It's my understanding the Niowave news was announced with the airport news because they were talking about Niowave's airport facilty. I'm still a bit confused, though, because the distant rendering they released shows a new building where the airport apron will meet the road, and this is down the street from Niowave and in front of the existing warehouse. Kind of wish they'd have been more clear about what's going on.
More good news: A developer plans to spend $16 million to renovate the old Barnes St School into a senior apartment building with 21 units in the existing building and 30 units in a new addition. It sounds like a promising project as the developer is attempting to place the school on the National Register of Historic Places, I'd assume that means the exterior would remain largely intact and maybe it'd even get historically accurate windows. Nothing has been submitted to the city yet and there's no word on start or completion dates.
Barnes Avenue School is where my dad and aunts, my brothers sister, and I went to elementary school. It was truly a neighborhood school, where you could be in class with the same kids all the way from kindergarten to the 6th grade. There was no cafeteria, we went home for lunch, and the big windows were great for a day dreamer like me. The oldest part of the school had a white marble drinking fountain in the middle of the hall at the intersection of the 1919 and 1920 addition. The library was in the basement as well as a little stage for class shows. Of course, we thought it was old fashioned compared with some of the other schools like Lewton. Little did we know that it was a classic design, we thought all schools were that nice.
Next week's planning commission has some proposed rezonings for some residential projects. The first and major one is a suburban Kalamazoo developer looking to develop a 55-unit single-family and duplex development at the southwest corner of Miller and Aurelius on about 10.5 acres. The site plan looks pretty tight; a good chunk will be for open space meaning the density of the actual housing portion is decent & has a traditional neighborhood design. Duplexes look more suburban with slightly recessed garages accessed from the front, but the single-family homes will have garages accessed from an alley which will make the streets safer for children, pedestrians, etc.
The second project is a small infill project at southeast corner Chestnut and Plesant a block north of Willow. The rezoning is for two lots to prevent a rowhome of 4 units. The current zoning would only allow 3 detached units. Like in the project above, parking will be in the back. Another nice traditional design with this one.
I'm liking this more affordable and urban-minded infill housing we're seeing outside of downtown and the traditional corridors.
The development at Miller & Aurelius is really nice to see. I like the design of the houses and the site plan is sensible, I do hope the new east-west street they show is connecting to Maisonette as a connection to Aurelius & the new neighborhood would help the existing condos in the long run. The land is one of very few greenfield plots left within city limits, the only other sizable ones I'm aware of is the land on W Miller near Waverly, Aurelius near Hoyt and south of I-96 next to Autumn Ridge apartments (old Oak Park); along with some in the Pine Tree/Dunkel office/industrial park .
I'm not terribly excited about the facade materials of that quadplex on Chestnut but given the state of its immediate surroundings I'm happy to see the new construction and the layout/form factor is what I like to see. I like the idea of allowing 4+ unit rowhouses in neighborhoods like this generally.
Planning Commission (5-2-23) voted to recommend approval of the Miller/Aurelius rezoning for the single-family/duplex development. There was some concern about street access points and removal of woodlands. Applicant said the entire development will be rental to accommodate a market demand for detached housing, but they were open to condominiumization in the future. Personally, I think any neighborhood will be stronger with a mix and that it might be difficult to manage that many properties but we'll see.
They also voted 3-1 to recommend approval of the Chestnut/Pleasant rezoning for the quadplex. Since they were just at quorum and any business needed 4 votes, this motion technically failed. There was neighborhood pushback, solely centered on the tropes of the type of people renters are, the neighborhood during the recession before the former houses were demolished, and of course PARKING. This development would have 8 spaces for four 3-bedroom units. Applicant stated they primarily rent to families and people who may have had past troubles but demonstrate positive life changes. Commission members took those comments into consideration and were undecided but weren't swayed that four units instead of the allowable 3 houses was a marginal difference in impact. It will be a tight fit, but the proposed building does meet all zoning requirements.
I'll update about what City Council does. Just a friendly reminder - please feel free to email the Planning and Zoning Office if you support/do not support any proposals. They are recorded and shared with the Commission members. It does help to get some outside perspective, especially if you live nearby.
Jeeze, this was a quick one. Either that, or I hadn't know how long they were working on it. Sound like the walls are the only thing they kept; they even talk of having filled in the basement with sand which I didn't understand for a number of reasons.
I read that the Money Ball Company is about to open their new headquarters on W. Saginaw in a rehabbed building in the old commercial district east of MLK. I hope this will be the start of renewal of that area. It could be a nice "old town" type district.
Comments
For LSJ subscribers: https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/2023/04/19/barnes-street-school-lansing-redevelopment-low-income-housing-seniors-shabazz/70127344007/?fbclid=IwAR317ttPaLaViviXPCvXSy3pAYNYeZ0B7ZzA4gKb-qLJc5UhSqWbp4t6UZQ
The second project is a small infill project at southeast corner Chestnut and Plesant a block north of Willow. The rezoning is for two lots to prevent a rowhome of 4 units. The current zoning would only allow 3 detached units. Like in the project above, parking will be in the back. Another nice traditional design with this one.
I'm liking this more affordable and urban-minded infill housing we're seeing outside of downtown and the traditional corridors.
I'm not terribly excited about the facade materials of that quadplex on Chestnut but given the state of its immediate surroundings I'm happy to see the new construction and the layout/form factor is what I like to see. I like the idea of allowing 4+ unit rowhouses in neighborhoods like this generally.
They also voted 3-1 to recommend approval of the Chestnut/Pleasant rezoning for the quadplex. Since they were just at quorum and any business needed 4 votes, this motion technically failed. There was neighborhood pushback, solely centered on the tropes of the type of people renters are, the neighborhood during the recession before the former houses were demolished, and of course PARKING. This development would have 8 spaces for four 3-bedroom units. Applicant stated they primarily rent to families and people who may have had past troubles but demonstrate positive life changes. Commission members took those comments into consideration and were undecided but weren't swayed that four units instead of the allowable 3 houses was a marginal difference in impact. It will be a tight fit, but the proposed building does meet all zoning requirements.
I'll update about what City Council does. Just a friendly reminder - please feel free to email the Planning and Zoning Office if you support/do not support any proposals. They are recorded and shared with the Commission members. It does help to get some outside perspective, especially if you live nearby.