I would still like to see what those Rain Gardens will look like. Have seen any renderings or anything?
EDIT:
I was just looking over bidclerk.com and there are some bids out for some Lansing area projects:
The Hollister Building, it says projected start date is in November.
The Ottawa Power Station Project: "Site work and new construction on the riverfront in Lansing. Preliminary plans call for the development of the riverfront with restaurants, shops and public parking space.
No construction date has been set. These plans are in the very early stages of development"
LCC University Center: "Demolition, site work and addition of a university center in Lansing. Plans are calling for the demolition of an existing building and the addition of a modern brick, copper and block-glass structure that will be linked to an existing library. The building will be 28,000 square feet and will have 18 classrooms.
Demolition is expected to begin in May 2006. Interested parties should contact the owner."
An unnamed EL project: "Site work, demolition and new construction of a retail building in East Lansing. Working drawings call for demolition of an existing restaurant and construction of a four-story building to include 3,565 square feet of ground-floor retail space and nine two-bedroom apartments on the top three floors." Tentative start date of March '07.
Another unnamed, but impressive sounding EL development: "Site work and new construction of a mixed-use complex in East Lansing. Plans are calling for a 12-story building to house three floors of parking, stores and restaurants, with nine floors of condominiums." Start date of February '07.
Stonehouse Village II: "Site work and new construction of a mixed-use building in East Lansing. Preliminary plans call for construction of a five-story building to include a two-level, 122-space parking garage and 36-apartment units on the top three stories. The project will include three one-bedroom and 33 two-bedroom units.
A construction schedule has yet to be determined. Interested parties should direct inquiries to the developer." Start date listed is August '07.
This site is new to me, they want you to become a member to see any real meaningful details which costs $40/month. But this does allow you to see tentative start dates and some previously unheard of projects.
The PSD director made an interesting comment also: "There are other projects in the works for the 200 South Washington block that will just add to the mix."
It also said that "Green expects to make an announcement on those additions by Jan. 1."
I'll be glad to see a new photo tour, I drive through downtown at least twice a week now that I have classes at LCC's downtown campus, but somehow seeing photos makes the development seem that much more real and impressive, if that makes any sense.
I probably won't be able to get out to take pictures until Saturday or sunday, weather permitting. Then I will got through the usual list of projects I do, including University Center, Michigan Resturaunt Association building (if anything changes), the northern tier developments, Sparrow, and I can add the couple things on Washington Sq too.
Good news for the office market in downtown Lansing, the vacancy rate at the beginning of 2006 was only 8.6%, or 188,880 sq ft of 2,194,772 sq ft. Bob Tresize said that CBRE JUST completed a new report, so I emailed them about it and I hope to get a response soon. I can currently find less than 80,000 sq ft of class A space available for lease on CPIX, including about 45,000 sq ft in Capitol Tower and 30,000 sq ft in Boji Tower. I've seen multiple buildings dissapear from the "For Lease" listings since the beginning of this year so I would hope that the new numbers are even lower yet, if only by one or two percent (which would actually be quite impressive). Whats great is that it would only take two margionally sized leases to to reduce the vacancy rate to about 4% or lower, that is actually too low for comfort and would virtually force new construction or substantial rennovation. Over the next year there will only be about 70,000 sq ft of class A space added, that will be in the Hollister Building and the Stadium District (the Stadium District space is already leased).
On the bad news side, the overall vacancy rate in the CBD was 18.9 %. 30.3% for class B and 52.9% for class C. However, those numbers lack any real importance as much of the class B space is in small buildings and houses, of the larger class B structures, the Hollister Building is going class A and the Mutual Building is going class A Institutional office, taking about 130,000 sq ft of the 260,000 sq ft of space off the market (and moving only 55k sq ft to class A). And when it comes to class C space, 180,000-190,000 sq ft of the vacant 199,000 sq ft is the Knapps Building. Taken into account all this, the CBD could easily have a practical vacancy rate of just over 10% by next year. Thats assuming that none of the Hollister building's 55k sq ft are leased, no other space is leased (or vacated), that the Mutual Building becomes occupied by Christman and this also excludes the Knapps Building altogether (thats why it's a 'practical' vacancy rate.)
*EDIT:
I just noticed in a couple of press releases by Hobbs & Black that when they list other projects for the State they list the "expansion of the Anderson House Office Building," they say that in two press releases, both from August. I'm assuming this is just a typo or miswording, but they don't list other past projects for the state only other current ones so keep your eyes peeled on this.
After rereading the LSJ story about the Firm, I decided to look into Bob Green's (the PSD director) commments: "There are other projects in the works for the 200 South Washington block that will just add to the mix.", and "Green expects to make an announcement on those additions by Jan. 1."
I decided to look into what he could possibly be talking about, and there are several candidates:
207-209 S Washington are owned by a company called "Capitol Holdings LLC" and has an address of 124 W Allegan. I beleive that this is probably the Boji's. Both because the "holdings" in the name indicates that this is a subsidary of a larger company and that 124 W Allegan is Boji Tower, where their offices are. These are the ugly one story buildings next to the old Michigan Theater, so they are bound to be tore down and something built in their place regardless.
220 S Washington, the old Walgreens building. Already seen a vague item on a council agenda about condos, I have no clue what could be going on here, it could either be a simple rennovation or they could be planning some sort of new construction (although doubtful).
The empty lot at the NE corner of Washtenaw & Washington. The citys site says that it is 66x85 feet. I think that there is enough room here for a nice infill development, something less than 6 floors would be reasonable and realistic, while something taller still isn't out of the question. I'd love to get some height on Washington Sq. This is another parcel that will almost certainly be redeveloped anyways, it's just a matter of time.
Then of course he could have been misquoted or may have mispoken himself when he said 200 block. Once you enter the 300 block there are several possibilities for large developments, namely the Knapps building and the whole Cooley Auditorium/Performing Arts center deal, which I would expect to hear more on before too long.
When you are talking about the empty lot, you are talking about the vacant lot next to the Cooley library building? That lot has been empty for so long now, it would really be nice to have something built in that place.
There is an article in NOISE about the Temple Club closing its doors.
NOISE: Temple Club closes
Owners cite financial reasons for shutting Lansing nightclub
Christian Czerwinski
NOISE
One day short of its fifth anniversary, the Temple Club, Lansing's largest music venue, closed its doors Monday because of financial troubles.
General Manager Jerome White said ownership decided to close the venue because "the economics just weren't working out."
"The expenses were more than the income," he said. "We appreciate the support Lansing has given us but it just doesn't have the market to support a club of this size."
Advertisement
The about 10,000-square-foot club - located in an early 20th-century church - hosted national touring bands and local acts for the past five years including Clutch, Detroit's Hard Lessons and members of the Wu-Tang Clan. The Temple Club was known for its spacious dance floor surrounded by original stained glass windows and the mellower Red Light Lounge.
White said refunds for all shows will be available at the points of purchase. He's working to secure venues for the bands still scheduled to play.
Share your memories of the Temple Club and your reactions on the NOISE blog at http://noise.typepad.com and read more about the Temple Club's closing in this week's NOISE out tomorrow and in Wednesday's State Journal.
Comments
EDIT:
I was just looking over bidclerk.com and there are some bids out for some Lansing area projects:
The Hollister Building, it says projected start date is in November.
The Ottawa Power Station Project: "Site work and new construction on the riverfront in Lansing. Preliminary plans call for the development of the riverfront with restaurants, shops and public parking space.
No construction date has been set. These plans are in the very early stages of development"
LCC University Center: "Demolition, site work and addition of a university center in Lansing. Plans are calling for the demolition of an existing building and the addition of a modern brick, copper and block-glass structure that will be linked to an existing library. The building will be 28,000 square feet and will have 18 classrooms.
Demolition is expected to begin in May 2006. Interested parties should contact the owner."
An unnamed EL project: "Site work, demolition and new construction of a retail building in East Lansing. Working drawings call for demolition of an existing restaurant and construction of a four-story building to include 3,565 square feet of ground-floor retail space and nine two-bedroom apartments on the top three floors." Tentative start date of March '07.
Another unnamed, but impressive sounding EL development: "Site work and new construction of a mixed-use complex in East Lansing. Plans are calling for a 12-story building to house three floors of parking, stores and restaurants, with nine floors of condominiums." Start date of February '07.
