Blue Cross/Accident Fund owns the lot next to the Temple building, at the corner of Capitol and Washtenaw - not Cooley. Cooley's only undeveloped parcels, according to city property records, look to be those empty two-story buildings next to Knapp's, and the surface lot on Washington next to the library (all on the same block).
The renovation that was to be 301 Place never happened. That building was mostly empty and continued to sit vacant. Then Accident Fund bought it and didn't renew the lease for Linn & Owen Jewelers because it was once envisioned as a possible expansion site for AF.
We were talking about the two buildings adjacent to the Knapps (which are owned by Cooley), and no one said or implied anything about the parking lot next to the Temple Building apart from me bringing up that a parking garage used to stand on it.
In the larger retail area available on the first floor I would like to see a small supermarket. L&L's would be perfect. This would be a great place for people living in the building as well as the condos on Kalamazoo and the stadium district to walk to for groceries. The overlooked market in this scenerio is the thousands of downtown workers who would be able to quickly pick up milk & bread before their commute home. Think like a mother: I could walk to the downtown L&L (which counts as 10 mins. excersize) and drive home non-stop OR I could drive 20 mins. to Meijer and find a parking space and buy 10 more things than I wanted and then continue home.
I live 7 blocks away from the Knapps building and it would also be the perfect place for me to do much of my grocery shopping. I have enough clothes, food I need to constantly replace.
Realistically, I doubt we have enough housing units immediately downtown to woo in a grocery store. There's a pretty good analysis of what could come next - and how soon we could expect retail growth downtown - in today's City Pulse. The new city market, however, could help fill some of the food needs that now exist. You can buy milk and bread there, and they've expanded their hours to 7 p.m.
I would love to see a small grocery store downtown, I don't like L&L in particular though, just my personal opinion. I think downtown could support a small one, it would have to have meats and produce to really be successful though.
I see we got some publicity in that City Pulse article, they even interviewed Jared. Hopefully we'll see some new people around here...
I think something like CVS or Wallgreens would do well. They both carry a decent amount of groceries and other products that nothing else supplies downtown. The pharmacy part wouldn't do well though, not sure how that would impact the success. I talked to the owner of the former Capitol Pharmacy and when the state employees were forced to do the online pharmacy option they couldn't survive.
First, I'd like to welcome flowergirl to the forum. Is this your first time here, or have you been silently following for a while?
Second, if anybody hasn't read the City Pulse article, you should check it out, it gives a nice overview of where Lansing stands. I'll let you know if the visits to the website increase in the short run due to the mention in the article.
Last, wasn't there mention of putting a grocery store in the Capital Club Tower? Do people think that the center of Lansing (not just downtown) could sustain a full-size grocery store (thinking Kroger/Meijer) if it was developed on the land at Kalamazoo/Butler/MLK/Wastenaw? Would that be too far off the beaten path for people living downtown to walk to? (It feels like it would be to me)
For whatever reasons, it's rare for supermarkets (or in this case hypermarkets) to located anywhere within the core of a city. If Lansing could land a downtown Kroger/Meijer/whatever, it'd literally be a miracle since these things rarely ever happen. But, man, what I wouldn't give for a downtown grocery store.
It would be a bit of a logistical nightmare to put a full blown grocery store in there mainly due to lack of semi trailer access. The loading dock area is currently in the southwest portion of the building, and trying to maneuver an eighteen wheeler to the middle of an urban block seems pretty far fetched. Maybe that will hinder other potential tenants as well.
I do think that a smaller grocery store would do well. Maybe positioning that to the western portion of the first floor. The northeast corner at Washington and Washtenaw including mezzanine screams major bookstore.
Comments
The renovation that was to be 301 Place never happened. That building was mostly empty and continued to sit vacant. Then Accident Fund bought it and didn't renew the lease for Linn & Owen Jewelers because it was once envisioned as a possible expansion site for AF.
I live 7 blocks away from the Knapps building and it would also be the perfect place for me to do much of my grocery shopping. I have enough clothes, food I need to constantly replace.
I see we got some publicity in that City Pulse article, they even interviewed Jared. Hopefully we'll see some new people around here...
Second, if anybody hasn't read the City Pulse article, you should check it out, it gives a nice overview of where Lansing stands. I'll let you know if the visits to the website increase in the short run due to the mention in the article.
Last, wasn't there mention of putting a grocery store in the Capital Club Tower? Do people think that the center of Lansing (not just downtown) could sustain a full-size grocery store (thinking Kroger/Meijer) if it was developed on the land at Kalamazoo/Butler/MLK/Wastenaw? Would that be too far off the beaten path for people living downtown to walk to? (It feels like it would be to me)
I do think that a smaller grocery store would do well. Maybe positioning that to the western portion of the first floor. The northeast corner at Washington and Washtenaw including mezzanine screams major bookstore.