I hope they decide on a location closer to downtown or something, which I think is likely if they choose to stay in the Lansing area. Two good buildings would be 506 S hosmer, an old warehouse thats about 80,000 sq ft, and was last listed at like $500k. I personally think thats a great building for them. Another good option would be the open space in Prudden. Or they could go into an agreement with a developer to build a new building. I just hope some of these ideas are being pressed, I'd HATE to lose them to Ann Arbor or Brighton.
that is one nasty looking photo. The problem with renovating schools is that they always still look like schools, and in this case it will look like a school with a thing stuck to it. Just NASTY! Prudden would be a better choice because it has the high bay to work within and all the exposed steel and wood decking, kinda like the north precinct.
This is the building I was saying TechSmith should look at. It's 506 S Hosmer, the former State Liquor Warehouse, and at 80,000 sq ft it's close to the size they want. It could be a nice building with a little work, and I think this area would make for a nice tech corridor, theres a few old buildings that would make good rennovations someday.
In this weeks Council Packet it talks about a proposal to rehab Cedar Street School into a medical office building. Here is the "General Project Description:"
"The undersigned applicants, being the owners of the above property, hereby requests
the establishment of an OPRA District covering those properties. The Cedar Street
School facility (built in the 1919) has been vacant for approximately 17 years, and was
once used as an elementary school. The applicants intend to renovate the blighted
school building for use as retail space, physician offices, rehabilitation agency, and
community fitness center. It is hoped this facility will provide economical retail space,
and professional offices to encourage health care providers to settle or stay in Lansing.
These facilities will bring a spectrum of medical services to the area, and create a
neighborhood fitness facility. In addition, the garden level will be renovated to
accommodate retail space. The retailers will bring a vibrant art based store with classes
open to the community.
Green building practices will be used to create a facility with a healthy interior and
exterior environment. Geothermal and solar energy will provide heat and air
conditioning and supplemental electrical power. The roof will be converted to an energy
efficient green roof. The expectation of LEED Certification is intended in this
construction.
The school exterior will be maintained as a historical icon of the area. The facility will
feature handicapper access to the full facility. The grounds will feature an accessible
parking lot with run off managed by a rain garden, an exercise gazebo, and park like
appearance."
Comments
I like how they are going to add a modern entrance to the school, it's something I wish they did with some of the other school rennovations.
from the LSJ: TechSmith drops Lansing HQ Project
"The undersigned applicants, being the owners of the above property, hereby requests
the establishment of an OPRA District covering those properties. The Cedar Street
School facility (built in the 1919) has been vacant for approximately 17 years, and was
once used as an elementary school. The applicants intend to renovate the blighted
school building for use as retail space, physician offices, rehabilitation agency, and
community fitness center. It is hoped this facility will provide economical retail space,
and professional offices to encourage health care providers to settle or stay in Lansing.
These facilities will bring a spectrum of medical services to the area, and create a
neighborhood fitness facility. In addition, the garden level will be renovated to
accommodate retail space. The retailers will bring a vibrant art based store with classes
open to the community.
Green building practices will be used to create a facility with a healthy interior and
exterior environment. Geothermal and solar energy will provide heat and air
conditioning and supplemental electrical power. The roof will be converted to an energy
efficient green roof. The expectation of LEED Certification is intended in this
construction.
The school exterior will be maintained as a historical icon of the area. The facility will
feature handicapper access to the full facility. The grounds will feature an accessible
parking lot with run off managed by a rain garden, an exercise gazebo, and park like
appearance."