Thanks for the images hood. I've driven by the site many times and the sign out front says "Opening Spring 2008". It has obviously been pushed back, but it's good to see that there is progress being made. It looks like it will be a mix of retail and office. Do you think that the second floor will primarily be for office or could it just be a facade given that there are no second floor windows in the back?
It says in the listing that it will be a two floor building, but it does not say what will be on the second floor, so I would also assume it will be office. Even though this is a suburban style development with tons of surface parking, I'm really, really glad to see so much redevelopment in the Frandor area, it's once again beconing a high quality regional shopping center. I hope that they eventually change Frandor itself into more of a lifestyle center, with second floors over stores and the reduction or elimination of surface parking.
For clarification, who are "they"? BTW, Frandor is already set up as a "lifestyle center". That is exactly what it was molded into after it was "opened up" to the air.
"They" is anybody, perhaps I should have said "someone." But when I say lifestyle center I want to see second floors on most or all buildings and I want to see the surface parking lots disappear in favor of a combination of retail/office/residential buildings, parking ramps, streets and greenspace.
Eastwood is considered a lifestyle center. That word doesn't have to mean second-floor business or living space. What seperates a lifestyle center from a regular outdoor mall, these days, seems to be that the development has a central square in the middle of the parking lot.
BTW, some more random development/redevelopment updates from Christmas Day
The new storefronts along Turner Street have been completely finished it looks. They did an awesome job with the restoration of these 3 (or was it 4?) storefronts along the westside of the block. Some of the best restorations I've seen in the city to date. I'll try and see if I can dig up a photo showing just how much the storefronts were messed up with their "modern" facades.
Clem's Comics Building restoration (I wish I knew the old name of the building). They were working hard in the back adding on the new lofts. When they said they were building another floor what they meant was exactly that because like most buildings fronting the square, the top floor isn't really a full floor because of the slope.
They really did a good job with the Old Ranney and Porter buildings:
Lansing Community College is looking in to buying the North Capital Avenue parking ramp from the city to avoid having to build one. If LCC buys the ramp, will the city be pressured in to building another ramp?
I sort of think that LCC will go ahead with building their new ramp on the University Center property. The N Capitol Ramp is near the end of it's usable life, on one hand it would allow them room to expand in the future, but they would be buying an already outdated structure. Either way the city is going to be needing to build a new ramp in the relatively near future.
BTW, the city is discussing purchasing the Boarshead Theater. The city says that they will allow Boarshead to use it until they build a new Performing Arts Center, then they will build a new parking ramp on that site.
Comments
BTW, some more random development/redevelopment updates from Christmas Day
The new storefronts along Turner Street have been completely finished it looks. They did an awesome job with the restoration of these 3 (or was it 4?) storefronts along the westside of the block. Some of the best restorations I've seen in the city to date. I'll try and see if I can dig up a photo showing just how much the storefronts were messed up with their "modern" facades.
Clem's Comics Building restoration (I wish I knew the old name of the building). They were working hard in the back adding on the new lofts. When they said they were building another floor what they meant was exactly that because like most buildings fronting the square, the top floor isn't really a full floor because of the slope.
They really did a good job with the Old Ranney and Porter buildings:
BTW, the city is discussing purchasing the Boarshead Theater. The city says that they will allow Boarshead to use it until they build a new Performing Arts Center, then they will build a new parking ramp on that site.