Yes, I saw that, they looked kind of like some "Gillespie panels" from the corner of Grand and Saginaw. The panels are sandstone colored so they could be thin stone facade panels. It's not "bad" looking, seems like these colored plank panels are the "look" of today's downtown Lansing.
The LSJ.com site has an interesting article about an MIT! study and paper they published about the survival of downtown districts during and after the pandemic. Lansing was one of the cities they picked to study. Most of the points we have talked about on this page but it is interesting to read. More housing, less parking, events that encourage people to come downtown, ideas like that are discussed.
I always get paywalled at LSJ, but I think I found the study PDF you were talking about, linked below. I haven't read it yet but wanted to share it in this thread just in case others hit the paywall as well.
The renovation of the small industrial building near Kalamazoo and Hosmer has resumed and they are installing corrugated metal paneling on the street front facade. While understanding this is an industrial building the metal paneling is disappointing, it is a historic [at least by age] neighborhood and could be considered downtown. They should have done something a little nicer IMO. I still have not figured out what is going in there.
I am surprised to hear that there is a proposal to make St. Casimir's into a homeless teen shelter. If it was done properly and peacefully I guess I could see this happening. There is already a dorm-like building next to the main building and a small classroom building on the other side. I was sad to see this church close, it's where the "Catholic Kids" in my neighborhood went to school, we would see them passing Barnes Ave School coming and going to school at different times than the public school. It is ironic that they spent about a year rebuilding the front stairs and it looked really nice and then turn around and close the church. I guess there are not enough Catholics to go around anymore. I have a hard time seeing the neighborhood agreeing to this, but it might be better than having the building just sit there vacant.
Thanks for posting the report, I am not good at it! Sorry, I do subscribe to the LSJ and I did not note that it was a subscriber-only article. It is interesting to read about what other cities are doing these days to keep their downtowns alive. An interesting point about downtown events was made in reference to Quebec City, it said that that February is golden for the city with the annual Winter Carnival. I have been once it was a blast also it was the coldest day I had seen in a long time at -15 f in the day time! However, the whole city was packed with people spending lots of money and having a great time. We might have to make snow and ice these days but I could see a Winter Carnival in downtown Lansing.
I'm still hoping for a simple renovation of City Hall, possibly moving the police into a separate facility. The performing arts center appearing to move closer to reality is great news, as is addressing the problems with the parking ramps/lots.
All the ramps besides the Townsend ramp are near the end of their life and will need a replacement plan. There's also need for new ramps. The Stadium District is in immediate need of a decent sized ramp and Old Town of a small ramp. I believe a ramp somewhere in the Kalamazoo/Grand/Lenewee/Washington area would help encourage more dense housing and possibly new office construction in that area. While not an immediate need I also think there could be some small parking ramps on the city lots off Michigan Ave and maybe later on a small ramp in REO Town.
The news that the Lansing Center may get some sort of attention is also good to hear, I'm surprised relocation is on the table, there's very few potential locations in or near downtown. The parking lot south of the State Library, 7-block area or the GM lots are the only places that it could easily fit. I'd be disappointed if they attempted to move it away from downtown. The Frandor area, specifically the Sears site, could be a realistic candidate though. Hopefully if they keep it at its current site they at least expand it to Cedar St and give it a proper facade on that side.
Thanks for posting this article. I am thinking that the Mayor must have some interested parties already to submit plans lined up. He does things more quietly than Virg... Virg liked to put a lot of things out there without any real plan to pull it off, like the casino, so I think a "first things first" approach to these projects is better. I think more $ help from DC and the State may be contemplated. I was surprised to see the Lansing Center included on the list. One big Civic Center could work, but I would rather see several smaller projects sited around different downtown locations. A large all-in-one complex might be like The Capitol Complex which is basically an office park that is empty of people when the offices close. Civic buildings sited at different locations within the downtown neighborhoods would put people working and visiting in those areas. Those people would be shopping and eating at nearby businesses. It would be a good plan to say there should be no more stand-alone parking ramps be built downtown, they must have some other purpose included in the plan. Build the stand-alone large parking ramps outside the central downtown with convenient ways to get downtown such as shuttles could work.
I saw where one of the reporters who had never been here before posted a tweet saying he thinks we are pretty! so do I! Better days are just ahead!
--How is someone going to build on a small piece of land along Washington/Grand/Capitol or even Michigan Ave without off-site parking for residents and/or employees? Besides, I don't think there are a ton of empty parking spaces downtown during peak hours and virtually all the public ramps are very old and not well placed to benefit the areas where development is happening or likely to happen so I'd argue there is a need for more parking, particularly in the places I mentioned. Building ramps or surface lots outside of downtown and shuttling people in sure sounds great to people who live downtown (full disclosure: I live downtown), but why should the low density areas of the city have to see a massive garage rising above the landscape or seas of parking for people that aren't even benefitting their area? It's not something you can just force on someone else.
