You can always got to apartments.com to see what's available. Block600 is showing 2 available units, Capitol View is showing 4 available units with another 6 being finished in another month. Looks like at least half of Metro Place is still vacant. Of course, this is with the caveat that I have no idea how often they update the database, but I imagine it's fairly current.
This came up in late-August, here, but I got a copy of this month's 517 Business and Life magazine, a local business and lifestyle publication, and it again mentions the "tallest building in Lansing" plan. This article had a bit more detail than the City Pulse one did, including that it will have 70 residential units (instead of the "50 to 100" span), six-to-eight retail spaces, office space, three restaurants and a boutique hotel. It still mention that it'll rise more than 30 stories and that they are planning to complete architectural design through 2021. Unlike the City Pulse article, they did not include any of the potential locations.
Just thought it was interesting that another publication picked it up, which tells me it's at least halfway serious. I still think those numbers sound awfully ambitious, but I'll be happy to be proven wrong.
They cite COVID as a reason, but there was a survey sent out a while back that asked a lot of questions about different branches and really focused on improvements to the Westside branch, so maybe the downtown gym’s days were numbered regardless.
RE: Sidecar Slider Bar - I wish them the best and hope they can succeed in that location. My understanding is that the last tenant was pushed out due to Gillespie increasing the rent significantly, maybe they've softened on that now that it has been vacant for years and we are in the middle of a pandemic? I looked at the menu at the other locations and it strikes me as a slightly pricier Green Dot, but they seem to fluctuate those prices based on area and I'm sure Lansing will have cheaper prices than Birmingham (basically the richest city in the state). I will make sure to check it out once this whole COVID thing is somewhat more under control.
RE: Downtown Y closure - Pre-COVID I had actually considered signing up to the Y and using the downtown location. Problem was that my office building is just too far away to practically use it at lunchtime, so I decided against it. I hope they will be able to find a new tenant to take the place of the Y rather than letting this sit vacant forever. Guess we will see what happens.
I've been noticing quite a bit of work going on at the old John Bean building right on the S. Cedar St. viaduct which crosses the CN tracks and Red Cedar. Looking at the city website, apparently there will be a big grow facility on the third floor, and a property management company is renovating part of the second floor for their business office, which requires taking out some of the storage space on this floor. Good seeing this building continue to evolve and improved. Built in 1927 and expanded in 1941, this building has nearly 465,000 sq feet of space.
This developer already has the grow house on E Kalamazoo and is behind the Love Over Fear billboards. I wonder if the construction on the west side of Cedar across from the John Bean plant is part of his developments?
The Eydes have continued to take down the little neighborhood they've mostly bought up near the corner of MLK and Allegan as the leases come up, it appears. 1007 and 927 W Allegan were brought down a week or two ago.
These are part of the "Seven Block" area as a reminder that is defined in the city code of ordinances as a specific neighborhood development plan. Basically, the area bound by MLK to the west, Butler to the East Allegan to the north and Kalamazoo to the south have to be developed with commercial and office usages. The plan doesn't technically include the homes on Allegan or Butler, but the Eydes began buying them up years ago to add this property to whatever they develop in the future. This ordinance was originally passed in 1989 to give you an idea how long this has been in the works.
Kind of sad to see most of these homes go. They were fairly well kept up, at least the one's along Allegan, and fairly architecturally significant.
That is sad to hear about. Pulling down century-old homes that will be replaced with what? is wrong to me. Is this the spot on the edge of downtown they are talking about for the site of a 30 story building? Maybe they are going to actually do something with that land, why else would they start demolition now?
They've been slowly buying up and demolishing this block for years. It hasn't meant that anything is imminent. Though the demolitions do seem to have picked up, so maybe things are finally speeding up. Looks like there are some holdouts on the block, though. There's a home in the middle of the block on Allegan, one at the corner of Allegan and Butler, and then like two or three down Butler. Everything else is owned by the Eydes.
Again, this was always the plan for these two blocks. That the remnant of the neighborhood has lasted this long is pretty amazing. Almost all of the lots here have slowly been rezoned to "professional office" to match the two big ones. This zoning generally allows for medium-density mixed usage, but primarily office space.
Anyway, since this neighborhood was specifically written into the zoning code, there are specific requirements and procedures required to develop anything here. For one, that have to formally engage the neighborhood for whatever is developed here, which is always a kind of hang-up. I remember the last time - probably back 15-20 years ago - the Eyde's tried to develop the land with two-story mixed use building (with underground parking) and the neighborhood (rightfully) shot it down.
Long story short, this going to be medium-density as the focus is to rebuild the neighborhood. So don't expect high-rises on this land.
Comments
Just thought it was interesting that another publication picked it up, which tells me it's at least halfway serious. I still think those numbers sound awfully ambitious, but I'll be happy to be proven wrong.
https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/2020/10/22/downtown-lansing-ymca-permanently-closed-coronavirus-covid-19/3727593001/
They cite COVID as a reason, but there was a survey sent out a while back that asked a lot of questions about different branches and really focused on improvements to the Westside branch, so maybe the downtown gym’s days were numbered regardless.
RE: Downtown Y closure - Pre-COVID I had actually considered signing up to the Y and using the downtown location. Problem was that my office building is just too far away to practically use it at lunchtime, so I decided against it. I hope they will be able to find a new tenant to take the place of the Y rather than letting this sit vacant forever. Guess we will see what happens.
These are part of the "Seven Block" area as a reminder that is defined in the city code of ordinances as a specific neighborhood development plan. Basically, the area bound by MLK to the west, Butler to the East Allegan to the north and Kalamazoo to the south have to be developed with commercial and office usages. The plan doesn't technically include the homes on Allegan or Butler, but the Eydes began buying them up years ago to add this property to whatever they develop in the future. This ordinance was originally passed in 1989 to give you an idea how long this has been in the works.
Kind of sad to see most of these homes go. They were fairly well kept up, at least the one's along Allegan, and fairly architecturally significant.
Again, this was always the plan for these two blocks. That the remnant of the neighborhood has lasted this long is pretty amazing. Almost all of the lots here have slowly been rezoned to "professional office" to match the two big ones. This zoning generally allows for medium-density mixed usage, but primarily office space.
Anyway, since this neighborhood was specifically written into the zoning code, there are specific requirements and procedures required to develop anything here. For one, that have to formally engage the neighborhood for whatever is developed here, which is always a kind of hang-up. I remember the last time - probably back 15-20 years ago - the Eyde's tried to develop the land with two-story mixed use building (with underground parking) and the neighborhood (rightfully) shot it down.
Long story short, this going to be medium-density as the focus is to rebuild the neighborhood. So don't expect high-rises on this land.