Stonehouse Village II: "Site work and new construction of a mixed-use building in East Lansing. Preliminary plans call for construction of a five-story building to include a two-level, 122-space parking garage and 36-apartment units on the top three stories. The project will include three one-bedroom and 33 two-bedroom units.
A construction schedule has yet to be determined. Interested parties should direct inquiries to the developer." Start date listed is August '07.
This site is new to me, they want you to become a member to see any real meaningful details which costs $40/month. But this does allow you to see tentative start dates and some previously unheard of projects.
The PSD director made an interesting comment also: "There are other projects in the works for the 200 South Washington block that will just add to the mix."
It also said that "Green expects to make an announcement on those additions by Jan. 1."
On the bad news side, the overall vacancy rate in the CBD was 18.9 %. 30.3% for class B and 52.9% for class C. However, those numbers lack any real importance as much of the class B space is in small buildings and houses, of the larger class B structures, the Hollister Building is going class A and the Mutual Building is going class A Institutional office, taking about 130,000 sq ft of the 260,000 sq ft of space off the market (and moving only 55k sq ft to class A). And when it comes to class C space, 180,000-190,000 sq ft of the vacant 199,000 sq ft is the Knapps Building. Taken into account all this, the CBD could easily have a practical vacancy rate of just over 10% by next year. Thats assuming that none of the Hollister building's 55k sq ft are leased, no other space is leased (or vacated), that the Mutual Building becomes occupied by Christman and this also excludes the Knapps Building altogether (thats why it's a 'practical' vacancy rate.)
*EDIT:
I just noticed in a couple of press releases by Hobbs & Black that when they list other projects for the State they list the "expansion of the Anderson House Office Building," they say that in two press releases, both from August. I'm assuming this is just a typo or miswording, but they don't list other past projects for the state only other current ones so keep your eyes peeled on this.
Romney Building 8/24/06
Military & Veterans Affairs 4/24/06
I decided to look into what he could possibly be talking about, and there are several candidates:
207-209 S Washington are owned by a company called "Capitol Holdings LLC" and has an address of 124 W Allegan. I beleive that this is probably the Boji's. Both because the "holdings" in the name indicates that this is a subsidary of a larger company and that 124 W Allegan is Boji Tower, where their offices are. These are the ugly one story buildings next to the old Michigan Theater, so they are bound to be tore down and something built in their place regardless.
220 S Washington, the old Walgreens building. Already seen a vague item on a council agenda about condos, I have no clue what could be going on here, it could either be a simple rennovation or they could be planning some sort of new construction (although doubtful).
The empty lot at the NE corner of Washtenaw & Washington. The citys site says that it is 66x85 feet. I think that there is enough room here for a nice infill development, something less than 6 floors would be reasonable and realistic, while something taller still isn't out of the question. I'd love to get some height on Washington Sq. This is another parcel that will almost certainly be redeveloped anyways, it's just a matter of time.
Then of course he could have been misquoted or may have mispoken himself when he said 200 block. Once you enter the 300 block there are several possibilities for large developments, namely the Knapps building and the whole Cooley Auditorium/Performing Arts center deal, which I would expect to hear more on before too long.
NOISE: Temple Club closes
Owners cite financial reasons for shutting Lansing nightclub
Christian Czerwinski
NOISE
One day short of its fifth anniversary, the Temple Club, Lansing's largest music venue, closed its doors Monday because of financial troubles.
General Manager Jerome White said ownership decided to close the venue because "the economics just weren't working out."
"The expenses were more than the income," he said. "We appreciate the support Lansing has given us but it just doesn't have the market to support a club of this size."
Advertisement
The about 10,000-square-foot club - located in an early 20th-century church - hosted national touring bands and local acts for the past five years including Clutch, Detroit's Hard Lessons and members of the Wu-Tang Clan. The Temple Club was known for its spacious dance floor surrounded by original stained glass windows and the mellower Red Light Lounge.
White said refunds for all shows will be available at the points of purchase. He's working to secure venues for the bands still scheduled to play.
Share your memories of the Temple Club and your reactions on the NOISE blog at http://noise.typepad.com and read more about the Temple Club's closing in this week's NOISE out tomorrow and in Wednesday's State Journal.
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061017/NOISE11/610180321/1001/RSS