Capital View (Oliver Towers redevelopment)
It's official, Davenport intends on moving to the Oliver Towers site: Davenport eyes Lansing land swap
Davenport plans on building a 3 floor, 60k sq ft building on the parking lot to the north of Oliver Towers. They said that if approved, work could begin as early as this winter.
Davenport plans on building a 3 floor, 60k sq ft building on the parking lot to the north of Oliver Towers. They said that if approved, work could begin as early as this winter.
Comments
City Pulse article on the project: Oliver Twist
City Pulse article on the history of Oliver Towers: The saga of Oliver Towers
Lmich, I agree that there needs to be some new housing targeted at LCC students downtown and this site would be a great for that purpose. That being said, I doubt we'll see any housing on this site as Davenport will probably want their own parking and room for expansion. Hopefully some student housing will get built somewhere in the area though.
I hope this doesn't become a big issue. It's simple in my eyes: Davenport has immediate plans to build on the site and the means to do so, LCC doesn't have any immediate plans. Davenport is a private university looking to relocate, they could easily move to the suburbs, LCC can't. This is besides the fact that LCC has a fair amount of room to expand on their current land, and in my opinion would be better off expanding north and west. I hope the city either sides with Davenport or that LCC and Davenport and work this out among themselves.
In another sense, perhaps it would be more appropriate for LCC to purchase the property and eventually redevelop. As LCC opposed Davenport acquiring the property a couple years ago.
I really think the existing structure has to come down. Any reuse would probably require such an extensive retrofit that the cost associated would make tearing it down and rebuilding more attractive.
I forget, did LCC buy the adjacent parking lot or does the City still own it?
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/2015/09/23/eyde-family-redevelop-oliver-towers/72696004/
Current news reports are saying that they are planning "European-style" apartments (read: small), and the renovation will include a reconstruction of the building's faced. The apartments will be one-and-two bedrooms from 400 to 800 square feet. They are also considering building out the storefronts to Capitol Avenue.
The Eydes are planning on spending $8 million on the redevelopment, and are going to request brownfield credits so there will be some delay before work can begin until the credits are awarded and the development plan gets approval from the city council.
That's great to hear that it's moving forward! Two years since the last update on the project and the costs have raised 150%. This will be very good quality residential in-fill.