That is great news! Maybe we will get some new drawings or new ideas for the design. I guess Lansing is happy with lowrise buildings, which is fine really. it is kind of a distinction of our city. I hope they will build low rise buildings that are of a high-quality design and not look like very other lowrise building built here in the last decade.
The LSJ wrote that they are taking another look at building a new courthouse and police facility behind the current courthouse [formerly Auto Owners] building. There is a half block wide parking lot there so there would be room if they build up some. This with the old Y project and the Lake Trust block the south side of downtown is going to have a lot of people down there. I would like to see the city make Rutter Park a real showplace. I do not really mean getting rid of the people who currently use the park, I mean making the park feel safer cleaner and more comfortable for everyone. I could see something like a Park Attendant who is there every day cleaning up and looking after the gardens and fountain. A bicycle Park Ranger patrolling downtown parks and river trails could make frequent visits to the area that would add to the feeling of safety while allowing anyone to use the park.
They said that a new sanitary sewer line must be built before demolition but that the developers sent out a two-week notice to surrounding residents at the end of August for the demolition.
The article doesn't say when construction might start on the building. Given that demolition would take this to December, I don't think they'll start construction until March at the earliest.
This thread goes back to April 2008, and before then there were rumors of a big building coming (though this eventually got reduced in size). I'm still sad to see this large building being replaced by a smaller building but the increased population and use of this part of the city will help a lot.
I agree, the drawings I have seen look uninspired in that "it's good enough for Lansing" kind of way. I really hate that! Are these drawing depicting the project today? It seems like these drawings are a couple of years old. We can always hope for better, maybe they will use really classy materials that are difficult to depict!
Yes, it is not very exciting. To me it seems dated. I'm hoping the 500 block, of S.Washington, will be a more interesting and better-designed development. The Urban Systems people seem more interested in creating a building that is worthy of its address.
There are a lot of interesting articles LJS.com with news of 3 billion dollars worth of developments in line for Greater Lansing!
Yeah, it is a shame this project has come to look like some other generic apartment project. We can only hope that maybe it turns out better in reality. It is good to see development in this area though since it's seemed somewhat stagnant with only news of projects that have yet to start but no actual progress. At least this one seems to be moving finally.
It's not the original design was some architectural masterpiece but it at least was more interesting than this design. The scale of the original project of course also probably helped the appeal. Overall, at least the projects are happening. My hope is that these smaller, bland projects help to feed some larger projects down the road...
Given similar projects, where a lot of the commercial space on the first floor remains vacant, I'm curious to see how this one will do. I don't think a lot of vacant storefronts is a very good look...
I agree, it makes sense. Even just some basic, necessity type of retail is needed in this area and hopefully it works out. Downtown in general could use more retail but for some reason it just isn't happening. Things seem to be moving in the right direction though and ultimately it's good it's being planned for.
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That is great news! Maybe we will get some new drawings or new ideas for the design. I guess Lansing is happy with lowrise buildings, which is fine really. it is kind of a distinction of our city. I hope they will build low rise buildings that are of a high-quality design and not look like very other lowrise building built here in the last decade.
The LSJ wrote that they are taking another look at building a new courthouse and police facility behind the current courthouse [formerly Auto Owners] building. There is a half block wide parking lot there so there would be room if they build up some. This with the old Y project and the Lake Trust block the south side of downtown is going to have a lot of people down there. I would like to see the city make Rutter Park a real showplace. I do not really mean getting rid of the people who currently use the park, I mean making the park feel safer cleaner and more comfortable for everyone. I could see something like a Park Attendant who is there every day cleaning up and looking after the gardens and fountain. A bicycle Park Ranger patrolling downtown parks and river trails could make frequent visits to the area that would add to the feeling of safety while allowing anyone to use the park.
Demolition of the YMCA should start in a few weeks according to a new article from the LSJ. Demolition is expected to take 8 weeks.
They said that a new sanitary sewer line must be built before demolition but that the developers sent out a two-week notice to surrounding residents at the end of August for the demolition.
Demolition of the YMCA has started and is expected to take 8 weeks:
https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/2018/10/15/demolition-downtown-ymca/1646642002/
The article doesn't say when construction might start on the building. Given that demolition would take this to December, I don't think they'll start construction until March at the earliest.
This is a great sight! How long have they been talking about doing this since '06?
This thread goes back to April 2008, and before then there were rumors of a big building coming (though this eventually got reduced in size). I'm still sad to see this large building being replaced by a smaller building but the increased population and use of this part of the city will help a lot.
I agree, the drawings I have seen look uninspired in that "it's good enough for Lansing" kind of way. I really hate that! Are these drawing depicting the project today? It seems like these drawings are a couple of years old. We can always hope for better, maybe they will use really classy materials that are difficult to depict!
Yes, it is not very exciting. To me it seems dated. I'm hoping the 500 block, of S.Washington, will be a more interesting and better-designed development. The Urban Systems people seem more interested in creating a building that is worthy of its address.
There are a lot of interesting articles LJS.com with news of 3 billion dollars worth of developments in line for Greater Lansing!
Yeah, it is a shame this project has come to look like some other generic apartment project. We can only hope that maybe it turns out better in reality. It is good to see development in this area though since it's seemed somewhat stagnant with only news of projects that have yet to start but no actual progress. At least this one seems to be moving finally.
It's not the original design was some architectural masterpiece but it at least was more interesting than this design. The scale of the original project of course also probably helped the appeal. Overall, at least the projects are happening. My hope is that these smaller, bland projects help to feed some larger projects down the road...
Given similar projects, where a lot of the commercial space on the first floor remains vacant, I'm curious to see how this one will do. I don't think a lot of vacant storefronts is a very good look...
I agree, it makes sense. Even just some basic, necessity type of retail is needed in this area and hopefully it works out. Downtown in general could use more retail but for some reason it just isn't happening. Things seem to be moving in the right direction though and ultimately it's good it's being planned for.