Lots of stuff on the Committee on Development & Planning next week, though mostly formal introductions & setting public hearings for things I'd already posted about when they'd started at the Planning Board:
Introductions & setting public hearing for expansion of West Saginaw Corridor Overlay District. This would allow for a potential mixed-use development north of the medical arts building at the northwest corner of Saginaw and MLK.
Introductions & setting public hearing for rezoning of of Eastern High School property for eventual expansion of the hospital. Building is to be renovated.
Introductions & setting public hearing for the rezoning of the NW corner of Orchard Court and East Miller across from the southside Meijer and next door to the old North Cemetery to develop up to 10 units of housing.
Introductions & setting public hearing for for a rezoning at 2420 to 2506 North Grand River across from the N. MLK access to clean up some zoning issues to allow this property to be properly developed for industrial use eventually. It's current zoning is a mish-mash of uses - professional office, warehouse, parking, light industrial, commercial and low-density residential - that don't fit with the surrounding zoning. 2420 is the only lot with a structure remaining, and old house used for office and storage space. Apparently, way back when zoning was introduced, the city would do this haphazard zoning to have control over lots when someone wanted to develop them; they'd have to come to the city to request a rezoning. This is not done, anymore.
Resolution for an LEDC project loan and city lease agreement with Lansing Shuffleboard Club and Social Club to lease the old City Market.
Introductions & setting public hearing for Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) plan for the Capital Area Housing Partnership to turn the old Walter French into 76 apartments for affordable and lower-income housing and either commercial or community use of the gym. Expected project start would be in Sept 2022. I believe this is the same developer that originally proposed this years ago, but it looks like they were finally able to get financing to renovate the building. Quinn Evans, a nationally renowned architectural firm known for historic renovations, will be the project architect. They are partnering with the BWL to demonstration on-site power generation and energy efficiency which should drive down the costs for the building, which will mean lower costs or operation for the developers and lower rents for the occupants. What that on-site power generational will intel, they don't say in the plan quite yet. Maybe solar on the roof, geothermal under the building, I guess we'll find out.
That is great news about Walter French. My Dad two of my brothers and my sister went to French JHS, when I sit at the light there I notice there are some beautiful details in that building. It will be so nice to see that building full of light and activity again.
The far south side development seems sort of odd to me because of the location, I guess I would not want to live there but there must be some folks out there who would.
Development-related issues before the council have definitely accelerated in the past few months, which is a good sign. In fact, it looks like they moved up Dec's Planning Board meeting to this Tuesday. The Dec 1 Development and Planning Committee will take up an unexpected development:
A rezoning is being requested for 500 North Cedar and 514 Erie. The first parcel is the Chief Cart property, which is L-shaped and 3 acres. The second parcel is a tiny with a little 400 sq ft warehouse building on the property. The owner wants to rezone it from light industrial to downtown for the construction of a development called "Stadium North." Along Cedar would be a 4-story, 73-unit apartment building for "workforce housing." At the corner of Erie and Larch will be a 6-story, 78-unit senior apartment building. At the corner of Cedar and Erie would be future commercial usage. parking is contained within the interior of the property. It's really about time this property finally saw good use.
I'm assuming Gillespie still owns this? He had proposed the movie studio here some years ago.
This project certainly sounds promising, it would go a long way towards cementing the future of the Cedar/Larch corridor as an actual part of downtown. If this actually gets built I think it bodes well for eventually seeing a solid urban district stretch all the way from Kalamazoo to Grand River along Cedar and Larch, creating a strong link between downtown and Old Town. Thinking of that I'd still like to see the Kalamazoo Gateway plan revived.
Gillespie never owned the land. The 3-acre parcel has been in the hand of the East Lansing-based Eydes since 2016 and before that I think it'd continued to be owned by the former operators of the A-to-Z Rental business that occupied the site for years until Chief Cart took over. The Eydes had already brought the tiny 514 Erie site back in 2007. Gillespie had a plan for the land, but apparently never bought it.
I remember 514 Erie before they tore it down in 2004. It was an old house (poorly maintained). I kind of vaguely recall that the A to Z owner lived there to watch over the site. They used to have some very gnarly guard dogs on the property which would sometimes run up to the fence when you walked down the sidewalk on Cedar. The whole thing was something right out of an old horror movie.
The only thing left of the old house is the tiny little storage garage you see. I'm so glad this dead space is finally going to be properly developed befitting of its location in the middle of town.
Well, if it isn't Gillespie developing this then that makes it even more interesting. If it's the Eydes then I think this will be our first look at a ground-up mixed use development from them, won't it?
Interesting news, hopefully it comes to fruition. This area is really starting to get built up which is a nice thing.
The real negative around this area is how fast and how many lanes Cedar and Larch have. I wonder if they would eventually contemplate implementing some traffic calming strategies through this area, such as a road diet and lowering the speed. Given that this is a business loop it is probably state controlled so maybe not.
The new Lake Trust branch looks about ready to open. There is a large parking lot at least it is in the rear, there is also some nice landscaping. The small office building behind there on S. Washington has major inside demolition going on, maybe someone in moving in there. The Metro Place Apartments seem to be filling up with more balcony furniture visible, and more cars in the lot. Also in that area, the little brick apartment building on Capitol Ave near St Joe has been cleaned up a bit, and new front stairs installed. I think this is a nice looking building and I hope it is being repurposed.
