General Westside/Delta Township/Eaton County Development

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  • I do not get the price either. Maybe they plan to make use more expensive materials inside, even still you can buy nice little bungalow in Lansing[or Holt] starting around 55k and a nice large home here for 100k. While it is true that some people with the means do want to live in tiny homes, I do not think they will pay for a 100k dollars shed like home out in Holt. I have grown to like the house on Elm Street, but it is a rental. I could imagine a community of this type of housing in a former trailer park, but I think they should make a plan for more affordable prices. I really like the Detroit tiny homes, much better design.

  • Actually a bit sad to see these two buildings go, as they are what pass for "historic" or at least architecturally interesting in a place like Delta Township. But two vacant 70's-era office buildings at the corner of Harriet Avenue and Saginaw Highway in Delta Township are to be brought down to make room for a new Panda Express.

    This is actually a use more in line with how this area has currently been developed, actually. In fact, there has been quite a bit of redevelopment in between the Lansing Township border at Waverly and the mall, and this simply continues that trend. Right next door at the former Jackie's Diner (and formerly Ponderosa) site, the same developers plan to demolish the 5,100 square foot building and replace it with a two-tenant, 3,000 square foot retail building. So this entire corner is going to end up looking very different. The other three corners include a KFC, a quick-care, and a QD. The only two big sites that remain to be redeveloped on the strips in between this and the mall is the abandoned Burger King and the vacant site between the Dominos and salon.

    Down the street in the other direction, the demolition of the old 60's-era, bi-level 7,559 square foot West Town Plaza is well underway. This is the one that will be replaced by a two-tenant, 5,400 square foot retail building, among which a Popeye's will be one of the tenants.

    All of this is a bit bitter-sweet. Like I said, I'm glad to developers seeing promise in what had become a tired suburban retail strip. But these were also some of the only mildly architecturally interesting retail buildings in the township and are being replaced by what I'm sure will probably be some stucco-faced crap you see all across the country. lol

  • I agree that W.Saginaw is being homogenized into the anywhere USA street to the mall, and it is disappointing to see the local buildings that house local businesses being replaced by national chains and sprawl architecture. I think local zoning and building requirements are the only way to deal with this but I do not think those governments will ever do anything to impede this kind of development.

  • We lived on Harriet Ave (2 houses in from Michigan) before we moved out here to CA.

  • There used to be a used video game store in the weird bi-level building that I went to a few times, but otherwise I can't even remember what was in them.

  • Also I'm only a little ashamed to admit that I would have kind of dug it if the Panda Express had been there when we lived there. Aside from the generic suburban sprawl of it.

  • edited January 2018

    That place was called Game Hits. West Town Plaza was most famous for being the home of a coin shop. I could have sworn it was one of the original locations of Liberty Coin/Priemere Coins and Collectibles, but I can't find any record of that. What I do remember is the coin shop showing the plaza on their television commercial. There was also a beauty supply shop and I remember a martial arts studio. It was a really cool building given the general suburban nature of the whole place.

    https://www.accessmygov.com/ASSG_Sketch/GetAttachment?id=1fU/OoedLKY=&uid=21

  • You can find a lot of buildings with the basement or lower street-level storefronts with stairs to an upper storefront level in Montreal. This gives two storefronts exposure to the street in the same building. To build something new like this I guess they would have to address assessability issues, but I do like this type of commercial building in an urban setting.
    In the latter part of the last century [the 70's] I worked at Knapp's in the Lansing Mall, and I often went down to Sully's Drive-In on W. Saginaw for lunch. Sully's was in a real 1950's drive-in building with car hops that would bring your food on a tray which they hooked on your car window. It was already kind of out of style by then but I liked it. Across the street was the first MacDonald's in Lansing with the original Golden Arches lit up in yellow neon. There is a scenic Wendy's where Sully's was now next to Subway # 527 [kidding it could be #600!].

  • Check out this facebook group for some great photos of the original Sully's and the one that replaced it:https://www.facebook.com/groups/137660544586/search/?query=sully

    I believe that the first McD's in the Lansing market was the one on North Cedar, there used to be a plaque commemorating the spot before they rebuilt it- I'm not sure if they kept the plaque.

  • Yep, the first McDonald's in the area was the one up on Larch (Cedar ends in the middle of the southbound lanes on the bridge where cars get on from the North Street ramp and actually continues interupted to the city limits south of Sheridan). They've done a few stories in the LSJ on it in the past when it's been remodeled, and I believe there is a plaque in the restaurant.

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