The Village of Okemos plans were formally presented to the Meridian Township planning commission, earlier this week. The LSJ has a story on the presentation:
Randle and his team are proposing to demolish all of the buildings in the two blocks bordered by Ardmore Avenue, Okemos Road and Methodist and Clinton streets.
They would replace them with seven buildings totaling nearly 290,000 square feet.
Between all seven buildings, the development would offer 174 residential units and at least 509 parking spaces. Most of the buildings are proposed at four stories tall. Some would have a fifth story where allowed by local zoning rules.
And, of course, neighbors are concerned about the density of the development.
All materials associated with the project (site plans, elevations, etc...):
If this gets built as proposed it looks like it will be a pretty impressive project. The quality of materials looks to range from good to really good on the street sides with a really nice design that breaks things up. It is a little disappointing to see vinyl siding on the back rather than fiber cement, but it is the back afterall. I'll be jealous to see Okemos get this while we get the likes Block 600 and Metro Place in the real CBD. Go figure.
The township board of trustees appears to have passed the pla and special use permit (apparently required for any building in the township over 25,000 sq ft) for the Village of Okemos:
Reading the packet for the last night's meeting (which contains the previous meeting's minutes), it seems there were changes since we last heard about the project when the planning commission approved it in May. Namely, the density was increased (from 174 units to 205 units), and commercial space was reduced slightly to about 53,000 square feet, which is still quite a bit of commercial space for a project like this.
In total, this is nearly 300,000 square feet of space in downtown Okemos. Honestly, I've been waiting to see this happen for years, and I kind of can't believe it's finally happening. Eventually, though, the two blocks on the east side of Okemos Road are going to have to be developed, too, especially the one southeast corner with the bank. Oh, and the Douglas J block ("Block 3" in the site plan), too.
It looks like construction is already under way. Hamilton has been closed for at least a week and there's now equipment showing up on site, including a crane that looks like it's already doing foundation work or will be very soon.
OKEMOS — Meridian Township leaders have approved a massive development proposal in Okemos.
The area is bordered by Ardmore Avenue and Okemos Road to the east and west and by Methodist and Clinton streets to the north and south. Part of the site is the former home to Bottoms Up dance wear and the Okemos Ace Hardware.
The $110 million project — called the Village of Okemos — includes seven buildings totaling nearly 290,000 square feet. Most of the buildings will be four stories tall. Some will have a fifth story.
As a resident of a nearby neighborhood, it is pretty exciting to see some progress finally come to this busy intersection. The state is doing soil remediation work at the site of a former dry cleaning business. I believe the developer said actual construction starts next spring. Here are a few pics from last weekend.
Looks like Greater Lansing will have another great "downtown" to add the other "downtowns". "Downtown Okemos" sounds good and has been a long time coming.
This is good to see. The crane I saw looks like it was only there to put in some sort of retaining wall, they had me fooled that construction may already be getting going. I'm somewhat surprised that actual construction won't start until spring given the amount of activity there already.
The LSJ article mentions the remediation mostly needs to be done on the site of a former gas station and the dry cleaners. The developer said he hopes to have the existing buildings down by the end of the year. They haven't yet filed the brownfield plan, I don't think, so no construction is going to be done until they can get that approved. Oddly enough, the article says that the EGLE (Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy) is currently on site removing contaminants, so maybe it's multiple groups cleaning up the site.
Comments
The Village of Okemos plans were formally presented to the Meridian Township planning commission, earlier this week. The LSJ has a story on the presentation:
And, of course, neighbors are concerned about the density of the development.
All materials associated with the project (site plans, elevations, etc...):
http://www.meridian.mi.us/government/at-your-fingertips/current-applications-before-meridian-township/-folder-3156#docan5625_5975_1741
The township board of trustees appears to have passed the pla and special use permit (apparently required for any building in the township over 25,000 sq ft) for the Village of Okemos:
https://www.wilx.com/content/news/Meridian-Township-Board-passes-redevelopment-project-512504801.html
Reading the packet for the last night's meeting (which contains the previous meeting's minutes), it seems there were changes since we last heard about the project when the planning commission approved it in May. Namely, the density was increased (from 174 units to 205 units), and commercial space was reduced slightly to about 53,000 square feet, which is still quite a bit of commercial space for a project like this.
In total, this is nearly 300,000 square feet of space in downtown Okemos. Honestly, I've been waiting to see this happen for years, and I kind of can't believe it's finally happening. Eventually, though, the two blocks on the east side of Okemos Road are going to have to be developed, too, especially the one southeast corner with the bank. Oh, and the Douglas J block ("Block 3" in the site plan), too.
BTW, here are the updated plans:
http://www.meridian.mi.us/Home/ShowDocument?id=18877
Really nice elevations. Looks like the tallest buildings (B, E & F) will be 60 feet.
Looks like the LSJ has done a story on this project this morning, though it appears they got a few numbers/figures wrong:
Meridian Township green lights development to create a downtown Okemos
As a resident of a nearby neighborhood, it is pretty exciting to see some progress finally come to this busy intersection. The state is doing soil remediation work at the site of a former dry cleaning business. I believe the developer said actual construction starts next spring. Here are a few pics from last weekend.
Looks like Greater Lansing will have another great "downtown" to add the other "downtowns". "Downtown Okemos" sounds good and has been a long time coming.
The LSJ article mentions the remediation mostly needs to be done on the site of a former gas station and the dry cleaners. The developer said he hopes to have the existing buildings down by the end of the year. They haven't yet filed the brownfield plan, I don't think, so no construction is going to be done until they can get that approved. Oddly enough, the article says that the EGLE (Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy) is currently on site removing contaminants, so maybe it's multiple groups cleaning up the site.
Speak of the devil, looks like demolition kicked off, today. From WLNS: