I just got the 3rd "East Village Newsletter" in my inbox today. Nothing really all that new to report, but here are some of the highlights:
- Fred Pierce himself, as well as other execs from the Pierce Co., were in EL for a few days in November, as well as earlier this month, to talk with "local stakeholders," as well as discuss the cost/feasibility of the project with city officials.
- The Pierce Co. is working with Citigroup Global Markets as far as much of the project financing goes, and it appears that they are looking to the State of Michigan for some help with the park portion of the project (good luck with that).
- The newsletter states that they believe the East Village Project will resemble that of the South Campus Gateway Project, which is basically Columbus/Ohio State's equivalent.
- Experts from the Sullivan Group suggested the following types of developments to the Pierce Co. in relation to the Project:
* Conventional flats - target a large pool of buyers, from graduate students to alumni
* Luxury flats – target mostly empty nesters, faculty, alumni and young professionals
* "Hard" lofts – mostly for graduate students, young professionals
* "Soft" lofts – mostly for graduate students, young professionals
* • Townhouses – target empty-nesters, families, senior faculty, young professionals
Wow, not a single living space targeted for undergraduates. Are they that out of touch with their market? Sometimes you just have to be real, and understand the demand from undergrads too. It doesn't seem that inclusive to just forget about all the undergrads.
Lets be realistic here… what they say is “graduate students & young professionals”… what will actually occur will be mostly undergraduate students with some grad students, etc... The developer is playing it smart by focusing on the graduate students and young professionals because the city (and/or the crazy E.L. residents) would flip if it was in writing that all students could possibly live there. I have never seen a place in a college town that was geared for grad students & young professionals that didn’t have its fair share of undergrads in it. The bottom line is that a lot of undergrads have money and will find there way into a good location no matter who it was originally targeted for.
Not only that, but I'll bet that you see some parents buy these for their kids, and then when they are done at MSU they'll lease them out to other students.
I'm fairly new to the Lansing area (I moved here in June of 2007), but I just found this discussion site today. I am always interested in what the community thinks about development and change and I've been making artwork about this East Village Project. http://julesprintmaking.com/east.html
Thank you for getting involved and creating this blog! I'll come back often!
I wrote a long post, but it got deleted because I hit the back button, so I gotta cut it short. New State News article about the East Village project. Note, most importantly, the numbers on the percentage of units they plan to dedicate to undergrad/grad students, the total number of planned units, and exactly what the Sullivan Group suggested to Pierce that they build (which I posted above).
I thought it was funny how the State News kept referring to the area as the "East Village", whereas that is not what any of the interviewees referred to it. The "East Village" is not in our vocabulary as the location, in fact I would expect people to refer to it as "Cedar Village" (even the area surrounding the apartment complex).
The article says that there are plans to bring it to the council in February, which should just be the start of the site plan approval process.
Currently, there are about 600 rental units in the East Village, 546 of which are in the project space. Pierce Education Properties plans to increase the number to 965 housing units, with 80 percent targeting graduate and undergraduate students. The remaining 20 percent will be used for owner-occupied housing.
The price of those apartments will be determined by the market, said Fred Pierce, president and CEO of Pierce Education Properties. The price could be lower than the cost for apartments at Campus Village, which charges $700 for a two-bedroom unit and $575 for a four-bedroom unit.
Students living in the East Village pay about $350 or more for an apartment. Prices fluctuate depending on the size of an apartment and the number of people living in it.
First, it sounds that the rents were a typo and should have read that a 2-bedroom is $575 and a 4-bedroom is $700. Increasing these apartments from affordable housing at $350 an apartment to $575 to $700 an apartment will really make it so that students with less money are forced to live further and further away from campus.
The city should mandate that a fixed percentage of around 30% of the units remain at $350 an apartment to retain the affordability of the area.
As it pertains to the "price per bedroom" in the article, they may mean that a 2-bedroom would cost $700 per person and a 4-bedroom $575 per person. You're right Jared about that putting the cost above most students, which would, of course, be a negative.
The issue about the name of the area is funny. It seems like only the developers are calling it "the east village". Using the word "east" to me says upscale/wealthy. The word "village" is exclusive/small/tight-knit. "Cedar Village" has its own connotations. Is that what people who live and work there call it? I think it's that time again that I pay them a lengthy visit.
Comments
- Fred Pierce himself, as well as other execs from the Pierce Co., were in EL for a few days in November, as well as earlier this month, to talk with "local stakeholders," as well as discuss the cost/feasibility of the project with city officials.
- The Pierce Co. is working with Citigroup Global Markets as far as much of the project financing goes, and it appears that they are looking to the State of Michigan for some help with the park portion of the project (good luck with that).
- The newsletter states that they believe the East Village Project will resemble that of the South Campus Gateway Project, which is basically Columbus/Ohio State's equivalent.
- Experts from the Sullivan Group suggested the following types of developments to the Pierce Co. in relation to the Project:
* Conventional flats - target a large pool of buyers, from graduate students to alumni
* Luxury flats – target mostly empty nesters, faculty, alumni and young professionals
* "Hard" lofts – mostly for graduate students, young professionals
* "Soft" lofts – mostly for graduate students, young professionals
* • Townhouses – target empty-nesters, families, senior faculty, young professionals
Thank you for getting involved and creating this blog! I'll come back often!
The article says that there are plans to bring it to the council in February, which should just be the start of the site plan approval process. First, it sounds that the rents were a typo and should have read that a 2-bedroom is $575 and a 4-bedroom is $700. Increasing these apartments from affordable housing at $350 an apartment to $575 to $700 an apartment will really make it so that students with less money are forced to live further and further away from campus.
The city should mandate that a fixed percentage of around 30% of the units remain at $350 an apartment to retain the affordability of the area.