It is good news to hear about this Cedar Street development. I agree that Cedar and Larch/ Saginaw and Oakland need at least a speed limit reductions. They are state routes but they are not expressways, why do we have streets with homes, businesses, and even schools located on them that have 45MPH speed limits? A lot of drivers go even faster than that, it is kind of scary just to slow down to turn into the QD for fear of being rear-ended. I would also like to see some sort of air pollution controls installed at the Burger King there, that gross burning meat smoke really stinks up that neighborhood. I would not want to live across from that.
The development proposal is great news! It's unbelievable that in a city the size of Lansing that we could basically have a golf cart dirt path downtown (if it was a public park like the BMX park that's a different story ;-) ).
Jared, Chief Cart sells and rents golf carts. One of their big clients that they make a lot of money off of every year is Common Ground.
Larch and Cedar are not that wide, particularly for thoroughfares. They are only three lanes, which is akin to a two lane road with a center left turn lane, and actually smaller than many of these kinds of roads in town because those often have a lane of street parking. The problem is really that they are one-ways and state-owned. I couldn't believe a few years back when MDOT actually raised the speed limits on the street to 40MPH.
If they must remain one-way, though, I'd not mind taking out a lane for a much wider sidewalk/shared use pathway on one side of the street. This is one set of roads I don't think needs an on-street bicycle lane since it already parallels the River Trail. Maybe each could be configured two-way with a center left turn lane like I mentioned above, though they'd have to fine some way to reconfigure their intersection down near the freeway. In all actuality, you'd not even need to have them directly intersect; you could simply have Cedar end at Kalamazoo.
Oh, man. I used to live in the area and loved the smell on the BK. lol In fact, one of the best things in the area is smelling all of the different restaurants. The only smell I wasn't thrilled about was when Paramount would roast their coffee beans in the morning. It is a very bitter smell; but even that I didn't hate. The only smells in the region I've found unbearable are the fumes from the paint shop down at Lansing Grand River Assembly, which can give you headaches - though they've been able to cut down on them - and if you were ever at MSU the smell of the wastewater treatment plant blowing east over the southern half of the campus. Yuck!
Comments
The far south side development seems sort of odd to me because of the location, I guess I would not want to live there but there must be some folks out there who would.
This project certainly sounds promising, it would go a long way towards cementing the future of the Cedar/Larch corridor as an actual part of downtown. If this actually gets built I think it bodes well for eventually seeing a solid urban district stretch all the way from Kalamazoo to Grand River along Cedar and Larch, creating a strong link between downtown and Old Town. Thinking of that I'd still like to see the Kalamazoo Gateway plan revived.
I remember 514 Erie before they tore it down in 2004. It was an old house (poorly maintained). I kind of vaguely recall that the A to Z owner lived there to watch over the site. They used to have some very gnarly guard dogs on the property which would sometimes run up to the fence when you walked down the sidewalk on Cedar. The whole thing was something right out of an old horror movie.
The only thing left of the old house is the tiny little storage garage you see. I'm so glad this dead space is finally going to be properly developed befitting of its location in the middle of town.
The real negative around this area is how fast and how many lanes Cedar and Larch have. I wonder if they would eventually contemplate implementing some traffic calming strategies through this area, such as a road diet and lowering the speed. Given that this is a business loop it is probably state controlled so maybe not.
It is good news to hear about this Cedar Street development. I agree that Cedar and Larch/ Saginaw and Oakland need at least a speed limit reductions. They are state routes but they are not expressways, why do we have streets with homes, businesses, and even schools located on them that have 45MPH speed limits? A lot of drivers go even faster than that, it is kind of scary just to slow down to turn into the QD for fear of being rear-ended. I would also like to see some sort of air pollution controls installed at the Burger King there, that gross burning meat smoke really stinks up that neighborhood. I would not want to live across from that.
I agree both Cedar and Larch need a road diet.
@gb, I did some searching and found that the same company that makes the char broiler for Burger King also sells a catalytic converter which will cut down on 90% of the smoke exhaust. https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1996-05-28-1996149021-story.html
Larch and Cedar are not that wide, particularly for thoroughfares. They are only three lanes, which is akin to a two lane road with a center left turn lane, and actually smaller than many of these kinds of roads in town because those often have a lane of street parking. The problem is really that they are one-ways and state-owned. I couldn't believe a few years back when MDOT actually raised the speed limits on the street to 40MPH.
If they must remain one-way, though, I'd not mind taking out a lane for a much wider sidewalk/shared use pathway on one side of the street. This is one set of roads I don't think needs an on-street bicycle lane since it already parallels the River Trail. Maybe each could be configured two-way with a center left turn lane like I mentioned above, though they'd have to fine some way to reconfigure their intersection down near the freeway. In all actuality, you'd not even need to have them directly intersect; you could simply have Cedar end at Kalamazoo.
Oh, man. I used to live in the area and loved the smell on the BK. lol In fact, one of the best things in the area is smelling all of the different restaurants. The only smell I wasn't thrilled about was when Paramount would roast their coffee beans in the morning. It is a very bitter smell; but even that I didn't hate. The only smells in the region I've found unbearable are the fumes from the paint shop down at Lansing Grand River Assembly, which can give you headaches - though they've been able to cut down on them - and if you were ever at MSU the smell of the wastewater treatment plant blowing east over the southern half of the campus. Yuck!