Michigan School for the Blind redevelopment

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Comments

  • They really look great. I need to make my way up there and see them in person. It would be great to see this developer take on more projects in Lansing.
  • Crazy thing is that TWG usually does vinyl-and-hardy-board-sided crap that looks like a lot of stuff GG slaps up, so this was a pleasant surprise.

    I'm not thrilled by the cheap-looking inset balconies - those weren't installed the last time I was by there. But it's pretty solid design for low-income housing.

  • For affordable housing we really could be getting much worse. I think wanting to fit in with the School for the Blind was why they used these materials. It would be great if they could rehab the old Walter French school after this project.
  • This building looks like Lansing to me, a nice looking urban apartment building the fits into its surroundings not trying to look like something else. I have not heard that the rest of the project there has begun. I hope we can get some more shovels in the ground before Washington[t] really messes up the economy.

  • I have to say looking at it completed this building is impressive for the cost. This is a better looking design than either of the Gillespie's recent projects and way more timeless. I wouldn't be unhappy to see more buildings like this until developers can afford to do their more innovative designs the right way.

  • Work is continuing on the older buildings on the campus. There is for sale sign in front of the house there, which may mean that the half-way house plan is not happening.

    It would be a great idea to rebuild the sidewalks and streets that connect the Pine Street area to Old town and Downtown. I have said this before, with the wealth of 19th and early 20th century houses and buildings, this whole area could be designated a historic district. Maybe offering help to homeowners and businesses to renovate and improve their properties[removing miles of vinyl siding!] and rebuild historically correct facades. The area could be transformed with some nice street lighting and maybe brick-paved streets, signage identifying vintage buildings perhaps by names like The Turner-Dodge House, and the date the building was constructed. This part of the city is really a diamond in the ruff that somehow escaped the urban renewal and highway plans of the last century, I could see it turning into a "fancy neighborhood" with some help of course!

  • edited April 2019

    Update on the renovation work, here, now that the Walnut Park Apartments has been completed:

    Story in the Journal, today:

    Michigan School for the Blind restoration project on pace to finish in 2020

    LANSING — Historic buildings on the 40-acre campus where the Michigan School for the Blind operated for 114 years are on pace to be restored and reopened as housing by early 2020.

    Indianapolis-based TWG Development has moved on to the second and third phases of its $24.4 million plan to create 132 housing units at West Willow and North Pine streets in the city's Walnut Neighborhood.

    Crews are focused on the former school's administration building, known as The Abigail or "Old Main," and its adjacent former high school, said Adam Kniola, TWG's project manager.

  • From the start, this had been one of those "I can't believe they are building it projects". It is going to be a very nice place to live with all the green space and it sits kind of on an axis of several different neighborhoods so it will be convenient for walking and driving both. Now we just need to fix the streets leading up the campus. I hope to see other schools like French JHS, and Holmes Street school be redeveloped in a quality manner like this school.

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