.
Anyway, I was up at MLK and Grand River, today, which has been a dreary corner for decades, and was surprised to see additional new construction. Directly southeast across the street from Gregory's is a new building and another under construction done in a nice style. I have no idea what they are, and the city assessor website doesn't have a record for them yet. Across MLK to the west it looks like Peckham has finished and office expansion built right up to the street just about. It looks nice, and it's multi-story. Directly to the south of Gregory's it looks they are redoing the old bowling-alley-turned industrial building and transforming it into a grow facility. Apparently, they acquired the building in April of last year and hope to have it open in the first quarter of this year. They will be making improvements to the entire property.
The Peckham expansion, I think it a few years old, so you can tell it's been awhile since I'd been up that way, or at least it's the first time I've paid attention in awhile. The others, though, look like they began a few months ago at the latest. I just love seeing these "out-city" areas getting attention.
Comments
We seem to be having the hardest time getting proper development downtown west of the river with a few exceptions.
There are a couple of developments going up west of the river around the edges of downtown and over by the Capitol Complex. I'm thinking that the land "downtown" is priced too high for buyers and with the parking lots too profitable for any sellers to give up. Perhaps the land prices reflect a different time before other areas became the developments filling the up the spaces to the east of the river, and there was only one downtown.
@gbdinlansing You got it right when you said that relatively high land values is a part of what's preventing more development in the core of downtown. That and the fact that daytime parking itself is somewhat scarce and expensive because of the office demand. Parking lots are good money makers and the people that own some of the more prominent ones are developers who likely have long term plans (think Gentilozzi with Michigan & Grand). It's not all bad though, imagine if we saw a building like Marketplace go up at Michigan & Grand and we'd be stuck with that at a prominent location for decades. Old Town, REO Town and Michigan Ave have been building momentum for awhile now, I feel like the core of downtown is due for a building boom of sorts. At the very least I expect some more moderately sized mixed use buildings on the periphery and I'd be surprised if there isn't a new office building somewhat soon.
Down on the corner of MLK and S Holmes, there is renovation going on at the old Colonial Bar, no sign of what is going in there. I hope it something besides a new pot shop!
I actually called QD about the milk's bad aftertaste, and the fellow told me that they had not bottled milk there for almost a year. I was surprised to hear that but come to think about it I had not seen the milk trucks coming and going on Washington Ave. for a while now so it was not the move that changed the taste, I guess. I told him I thought it tasted like light oxidation has effected the flavor. He said he would try the milk and get back to me, and wanted me to save a bottle so he could check batches I have not bought any in a couple of weeks. QD is this really crazy Lansing place that I like to shop, the good tasting local milk was one reason. He would not admit to any change in the process or say if anyone else had complained about this, or say where they do bottle the milk these days. I hope they fix it!
Anyway, I was up at MLK and Grand River, today, which has been a dreary corner for decades, and was surprised to see additional new construction. Directly southeast across the street from Gregory's is a new building and another under construction done in a nice style. I have no idea what they are, and the city assessor website doesn't have a record for them yet. Across MLK to the west it looks like Peckham has finished and office expansion built right up to the street just about. It looks nice, and it's multi-story. Directly to the south of Gregory's it looks they are redoing the old bowling-alley-turned industrial building and transforming it into a grow facility. Apparently, they acquired the building in April of last year and hope to have it open in the first quarter of this year. They will be making improvements to the entire property.
The Peckham expansion, I think it a few years old, so you can tell it's been awhile since I'd been up that way, or at least it's the first time I've paid attention in awhile. The others, though, look like they began a few months ago at the latest. I just love seeing these "out-city" areas getting attention.