The Ground Breaking Ceremony for Avondale Square will take place Thursday, November 1 at 1 p.m. It will be held on one of the home sites near the construction sign located closest to Burcham Drive and Virginia Avenue. Everyone is invited to attend. Cookies and hot beverages will be served.
These developers have got it right. In this very weak housing market it's all about finding a creative niche. We're not going to see sweeping subdivisions for quite some time (and thank God, that is, if they continue to be built in cornfields), so the best thing is to find a creative niche in infill projects.
The city will be looking in to the use of eminent domain to take a 20 foot deep peice of land from an adjacent property. The land would be used as part of the alleyway behind the project. I really think that the city needs to back down and stop taking property if the owner doesn't want to sell.
Fearing the city will use eminent domain to acquire student rental properties needed to build a parking garage, an East Lansing resident plans to urge the city to adopt a resolution prohibiting the use of eminent domain.
East Lansing resident Phil Bellfy plans to ask the council to adopt his resolution, which he said “would put the city on record as opposing the use of eminent domain in all private development projects.”
The parking garage, which the city wants to build on Evergreen Avenue, is part of the City Center II project. The project involves the area bordered by Grand River Avenue and Abbot Road and is planned to feature office and retail space along with high-end townhouses and apartments.
“We want them to know the people of East Lansing are concerned about the use of eminent domain,” said Bellfy, an associate professor of writing, rhetoric and American culture at MSU. “If they can get away with this, they can get away with anything.”
East Lansing Mayor Vic Loomis said it isn’t normal practice for the council to accept resolutions from the public, but he has chosen to allow the resolution to be introduced.
Loomis said the city is working to negotiate the sale of the properties.
“I believe that every project of merit can be successfully negotiated,” Loomis said. “If people are unreasonable, then that poses a different question.”
The main problem with a lot of these hold-outs is that they really couldn't care less about their properties. They just want to either be paid a ridiculous amount of money for their property (3-4 times its value) or they just want to hold out until the development gets built, their property value rises and then they sell. Holding onto a family home or something is one thing, but holding onto an investment property just to try to reap the benifits of someone elses efforts is wrong. I think that if anything, emminent domain laws should be loosened when it comes to investment properties, or recently purchased ones, and tightened on owner occupied single family homes.
Avondale Square got a new website, but there aren't any new pictures available. Apparently, one of the units is ready for move in, as advertised on the website.
Comments
The Ground Breaking Ceremony for Avondale Square will take place Thursday, November 1 at 1 p.m. It will be held on one of the home sites near the construction sign located closest to Burcham Drive and Virginia Avenue. Everyone is invited to attend. Cookies and hot beverages will be served.
Also, an article about the MSHDA grants: EL seeks MSHDA grant for Avondale Square
As far a City Center II goes: (StateNews)
http://www.mayberryhomes.com/index.cfm?method=Community_Community&communityID=3