As much as I'd like to see a high rise go up, I'd rather see more infill throughout downtown first. This way we can have proper distribution of retail+entertainment/office/residential throughout instead of several anchor points.
I think the State really could have done a much better job including the downtown core instead of building the Hall of Justice and the Michigan Historical Museum so far away from Washington Square and Grand Ave. Imagine if the museum was on the surface parking lot at the corner of Grand and Michigan Ave? And if the Hall of Justice was at the corner on the surface parking lot between the Cooley Library and the Knapps Center? They could have even been built with ground-floor retail to help bring activity to the area outside of regular business hours.
As much as the recession has hurt, i actually think it's the state government planning that has done more damage.
I would love to see infill also, but I believe a high-rise would do so much for morale, it would prove the market to developers, banks and residents. Tall buildings have always been symbolic of prosperity, they're truly a sign of a healthy real estate market.
As for the State, the damage was done when they bulldozed the neighborhoods for parking lots. I'm happy with the location of the Hall of Justice specifically, it caps off the west end of the Capitol Complex and fits perfectly where it's at. It would be nice if the museum was somewhere with more foot traffic though. Here's to hoping that they actually convert the land between Hall of Justice and the Ottawa/Hannah buildings to park land like they're talking about. That, coupled with the State consolidating their parking would be the best thing to ever happen to downtown Lansing.
Yeah, this isn't an either/or proposition. Lansing needs a high-rise residential tower just to show other developers that it can be done to give them that option. Infill is going to happen - and is happening - regardless. As it is, the only thing we know is low-rise at the moment. There is no good reason or explanation, market-driven or otherwise, why the capital city of a state of 10 million in a metro area eventually coming up on half-a-million has ONE downtown, market-rate high-rise (Lansing Towers), and that tower is decades old. There are far less vibrant, less dense and urban-minded and smaller metro areas with more downtown housing options. And, really, that's what it's about: options. Potential downtown residents should have more options than single-family homes, apartments buildings and lofts.
Thanks for all the responses. I'm not necessarily thinking a of 16-story tower at this point, but considering that the Stadium District, Marketplace, Midtown, and proposed Outfield are 4-5 stories, it would be nice to see a 6-8 story residential/mixed use development as a next step. There are not a lot of examples of this happening yet in Greater Lansing, but the new HopCat building is East Lansing is 8 stories (sorry, I don't recall the building's actual name), and the Capital View tower in Lansing -- though not residential -- is 9 stories. The proposed Park District and Red Cedar Renaissance projects have buildings in the 8-10 story range. Then perhaps a decade from now, 6-8 story developments in/near downtown Lansing can grow to something 10-14 stories? That may be wishful thinking...
As a followup, what do you think will be the next development announcement in Lansing? (Given that Knapps and Accident Fund are completed; Market Place and Midtown are in progress; Outfield, Casino and Red Cedar, etc. are proposed.)
These recent posts have gotten pretty far off-topic from the Capital Club Tower's original thread. I'm going to try to circle it back and redirect to the proper thread, so I'll post my reply in the General East Lansing discussion thread since that is what my prediction is for.
I mean, I guess that's a better idea, but being that this project has been effectively dead for years, anyway, I don't see this discussion as being "off topic." You can't be "off topic" on a project that's dead.
I guess I thought this related to the original thread as we were discussing possible future developments similar to the Capitol Club Tower. Sorry, my mistake I think was asking about thoughts on the next development at the end. It probably should have gone on the general Lansing or East Lansing thread. Even then, over the course of discussion on those general threads, specific topics will be mentioned (those that may already have their own threads). So it can be confusing as to whether a conversation should jump threads or remain on the same thread. For instance, the general Lansing thread has some posts on the airport, which itself has its own thread. While it is important to be organized here, I don't think we want to discourage discussion.
Comments
I think the State really could have done a much better job including the downtown core instead of building the Hall of Justice and the Michigan Historical Museum so far away from Washington Square and Grand Ave. Imagine if the museum was on the surface parking lot at the corner of Grand and Michigan Ave? And if the Hall of Justice was at the corner on the surface parking lot between the Cooley Library and the Knapps Center? They could have even been built with ground-floor retail to help bring activity to the area outside of regular business hours.
As much as the recession has hurt, i actually think it's the state government planning that has done more damage.
As for the State, the damage was done when they bulldozed the neighborhoods for parking lots. I'm happy with the location of the Hall of Justice specifically, it caps off the west end of the Capitol Complex and fits perfectly where it's at. It would be nice if the museum was somewhere with more foot traffic though. Here's to hoping that they actually convert the land between Hall of Justice and the Ottawa/Hannah buildings to park land like they're talking about. That, coupled with the State consolidating their parking would be the best thing to ever happen to downtown Lansing.
As a followup, what do you think will be the next development announcement in Lansing? (Given that Knapps and Accident Fund are completed; Market Place and Midtown are in progress; Outfield, Casino and Red Cedar, etc. are proposed.)