Honestly, that was the crazy thing to me. Like, even the "enhanced" Ovation proposal is kind of dumpy, if we're being honest. I've become more sensitive to issues of costs and such over time, but that definitely needs to be weighed against needs to amenities to attract and keep residents, especially when things like "place-making" are more important than ever in this regard. People just don't stay in cities for jobs like they used to.
Another thing worth pointing out was the going on about subsidies to these city facilities as if that's an inherently bad thing. The Lansing Center, the ballpark and even Groespeck Golf Course are all assets that I'm sure the city sees a net positive from all things considered. I guess we can forget about any major capital improvements for the city's parks or facilities under this council.
It gets warm outside, and everyone decideds to start their projects on the same day/week. lol Anyway, what I saw today...
They have started removing the trees on the north side of Michigan to prepare for the street reconfiguration; it's kind of visually shocking, especially with the sun out. Going to take some years getting used to. lol
Sparrow has now dug below the surface of their site at the notheast corner of Michigan and Holmes. I think I read them saying they have no plans for this land but to make it a landscaped "entrance" to the campus (sort of like what LCC has done over the years). I assume they are removing underground tanks/utilities. But it's honestly sad to see how suburban its beginning to look around the hospital with all they've torn down on Michigan Avenue.
Of course, the US-127/I-496 project also started - with the Michigan Avenue drain project to the west still ungoing for a month or so longer. This is creating some gnarly traffic.
Finally, the old one-story, mid-century brick building immediately south of the Holy Cross homeless shelter on Larch north of Shiawassee has been demolished. For some reason, I thought this building belonged to them, but apparently it's the Eyde's who have long owned all that land around it to the south and east. I have no idea if they've revived redevelopment of these prominent parcels.
I noticed that building at Shiawassee and Larch the other say, the first thing I wondered was whether Eyde owned it. Do you remember how far through approvals that project got before?
Nope. The thing was that there was a lot less state money, then, for those kind of projects. I do wonder if they are seeing Stadium North and want to get in on PILOTS since so much money is going toward building affordable housing, now.
Yeah, the old Shiawassee proposal is very similar to Stadium North: a workforce building and a senior building, each 70ish units and 4 floors. Back when Stadium North was announced I assumed that the same developer was involved.
Ah, yes, now I can kind of recall. It was a zoning issue. And the thing is that this is solved now with the new form-based code; the zoning for that district allows some of the most diverse range of uses for any district.
Unrelated, but does anyone know who the architect and general contractor are for the new public safety complex is on Washington? They broke ground last October, but I haven't been by there. Kind of curious to see if either the architect or builder has renderings, as I don't think I saw anything except the rough site plan that was in a council packet months ago.
I thought it was Hobbs+Black for the public safety complex...can't remember where I saw that, but it wouldn't surprise me. Definitely a project type they're familiar with.
Over on Mount Hope the walls for the new school are going up already. It is always a relief to see actual construction going on, as opposed to the talk and plans that we usually have that go on for years before anything happens.
I had forgotten all about Hobbs+Black, their buildings are never very adventurous but have a nice look. The public safety complex does have their aesthetic, I can certainly believe it's them.
I'm happy that they're at least building the Mt Hope School close to the street. The only rendering I've seen, which is of the back of the building, is not promising for how it will look.
A couple other items on the construction front: The windows at Walter French have been going in and look great, they really make the building pop. Also, the fence around the Ovation construction site has gotten wind screen in the past couple days so things may be close to getting going there.
Comments
They have started removing the trees on the north side of Michigan to prepare for the street reconfiguration; it's kind of visually shocking, especially with the sun out. Going to take some years getting used to. lol
Sparrow has now dug below the surface of their site at the notheast corner of Michigan and Holmes. I think I read them saying they have no plans for this land but to make it a landscaped "entrance" to the campus (sort of like what LCC has done over the years). I assume they are removing underground tanks/utilities. But it's honestly sad to see how suburban its beginning to look around the hospital with all they've torn down on Michigan Avenue.
Of course, the US-127/I-496 project also started - with the Michigan Avenue drain project to the west still ungoing for a month or so longer. This is creating some gnarly traffic.
Finally, the old one-story, mid-century brick building immediately south of the Holy Cross homeless shelter on Larch north of Shiawassee has been demolished. For some reason, I thought this building belonged to them, but apparently it's the Eyde's who have long owned all that land around it to the south and east. I have no idea if they've revived redevelopment of these prominent parcels.
Found the old thread from the project and it looks like they were only going for a zoning variance at the time as far as I can tell
https://develop.metrolansing.com/discussions/discussion/175/the-crossing-shiwassee-senior-lofts#latest
Unrelated, but does anyone know who the architect and general contractor are for the new public safety complex is on Washington? They broke ground last October, but I haven't been by there. Kind of curious to see if either the architect or builder has renderings, as I don't think I saw anything except the rough site plan that was in a council packet months ago.
I'm happy that they're at least building the Mt Hope School close to the street. The only rendering I've seen, which is of the back of the building, is not promising for how it will look.
A couple other items on the construction front: The windows at Walter French have been going in and look great, they really make the building pop. Also, the fence around the Ovation construction site has gotten wind screen in the past couple days so things may be close to getting going there.