That old commercial property is being totally rebuilt, but it's been like that for years, now. Maybe one day they'll actually finish it. lol I know part of it used to be an old ugly dollar store with vinyl-looking siding. I think the other unit may have been a pharmacy.
I hope so too, what I saw the other day was new insulation siding boards cladding the whole building, this may be the project finally getting underway.
I noticed some sort of renovation/demolition going on at the former Rite-Aid store on the north side of Frandor. I don't know when the tore down the Spartan Cinema Theaters at that location, or for what reason, that was such a great place to see a movie even after they divided the two very nice large theaters into four. Replacing the cinema with a national chain bank and a drugstore seems wrong[dumb] to me, I wonder if the owners of those new businesses did better at that spot than the cinema did?
I'm very much in favor of that inflatable sports building on Miller. Lansing needs more entertainment options and that area is as good a place as any for a structure like that.
I'd love for our region to be able to justify a more permanent facility like this in an aesthetically pleasing building in a prominent location, but I don't think that's realistic right now. And I see no value in pushing for something like this to be in a glorified pole barn/industrial building over a short-lived inflatable structure like what's shown. Yeah, these things don't look great if they're not maintained but if all goes well it'll be replaced every 10 or 20 years, or it will be easy remove when the business goes under. Between the Soccer Complex, the batting facility and potentially this, the area near Miller & Aurelius is becoming a bit of a local sports hub.
On another note, the new neighborhood near there is coming along well, there's a handful of houses up facing Aurelius a sign with the new neighborhood's name: Miller's Crossing.
Good points given the propose of the building is a less expensive way to offer sports facilities to more people, I have always thought they look like a half-inflated blimp. Didn't the Sliver Dome have an inflatable roof? it looked like there was a blimp on top!
Nationals Soccer Club asked that the application be tabled so no action was taken last Thursday.
I think everyone is excited about the project, but not aligning with the architectural standards with the sheer height is a tough variance. There is a neighborhood across the street - 80 condos and a new single-family subdivision being built as we speak. I'm not sure why they couldn't build it on the Hope Complex but that is a no-go.
While I support a taller faux-facade, maybe three stories, so it looks more similar to a stadium, I get the economics and I think there are some other sites to explore. Life O'Riley? It would be great to keep the investment in the city rather than a surrounding township.
Miller is not some local or neighborhood stretch, but literally connects one side of the city to the other. And the building is setback far enough and is not a solid vertical face. If you can't build stuff like this in a literal industrial zone because it's at the border of the zone, then the purpose of the code is wrong. It's getting too cute by a half.
Hopefully, they resubmit the application, and the BZA grants them their variances, and the city can finally capitalize more off of Hope Soccer Complex because of it.
Yeah, I absolutely don't agree with the city's concerns regarding the soccer dome. As @MichMatters said, it's literally in an industrial area. There's an outdoor construction materials yard right there, the city just approved an asphalt/concrete plant around the corner on Aurelius which is incredibly detrimental to its surroundings. With all due respect, this is the kind of stuff that drives me nuts. We allow stuff like a pole barn on a very prominent downtown corner or the inappropriate-for-its-site REO Gateway then deicide to get choosy with something like this. If they were going to throw money into building a nice facade I'd argue it'd be too good to be on that stretch of Miller, it'd be wasted money and effort for that location.
@citykid IMO Life O'Reilly is a much more inappropriate location for something like this, it's entirely surrounded by single family neighborhoods with no commercial, industrial or even multi-family housing adjacent. The Willoughby location outlined is also more residential in character than Miller. The West Miller location is relatively unproblematic in regards to surrounding properties but it is a much less desirable location for such a business, I imagine their prospective clientele is heavily weighted to the east.
LSJ reporting, tonight, that LaFontaine Ford is going to build a Mitsubishi dealership at their current used car location at Cedar and Jolly. I think it'll be in addition to it. Hopefully, they'll update their exist property on that corner.
@hood, you make some really good points about this facility. I didn't hate the options proposed, but I think you're right. I will say, while that area is industrial, and this doesn't seem out of place (wasn't there already an inflatable building on Enterprise?), they seem to be 2 stories or less. Is the height the only issue here? Honestly, this seems like an improvement to the outskirts of town. If anything, the new neighborhood seems more of a stretch.
What was even more frustrating is your mention of that damn pole barn and those horrible apartments at the REO Gateway. Those are two thorns in my side. I'm sure I've said this more than once, but in my graduate studies I had such higher hopes for that REO site and as a Westside resident, I hate driving by that hideous pole barn. They're both terribly sited and out of place. Why I rant about it further is because you're absolutely right. We let these abominations happen but then reject something entirely logical.
Wonder if we could put an inflatable building in the church parking lot lol?
Comments
I'd love for our region to be able to justify a more permanent facility like this in an aesthetically pleasing building in a prominent location, but I don't think that's realistic right now. And I see no value in pushing for something like this to be in a glorified pole barn/industrial building over a short-lived inflatable structure like what's shown. Yeah, these things don't look great if they're not maintained but if all goes well it'll be replaced every 10 or 20 years, or it will be easy remove when the business goes under. Between the Soccer Complex, the batting facility and potentially this, the area near Miller & Aurelius is becoming a bit of a local sports hub.
On another note, the new neighborhood near there is coming along well, there's a handful of houses up facing Aurelius a sign with the new neighborhood's name: Miller's Crossing.
I think everyone is excited about the project, but not aligning with the architectural standards with the sheer height is a tough variance. There is a neighborhood across the street - 80 condos and a new single-family subdivision being built as we speak. I'm not sure why they couldn't build it on the Hope Complex but that is a no-go.
While I support a taller faux-facade, maybe three stories, so it looks more similar to a stadium, I get the economics and I think there are some other sites to explore. Life O'Riley? It would be great to keep the investment in the city rather than a surrounding township.
Hopefully, they resubmit the application, and the BZA grants them their variances, and the city can finally capitalize more off of Hope Soccer Complex because of it.
@citykid IMO Life O'Reilly is a much more inappropriate location for something like this, it's entirely surrounded by single family neighborhoods with no commercial, industrial or even multi-family housing adjacent. The Willoughby location outlined is also more residential in character than Miller. The West Miller location is relatively unproblematic in regards to surrounding properties but it is a much less desirable location for such a business, I imagine their prospective clientele is heavily weighted to the east.
What was even more frustrating is your mention of that damn pole barn and those horrible apartments at the REO Gateway. Those are two thorns in my side. I'm sure I've said this more than once, but in my graduate studies I had such higher hopes for that REO site and as a Westside resident, I hate driving by that hideous pole barn. They're both terribly sited and out of place. Why I rant about it further is because you're absolutely right. We let these abominations happen but then reject something entirely logical.
Wonder if we could put an inflatable building in the church parking lot lol?