I had two friends who live in Lincoln Park Chicago and work on Wacker Dr. spend this past weekend with me downtown Lansing and he made a comment that I have way more non-chain restaurants around me than he does by the Sears (ahem, I mean Willis) Tower. Things like the Doghouse, Kewpee, Dimitri, Jalapeno, Sultan, Daily Bagle, etc. It was kinda cool to hear that.
It seems like we often end up talking about Grand Ave's potential. The west side of the street from Kalamazoo to Michigan is basically a blank slate, with no buildings worth saving. The east side is occupied, but besides Grand Tower most of the land is underused (even MSP's new building). The transition to a two way street ought to really help lure mixed use development.
As for that all important lot at the corner of Grand & Michigan, I won't mind it sitting there for awhile. I want to see that lot saved for a truly impressive project, something at least 20 floors. I still vaguely remember the office tower proposed for that lot in the 90's, I think it was going to be like 15 floors.
I too am happy with the size and height of Troppo, I just hope they stick with their idea to offer rooftop dining. Just fyi, they started putting up the brick today.
I stopped by tonight and noticed that it looks like they are definitely going forward with the rooftop dining. The top of the 2nd floor appears to have railings, and in the center there is roofing going up that appears to be to be an area with coverage but no walls while the front and back (east and west) are completely open.
I know this is kind of random to bring up but I was curious what other peoples thoughts are. Does anyone else expect a project or two to be announced in the next couple weeks? With the elections coming up I would expect Bernero to have something up his sleeve.
They've been slowly working on the Michigan Electric building for quite awhile now. They just started putting the windows in on the upper floors within the past week or two. I really hope they can get a retail business on there as opposed to just office space.
There was a story in Capital Gains a few months ago about someone turning it into another club, but I guess that plan must have fell through. I think that a bar/restraunt would still be the best business for the area.
The Land Bank got the south bar a few months back, they trimmed some of the overgrown brush on the backside of the building and buttoned up the building. I've heard the building is in pretty rough shape, a lot of copper was stripped out of it and there is a "sky light" (read, "giant hole") in the roof along with some pretty major mold issues. If you look at the property map, though, between that property, the Michigan Electric, the City Parking Lot, and the Studio Intrigue building (and the Bozzo's station which is owned by the same folks as the Studio building) there is a pretty decent little chunk of land there, a lot of it backs up to the river (and is out of the flood plain to boot)... with some partnership and vision I think there is a lot of potential to do something there that involves the riverfront and adds something to REO Town.
Lancity, you make a good point. I had almost forgotten about the river being behind there. I've been skeptical of REOtown in the past, but things are shaping up for it to rival Old Town. With the Deluxe Inn, Southtown, Cadillac Club and Discount Daves gone the area has several good sites for development. Also I noticed the other day that the old six floor apartment building on Washington is up for sale, that's another building that could be transformed into something neat.
On another note here's a pic of Troppo from today:
Very true, I wasn't forgetting about them... the City Parking lot opens up right to the bank and I think some of the property behind the Studio building extends all the way to the river bank as well... maybe some of the houses could be gotten by a developer, or maybe the City would be interested in doing some river trail stuff on that side of the river too.
Larry Meyer, recently elected to the LCC Board bluntly stated that he wants to renew discussion about LCC buying the N. Capitol parking ramp. Still hope for that to go through?
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As for that all important lot at the corner of Grand & Michigan, I won't mind it sitting there for awhile. I want to see that lot saved for a truly impressive project, something at least 20 floors. I still vaguely remember the office tower proposed for that lot in the 90's, I think it was going to be like 15 floors.
I too am happy with the size and height of Troppo, I just hope they stick with their idea to offer rooftop dining. Just fyi, they started putting up the brick today.
Pic from last weekend:
On another note here's a pic of Troppo from today:
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20091105/NEWS01/911050340/1221/LANSING