Hood, the company filed a preliminary site plan with the township before this option occured to them. They basically say that approval of this agreement will allow them to move forward. So I assume this is a near-term project, maybe the next year or so.
City and township will split tax revenues (subsequent to any incentives which will lower them) 50/50. City will provide most services. The amendment also terminates if the city, township, and company fail to reach some kind of development agreement within 180 day after the agreement goes into effect.
An article on the new recycling program Lansing and East Lansing residents may want to read. I'm definitely going to have to look into exactly what kind of plastics they take and don't take, as the article isn't super clear on that. The facility is at South Penn just north of the underpass near Potter Park:
Apparently, we'd been transporting our collected materials to Metro Detroit. I guess Emterra will take on that cost, now? What's a bit concerning is that the 'contamination' (mixing things that can't be recycled like uncleaned jars, plastic bags, etc. with those that can) rate on the deal is 8% before the company fines the cities $200 per contaminated load, but many cities have a rate that allows up to 20% to be contaminated. I'm kind of worried how well Lansing will do with this deal.
The Emergent thing is definitely something I'll be looking out for, every inch that can be gained in attracting and expanding these high-paying fields is important for the area.
I guess the recycling thing is a done deal now so all there is to do is wait and see, it almost seems that the worst case with the new company may still be better than shipping it to Detroit. I do wonder about the new guidelines, I guess I'll wait until CART puts out a new flyer or something before I do anything different.
I read on WLNS that the Lansing City Council voted earlier this week to approve the establishment of Social Districts in the areas of Downtown, Reo Town, and Old Town. I tried pulling up the agenda and was unable to find maps of where they are proposing these overlays are to be approved at specifically. Since they did not mention the East Side specifically I am wondering if that area is no longer under consideration. I know last year they had talked about allowing it to occur in and around the public right of way behind The Avenue, Green Door, and the surrounding restaurants, but I wonder if they received pushback from the nearby neighbors. It is a bit more residential nearby in comparison to the 3 areas outlined in the resolution.
If anyone finds a map of where they are planning to overlay these districts I would appreciate them sharing it!
Anyone know which of the buildings at the Four Corners will be losing/replacing their signs? It has to be the Comerica Building or 101 South Washington.
The City Pulse has a much better article on the social districts as well as their proposed overlays. It will be interesting to see how the surrounding businesses utilize this capability.
WEDNESDAY, April 28 — The city of Lansing is trying to entice a biopharmaceutical company to build a large manufacturing facility near the Capital Region International Airport. And now the City Council is leaning on a partnership with Dewitt Township to help put the plans into motion.
An Act 425 agreement introduced at this week’s City Council meeting would allow for the city to essentially adopt a 34-acre parcel of land in Dewitt Township, “enabling the framework” for Emergent BioSolutions to build a 181,700-square-foot manufacturing facility on the property.
The idea: Emergent would begin constructing a “production facility” as early as this summer that will eventually employ an estimated 328 employees, according to a site plan submitted last month to Dewitt Township. The proposal also includes the construction of a 4,000-square-foot café, a 1,500-square-foot maintenance building, parking lots and landscaping improvements.
In turn, the city would handle zoning, sewer, police and fire services. The township would handle code and building inspections. The Lansing Board of Water & Light would power it all. The income and property tax revenues from any development on the site — which is currently owned by Emergent BioSolutions — would be split between them equally for the next 50 years.
Bob Trezise, president and CEO of the Lansing Economic Area Partnership billed the maneuver as a win-win for both municipalities, noting it could enable the region to compete for a major development that would otherwise be impossible without the Act 425 agreement in place.
Only development-related thing on next week's council agenda is Sparrow asking for the vacation of the block of Eight Street between Jerome and Michigan for their surgery center. The planning office is recommending approval for this, but did cite concerns of pedestrians - there is quite a density of people and residences north of Jerome - maybe losing access through what would be a parking lot and are 'encouraging' Sparrow to build a walkway through the parking lot. And speaking of the parking lot, they were also not too happy about a large surface parking lot being built on Michigan Avenue...but they still recommended approval.
I'm really not thrilled about Sparrow convincing the city to let them vacate more streets. I wish the city wouldn't allow it, Sparrow can easily work around the street being there.
Yeah, I'm not crazy about it. I didn't realize that they were going to use both blocks. Sounds like the west block is going to be entirely parking since I'm not sure the building is even going to take up the whole of the east block. We'll have to wait and see when they submit their site plan. Actually, the planning board agenda seems to say that the street will only be used for access for the parking, but other parts of the report say they want it for the "redevelopment of the 800 and 900 blocks of E. Michigan Avenue." But the thing is that they aren't the only owner on the 800 block; you've got Jon Anthony Florists, too, and I've heard absolutely nothing about them closing or moving.
I guess I won't judge it too harshly until I see the site plan. If the footprint of the center is going to take up a significant portion of the 900 block, I guess I can tolerate giving up the street to uniqify the parking in that area. Even in that best-case scenario, it sucks to have valuable Michigan Avenue frontage used as surface parking. The Form-Based Code became effective as of 12:00AM; if this would have started planning after this, they wouldn't be able to do such a thing under the new code.
Comments
City and township will split tax revenues (subsequent to any incentives which will lower them) 50/50. City will provide most services. The amendment also terminates if the city, township, and company fail to reach some kind of development agreement within 180 day after the agreement goes into effect.
New rules for recycling in Lansing, East Lansing: Coffee cups OK, bulky plastic not
Apparently, we'd been transporting our collected materials to Metro Detroit. I guess Emterra will take on that cost, now? What's a bit concerning is that the 'contamination' (mixing things that can't be recycled like uncleaned jars, plastic bags, etc. with those that can) rate on the deal is 8% before the company fines the cities $200 per contaminated load, but many cities have a rate that allows up to 20% to be contaminated. I'm kind of worried how well Lansing will do with this deal.
I guess the recycling thing is a done deal now so all there is to do is wait and see, it almost seems that the worst case with the new company may still be better than shipping it to Detroit. I do wonder about the new guidelines, I guess I'll wait until CART puts out a new flyer or something before I do anything different.
If anyone finds a map of where they are planning to overlay these districts I would appreciate them sharing it!
And, yes, the council resolution only includes Downtown, Old Town and REO Town for the social districts.
The City Pulse has a much better article on the social districts as well as their proposed overlays. It will be interesting to see how the surrounding businesses utilize this capability.
I guess I won't judge it too harshly until I see the site plan. If the footprint of the center is going to take up a significant portion of the 900 block, I guess I can tolerate giving up the street to uniqify the parking in that area. Even in that best-case scenario, it sucks to have valuable Michigan Avenue frontage used as surface parking. The Form-Based Code became effective as of 12:00AM; if this would have started planning after this, they wouldn't be able to do such a thing under the new code.