The Abbot & The Graduate (Park District)

Jared

I have a lot of confidence that this project will move forward, as it is basically being pushed by the City Council at all costs. The worst case scenario that I see happening is that the City extends the development agreement for a later date.

Jared

Hotel Indigo has announced that they will be part of City Center 2. The hotel is owned by Great Britain's InterContinental Hotels Co. and will have 115 rooms. The article also says construction is scheduled to begin in fourth quarter 2008 and finished in the first quarter of 2011.

Sparty73

Jared, will that portion of the City Center II construction coincide with the demolition of the old Citizens Bank building on the corner of Abbot and GR? Or do you think it will begin without that demolition being done?

MichMatters

It can't be done without the demolition of the Citizens Bank Building. The hotel will occupy two floors or so of Building A, the main building of the complex.

Sparty73

Great to hear. I'm incredibly sick of that building continuing to be an eyesore in EL, and the sooner it comes down the better as far as I'm concerned.

Sparty73

And now for the news we've been waiting for. Per the State News, pre-demolition of the City Center II site will begin in the coming weeks, and demolition of the site is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Construction of City Center II should start in early 2009 as well, with an emphasis on "a greener building code," which I could see delaying the start of construction slightly while they work out some kinks.

Jared

The city has completed terms to purchase the land for the 520-space parking ramp and demolition should start by the year end, a new Lansing State Journal article says.

I have noticed some small teardown already on the Thai Hut building next to the People's Church, with some of the awnings being removed already.

Jared

Here is a picture I took of today of the first buildings that will be demolished. Some of the awnings are already taken down:

Jared

The deadline to provide a detailed property description and a comprehensive financing package, was previously Oct. 1; now the deadline is Jan. 1, 2009. The city council has pushed back the deadline 3 months now.

I sure hope that demolition still starts before the end of the year.

MichMatters

With credit getting tighter, financing is going to be made just that much more difficult. I am getting a bit more pessimistic about projects that have yet to be financed.