Jared mentioned the council was going to vote on this project, but the article below isn't clear if that happened. They don't mention it being voted for, but do say "is moving forward" so I assume it was voted for and passed? Honestly, this is a terrible news article. They don't ever even mention the name of the "Major Development" that could "change the face of downtown," they just keep calling it a "Project." They also say that Hagen is "alot happier" but then the quote of his they use that directly follows sounds completely negative. Pretty bad.
Well, it turns out that I was wrong when I said it was going to vote. Dates were set for public hearings on the issue, and after that then it should hopefully go to vote. Hagen is happy because his new property is being spared in the revised plan, but I think he is still mad about the other properties (which I'm not sure if he owns or not), but just how the city is going about acquiring properties.
The State News has made it known that there will be a "work session" for the City Center II project TONIGHT @ 7pm in Courtroom 2 of the 54-B District Court on Abbot and Linden. Ted Slaton has said it's in the courtroom due to expected high turnout from local residents. I would be interested in going, but I'm not in town currently. If anyone attends let me know how it goes, but I'm sure the State News will have some sort of blurb on it in the next couple days anyway.
EAST LANSING - Officials from East Lansing and the Wharton Center for the Performing Arts are making plans for a 400-seat a performing arts center in the city's downtown.
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The theater will be part of the City Center II project, a 5.81 acre mixed-use development that would span the area from Grand River Avenue and Abbot Road to Valley Court Park.
East Lansing City Manager Ted Staton said the plans are still preliminary, but he hopes the city and university will reach a more detailed agreement within the next two months.
I sent an email to the city contact involved in this project and he was able to give me some heights of the taller buildings:
Building A - 138 feet (10-story main building)
Building B - 76 feet (5-story mixed use building directly behind Building A)
Building D - 70 feet (6-story parking garage)
Building E - 57 feet (4-story apartment building)
The State News is reporting that City Center II's development agreement will expire on October 1st if it isn't finalized and some subsequent addendums aren't agreed to. Based on your post about the state funding, Jared, this shouldn't be an issue, but does anyone know if this deadline could be a real threat to the project? Or is this just a small hurdle?
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http://www.wlns.com/Global/story.asp?S=8174445&nav=menu25_2
EAST LANSING - Officials from East Lansing and the Wharton Center for the Performing Arts are making plans for a 400-seat a performing arts center in the city's downtown.
Advertisement
The theater will be part of the City Center II project, a 5.81 acre mixed-use development that would span the area from Grand River Avenue and Abbot Road to Valley Court Park.
East Lansing City Manager Ted Staton said the plans are still preliminary, but he hopes the city and university will reach a more detailed agreement within the next two months.
....
http://statenews.com/index.php/article/2008/05/residents_back_naya_bistro_for_city_center_ii
City Center plans get council OK
The City of East Lansing has update most of the pages for this project on their website. Go take a look.
Some of the new renderings of building A - the tallest at 10-stories
Building A - 138 feet (10-story main building)
Building B - 76 feet (5-story mixed use building directly behind Building A)
Building D - 70 feet (6-story parking garage)
Building E - 57 feet (4-story apartment building)