I wouldn't want to be a manager in this age of work from home. It seems as though it's very much a case-by-case basis as to whether one's job can be done from home without some big drawbacks, and employees don't always agree with their employers on that point. We're so early in this new world of zoom and remote work I don't think anyone has any solid answers on this, and that's before considering the implications of AI that are just beginning to show their teeth. As a taxpayer I'm for whatever saves money while maintaining levels of service, or elevates levels of service without increasing costs.
I know everyone likes to point out the great employees that can be lost by forcing them back into the office, but sometimes there's more than the task at hand to consider. For example: Those great employees can end up being de facto leaders, establish a positive culture, teach others around them, are valuable in face-to-face meetings, etc... All that may seem burdensome and distracting to the employee who just wants to complete their tasks but provides immense value to the organization.
What I do know with some certainty is that the parking lots, half-empty buildings and the broken street grid on the westside of downtown are bad for downtown and bad for Lansing. The fact that the governor fought the Park Michigan proposal in favor of retaining parking lots, in the post-COVID era no less, is a slap in the city's face. Something has to give.
....To add a couple of unrelated items: The City Pulse had a couple of stories this week on local businesses, one old (Paramount Coffee), and one new (a new cafe in the old Belen Flowers building on Ionia St)
My wife works there actually (Niowave). Had all the big shots there for the groundbreaking (Whitmer, Schor). Appropriately nerdy workplace, the CEO has framed photos of Kirk and Spock (from Star Trek) in his office.
It's an interesting story. Started by people from MSU who wanted to build and sell cyclotrons. At some point pivoted to instead using accelerators to make needed radioactive medical isotopes. Tremendous growth over the last few years. Nuclear physics is big in Lansing, and I suspect many people have no idea.
I missed this post, it's awesome that your wife works there. I've always had a broad interest in science but particularly cosmology and particle physics, the latter of which I think is at least in the general direction of nuclear physics. I'm just a deeply interested laymen without the math shops though.
Does Niowave not sell cyclotrons/accelerators as even a smaller part of their business? Ever since I heard of them opening up on Walnut St I've been a little proud to have such a company in the area, even despite the pole barn they built at the old school lol
I saw someone share these photos on Facebook for a proposed event venue out in Charlotte:
I have absolutely no idea how serious this proposal is or what timeframe anything will happen in. They are currently open and operating in some capacity but nothing like what the plans show. The only news story I can find is from WITL. https://witl.com/the-quarry-charlotte-michigan/ https://thequarrymi.com/
Has anyone with an LSJ subscription read this story on New Vision? Is there any noteworthy information in there? Anything on the timeline of the other buildings?
A few noteworthy bits of news: The Prudden Building is getting larger new windows, that is very welcome news to me. Capitol Tower is supposed to begin "by October 1st" and should take 13 months to complete, Ingham Building renovations should start in September. It sounds like there's more up in the air with the Old Town project, the unit count isn't nailed down and they are still working on the design, which is a good thing given what they showed originally.
It is good to read that all these projects are moving forward, we have been disappointed in the past by big plans but no action. I like that they are drawing up new plans for the Old Town project, including input from the community. The new design hopefully be a better fit for 100-year-old plus neighborhood.
Next, I would like to see Gillespie get to work on Michigan Ave between Rumsey and Clemens. All those former professional buildings are getting to be a real eyesore, and also further down Michigan where the old car dealership/hot tub store has been vacant for years now. Meanwhile I am happy to see that most of the new trees along Michigan are doing pretty well except for the birch trees, not the best place to plant a birch tree. PS I can often find LSJ articles posted on my MSN news page for free.
I have also been a little disappointed on the lack of new developments further down on E Michigan. Given the road improvements and the time that has elapsed since the last projects I'm expecting at least one new building proposed by one or the other Gillespie just about any time now, as you noted, they own a lot of properties.
There's also the large apartment development on Michigan just west of 127 to look out for, it wasn't clear based on the minutes that I read whether Lansing Twp was holding them up or whether they ultimately passed it.
Comments
I know everyone likes to point out the great employees that can be lost by forcing them back into the office, but sometimes there's more than the task at hand to consider. For example: Those great employees can end up being de facto leaders, establish a positive culture, teach others around them, are valuable in face-to-face meetings, etc... All that may seem burdensome and distracting to the employee who just wants to complete their tasks but provides immense value to the organization.
What I do know with some certainty is that the parking lots, half-empty buildings and the broken street grid on the westside of downtown are bad for downtown and bad for Lansing. The fact that the governor fought the Park Michigan proposal in favor of retaining parking lots, in the post-COVID era no less, is a slap in the city's face. Something has to give.
https://www.lansingcitypulse.com/stories/from-farm-to-cup-inside-lansings-oldest-coffee-roaster,189244
https://www.lansingcitypulse.com/stories/floral-themed-cafe-honors-historic-buildings-past,186360
It's an interesting story. Started by people from MSU who wanted to build and sell cyclotrons. At some point pivoted to instead using accelerators to make needed radioactive medical isotopes. Tremendous growth over the last few years. Nuclear physics is big in Lansing, and I suspect many people have no idea.
Does Niowave not sell cyclotrons/accelerators as even a smaller part of their business? Ever since I heard of them opening up on Walnut St I've been a little proud to have such a company in the area, even despite the pole barn they built at the old school lol
...And an article from the City Pulse about the airport I thought was worth sharing, they're apparently still on track to have a new master plan this year
https://lansingcitypulse.com/100-years-later-the-land-and-planes-around-lansings-airport/
I have absolutely no idea how serious this proposal is or what timeframe anything will happen in. They are currently open and operating in some capacity but nothing like what the plans show. The only news story I can find is from WITL.
https://witl.com/the-quarry-charlotte-michigan/
https://thequarrymi.com/
https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/2026/07/15/paul-gentilozzi-new-vision-lansing-apartments/90865342007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z11xx36p119450l118250c119450e002500v11xx36d--61--b--61--&gca-ft=256&gca-ds=sophi
EDIT: I found it on Yahoo News https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/lansing-housing-projects-remaking-city-155331304.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9kdWNrZHVja2dvLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAFbfYL9rtecZ458LrD1FGT-yxpThDlio5UphQKVx2XzUtSxH-TyV85oLn4V9ZeAy_O3eUtv939-uWUFhB8fVZp603U7pCOf6lnAzVYkeIXDrJEQ9tvrguuxyMLg9hgi-wyGG-cGMloE9MFDiAA-P0Rs9ndYggV37q8Er7X-r_eYN
A few noteworthy bits of news: The Prudden Building is getting larger new windows, that is very welcome news to me. Capitol Tower is supposed to begin "by October 1st" and should take 13 months to complete, Ingham Building renovations should start in September. It sounds like there's more up in the air with the Old Town project, the unit count isn't nailed down and they are still working on the design, which is a good thing given what they showed originally.
Next, I would like to see Gillespie get to work on Michigan Ave between Rumsey and Clemens. All those former professional buildings are getting to be a real eyesore, and also further down Michigan where the old car dealership/hot tub store has been vacant for years now. Meanwhile I am happy to see that most of the new trees along Michigan are doing pretty well except for the birch trees, not the best place to plant a birch tree. PS I can often find LSJ articles posted on my MSN news page for free.
There's also the large apartment development on Michigan just west of 127 to look out for, it wasn't clear based on the minutes that I read whether Lansing Twp was holding them up or whether they ultimately passed it.