If there's not public parking within walking distance then developers have to somehow fit a private parking on-site, which is unfeasible for many lots making them essentially undevelopable, especially at the densities I think we'd like to see. On-site underground parking should be encouraged but that won't be enough for most buildings. IMO private garages should be discouraged, they are likely to be used at a much lower rate than a public garage which ends up encouraging even more parking (like the Accident Fund garage, likely used at partial capacity even at peak times during working hours on weekdays and is off limits to anyone else, even outside those hours). Ground floor office/retail should be the norm in virtually all garages as should good design and materials, if a developer wants to partner up to build apartment or office space along the edges then great, but that won't always be realistic or necessary.
The reality of an area of the density and size of Lansing is that people drive cars because they are the most practical way to get around, not providing parking won't make people use mass transit or shuttles, it will cause that area and its businesses to fail or move or not come there to begin with. New ramps would allow residential and office buildings to be built without having to finance their own parking, they can simply lease spaces from city ramps. In my mind surface parking is the enemy, not necessarily garages.
--On the point of an all in one convention/performing arts center, I'm very against that idea. Very, very against. As @gbinlansing pointed out, it would likely create a Capitol Complex-esque situation. The convention center can absolutely be placed away from things a bit since it's sprawling and can create a big dead spot in a commercial district. I'm a pretty big proponent of seeing the performing arts center go on Washington Sq or Grand Ave though, I personally strongly prefer to see it on Washington between Kalamazoo and 496 with the old Boarshead site on Grand being a distant second choice.
This seems like a rather strange and unattractive place for new housing. There are so many other spots in South Lansing that would be more suitable that are standing vacant.
Comments
https://dusp.mit.edu/sites/dusp.mit.edu/files/user/attachments/Rebuilding Main Street after COVID-19 Final_1.pdf
I am surprised to hear that there is a proposal to make St. Casimir's into a homeless teen shelter. If it was done properly and peacefully I guess I could see this happening. There is already a dorm-like building next to the main building and a small classroom building on the other side. I was sad to see this church close, it's where the "Catholic Kids" in my neighborhood went to school, we would see them passing Barnes Ave School coming and going to school at different times than the public school. It is ironic that they spent about a year rebuilding the front stairs and it looked really nice and then turn around and close the church. I guess there are not enough Catholics to go around anymore. I have a hard time seeing the neighborhood agreeing to this, but it might be better than having the building just sit there vacant.
All the ramps besides the Townsend ramp are near the end of their life and will need a replacement plan. There's also need for new ramps. The Stadium District is in immediate need of a decent sized ramp and Old Town of a small ramp. I believe a ramp somewhere in the Kalamazoo/Grand/Lenewee/Washington area would help encourage more dense housing and possibly new office construction in that area. While not an immediate need I also think there could be some small parking ramps on the city lots off Michigan Ave and maybe later on a small ramp in REO Town.
The news that the Lansing Center may get some sort of attention is also good to hear, I'm surprised relocation is on the table, there's very few potential locations in or near downtown. The parking lot south of the State Library, 7-block area or the GM lots are the only places that it could easily fit. I'd be disappointed if they attempted to move it away from downtown. The Frandor area, specifically the Sears site, could be a realistic candidate though. Hopefully if they keep it at its current site they at least expand it to Cedar St and give it a proper facade on that side.
I saw where one of the reporters who had never been here before posted a tweet saying he thinks we are pretty! so do I! Better days are just ahead!
If there's not public parking within walking distance then developers have to somehow fit a private parking on-site, which is unfeasible for many lots making them essentially undevelopable, especially at the densities I think we'd like to see. On-site underground parking should be encouraged but that won't be enough for most buildings. IMO private garages should be discouraged, they are likely to be used at a much lower rate than a public garage which ends up encouraging even more parking (like the Accident Fund garage, likely used at partial capacity even at peak times during working hours on weekdays and is off limits to anyone else, even outside those hours). Ground floor office/retail should be the norm in virtually all garages as should good design and materials, if a developer wants to partner up to build apartment or office space along the edges then great, but that won't always be realistic or necessary.
The reality of an area of the density and size of Lansing is that people drive cars because they are the most practical way to get around, not providing parking won't make people use mass transit or shuttles, it will cause that area and its businesses to fail or move or not come there to begin with. New ramps would allow residential and office buildings to be built without having to finance their own parking, they can simply lease spaces from city ramps. In my mind surface parking is the enemy, not necessarily garages.
--On the point of an all in one convention/performing arts center, I'm very against that idea. Very, very against. As @gbinlansing pointed out, it would likely create a Capitol Complex-esque situation. The convention center can absolutely be placed away from things a bit since it's sprawling and can create a big dead spot in a commercial district. I'm a pretty big proponent of seeing the performing arts center go on Washington Sq or Grand Ave though, I personally strongly prefer to see it on Washington between Kalamazoo and 496 with the old Boarshead site on Grand being a distant second choice.