We all knew this was coming, but it's sad to see the oldest part of the complex come down, nevertheless.
Thursday, McLaren began demolishing the original building at the site, the 1929 a four-story hospital then known as the Ingham County Tuberculosis Sanatorium, which was constructed to accommodate 100 patients during the tuberculosis epidemic.
New brownfiled plan submitted for the redevelopment of the old Pleasant Grove Elementary site. Not good looking, but they really need to get going on this, and this seems like what they've been able to land on. Not sure what's being rendered behind the building; it's not a piece of the existing school, since that is set back from the street a bit on the Pleasant Grove side.
This would also leave quite a bit of the site open unless they are planning for a whole bunch of parking. It looks like the depth of the project would only cover areas currently covered by the oldest portion of the school on the corner and a bit of the existing driveway and parking lot on Holmes.
I had not been over there in a while, so I took a drive to see if anything was happening on that corner. I found that the school building had been demolished, but everything was about the same. The shopping plaza on the northwest corner has been improved but I was thinking that there was going to be a new street scape that had been talked about. Is there still a plan for street improvements?
I'd call it good news. Sure, it's not great but really much worse than a lot of what's been built downtown lately. Next to having the old school saved this is about as good of an outcome as can realistically be hoped for on that corner. I like it a lot better than what was last proposed.
I don't know. The materials just look incredibly cheap. That grey textured siding it not working for me.
gb, Pleasant Grove was going to have a lane reconfiguration, but after consultation with the neighborhood, they will keep it exactly as is. They were going to get rid of the street parking and move the bike lanes to the outside for safety, but apparently the neighborhoods disagreed. So it's just going to be a street milling & resurfacing project. I don't believe there was ever a streetscape project announced.
I guess I got the idea there would be new sidewalks streetlights and trees from the older drawings. The outside materials look like the materials they used on The Landmark [student housing] on Grand River in EL i.e. cheap. The apartments on the south side of the Newman Lofts [ I live on the northside] look out on ten stories of this type of facade. It is a cheaper rent on that side; we pay a premium [nice view] for our 7-11/Grove Street view. In the summer it looks like the woods begin one block north on Grove where there is a wall of trees filling the view, I guess it is worth it, I don't think the sun ever shines on the southside so it would seem quite depressing to me to look out only at the Landmark, I know people these days never look out their windows!
I agree it looks like cheap materials, but if built as-rendered I think the materials would be a notch above Ottawa @ Butler with a design maybe a notch-and-a-half above, just for comparison. Especially if that lap siding is something other than vinyl. Given the context of the location, and what we've seen get built in much higher-value areas, I can't complain too much. I wish every one of these buildings could have quality facade materials from the ground to the cornice and architectural grade windows, but that's just not so. Not even downtown or in EL or even higher-end markets around the country.
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I do hope that at least a big part of the site becomes housing, though. But the old building would have made some cool apartments.
https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/2024/07/30/walter-french-development-lansing-apartments-childcare/74605790007/
This would also leave quite a bit of the site open unless they are planning for a whole bunch of parking. It looks like the depth of the project would only cover areas currently covered by the oldest portion of the school on the corner and a bit of the existing driveway and parking lot on Holmes.
gb, Pleasant Grove was going to have a lane reconfiguration, but after consultation with the neighborhood, they will keep it exactly as is. They were going to get rid of the street parking and move the bike lanes to the outside for safety, but apparently the neighborhoods disagreed. So it's just going to be a street milling & resurfacing project. I don't believe there was ever a streetscape project announced.