Looking at the plans by Strathmore, the proposed structures seem out of proportion with the surrounding community. Re-making collegetown into corporatetown may have its limits. This is what happened with the East Village pie-in-the-sky plans that came crashing down. I applaud development in this era of economic woe, but developers
need to switch from Starbucks to half-caff in their zeal to paint the town concrete.
The other angle is, would Museum Place augment or replace the aging Kellogg Center?
On one hand, I'd like to see more large impressive buildings go anywhere in the Lansing area, it also gives an area more clout when it has two strong downtowns. On the other hand, I worry that maybe these projects in EL could put a dent in the demand for housing in downtown Lansing. I wish EL the best, but my heart lies with Lansing.
On the subject of Museum Place being out of sync with the surrounding neighborhood, I agree that it is. But I think they are trying to expand the boundries of downtown in that direction anyways.
Per the State News, discussion @ 8pm today regarding City Center II @ the Hannah Community Center. I understand the concerns that those living in the immediate area have about the project, but I would LOVE to see this one go through. That particular area badly needs it.
Well, I guess we can switch the name of this thread back to City Center II. The State News is now reporting that MSU, apparently, has decided not to move the history museum into the development, meaning that it should be smaller in scale.
I'm so sick of students complaining. Maybe if they stayed in the area after graduation they would have a right to complain. But students are not permanent residents and they don't deserve any voice on issues like this. I understand resident's concerns, but I'm sick and tired of hearing this argument about losing affordable student housing. Theres plenty, their called dorms.
I couldn't disagree more hood. I was an undergrad here, am a grad student here, and hope to be a resident (if I can find employment in the area). The students are an integral part of the East Lansing community, and it would be an atrocity to banish them all up to the area of exile known as the "Northern Tier."
I would love to see projects like City Center II and the East Village project go through because I believe that they would help give East Lansing a city feel rather than it simply being a college town. However, I don't ever want it to entirely be rid of that college town mystique, which shoving all the students out of the downtown area would certainly lead to. I hope that the Pierce Co. really does make a concerted effort to include affordable student housing in their project, and enough units to, if not entirely make up for it, at least cut the loss of student housing in that area to a minimum.
East Lansing certainly may be a burgeoning Mid-Michigan community, but it would never even have gotten this far without the students of MSU.
What if we formed a group that was PRO-Development in EL? It's honestly so good for the city, university, economy, AND future. You'd be surprised how much the environment of the city around a campus effects recruiting, money, and investment. Of course there must always be balance, which means keeping rents low and having a college feel. After visiting Urbana (home of U-Illinois, a land grant univ. like msu and big10 school), I saw how the urban area surrounding a land grant college effected funding for the university, city, and public. It was a really cool environment that had a mixture. I seriously think we should form a group that is Pro-Development, with limitations of course, and talk to Strathmore, EL City council, residents, students, and the East Village developers...
Per the State News, more complaining from area residents concerning the City Center II plans. The developers continue to cut parking spaces, scale it down, and the residents still want no part of it. Now they're complaining that Valley Court Park won't be visible from Grand River, and that's going to be a big deal. I dunno, there's just a lot of silliness going on here.
Also, apparently Abood mentioned his plans to move the Marriott Residence Inn to the West Village to the city council, so that seems to be going forward.
I think City Center II will end up going forward without the residents support. The residents voiced legitimate concerns about the project at first, but now that they are still complaing they may get ignored altogether.
Comments
Looking at the plans by Strathmore, the proposed structures seem out of proportion with the surrounding community. Re-making collegetown into corporatetown may have its limits. This is what happened with the East Village pie-in-the-sky plans that came crashing down. I applaud development in this era of economic woe, but developers
need to switch from Starbucks to half-caff in their zeal to paint the town concrete.
The other angle is, would Museum Place augment or replace the aging Kellogg Center?
On the subject of Museum Place being out of sync with the surrounding neighborhood, I agree that it is. But I think they are trying to expand the boundries of downtown in that direction anyways.
I would love to see projects like City Center II and the East Village project go through because I believe that they would help give East Lansing a city feel rather than it simply being a college town. However, I don't ever want it to entirely be rid of that college town mystique, which shoving all the students out of the downtown area would certainly lead to. I hope that the Pierce Co. really does make a concerted effort to include affordable student housing in their project, and enough units to, if not entirely make up for it, at least cut the loss of student housing in that area to a minimum.
East Lansing certainly may be a burgeoning Mid-Michigan community, but it would never even have gotten this far without the students of MSU.
Also, apparently Abood mentioned his plans to move the Marriott Residence Inn to the West Village to the city council, so that seems to be going forward.