I do not know where Flowerland is, but I think jumbo big box stores with the parking lots they come with are not a very good fit for a city center. I do not even know what they sell at costco. Some big box retailers reshape their boxes to fit into urban centers or downtown which is OK, as these stores bring people downtown instead of in their car out to the burbs. Those places have a large number of people living in the city center. East Lansing is densely populated but has no space downtown unless they were to build on top of a parking ramp. It seems like East Lansing is waiting for things to happen to it, rather than making things happen. I entertain a fantasy where there is a thru-traffic tunnel from Harrison to past Hagadorn with no local exits. Also that they revitalize the back side ally, it could be a nice alternative to walking,shopping, and eating next to the roaring traffic. They really need to have a better vision of what East Lansing could be.
This the only blog type thing I have ever written to, I know that all my post are not relevant to the subject,and be totally not ever going to happen,but I think that is one of the interesting things to talk about here. What could happen. So I am thinking maybe my posts are interesting or not, at least no one has commented on me personally. Thanks! I am pretty mature in age anyway, and do use the term 'they suck' but mostly when I actually know they do!
The Flowerland site is abandoned property in Delta Township, West Saginaw- just west of 96 across from Cracker Barrel. It would have been a good location, high traffic and highway access. Perhaps it was too close to the on and off ramps for the traffic it would generate.
I live in a relatively upper income city in NorCal now, and the Costco and Wholefoods crowd is the same crowd. But they don't compete with each other so much as compliment. That's been my experience anyway. And at least around here, Costco is a destination unto itself. It doesn't necessarily attract other businesses around it, but people drive from miles away to come there.
All that said, I agree with everyone else that this is a weird location for it.
With three kids, we love Costco. Plus, gas is generally 10-15% cheaper per gallon at their discount station, which is awesome too.
Costco is great. We have a membership for when we're passing through Grand Rapids. They hire a ton of employees and pay them a living wage, which will have its own impact on the area.
You also tend to get people shopping there who support that business model, so yes, similar to the Whole Foods crowd. I could see Costco being successful on the west side but makes the most sense on the east side. There is nowhere nearer to Whole Foods large enough to handle Costco- probably not in Okemos, either. The chosen site has a lot of traffic and is only a few minutes drive from major population centers and the freeway. I just don't know where else they would put it. Red Cedar is as close to downtown as would have been possible, but Costco isn't going to attract foot traffic. And I know I'm not carrying a 40 pack of toilet paper to the bus stop.
BTW- The proposed Costco site (Park Lake & Saginaw) is almost 2 miles closer to the downtown Radisson than the Flowerland site is (not that anyone staying at the Radisson will visit Costco- bit just gauging distance from downtown). Other than the Northern Tier, I don't really see most development in East Lansing as sprawl. According to Google Maps, this site is 11 minutes from downtown Lansing, 6 minutes from downtown East Lansing, and 7 minutes from Meridian Mall- all relatively low-stress drives. If someone is coming in from the hinterlands, this site is an easy stop after visiting campus or the mall or downtown.
I saw a mention of White Oak Place in the last City Council meeting synopsis. They reworded some of the details of the brownfield plan, so after that I'm thinking the project is ready to move forward. I don't know any details as to when construction could start though.
EAST LANSING — The prospects for a proposed solar project could be in doubt after the East Lansing City Council voted 3-2 Tuesday to grant a 10-year tax exemption rather than the 25 years exemption sought by the company.
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The $24 million proposal by South Bend, Ind.-based Inovateus was approved by the Michigan State University's Board of Trustees last September. It's estimated it would create 65 temporary and permanent jobs. It would place five solar arrays in parking lots in the southern part of campus that would generate 10 megawatts of power, or about one-sixth the energy used on campus during peak hours. The arrays would be raised, allowing for covered parking.
East Lansing Community Development Analyst Lori Mullins said Inovateus requested an exemption because the company would be investing in equipment they would own and from which electricity would be sold to the university, all of which is taxable.
However, in a May 19 letter to city staff Inovateus president/CEO T.J. Kanczuzewski said the city's offer of a 30% abatement instead of the 82.2% tax break sought by the company meant the project would not be possible.
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The 25-year exemption would have saved the company a total of $4.4 million in taxes. The 10-year accord would save the company $2.6 million.
It looks like work on this project in underway at the lots on Farm Lane at Mt Hope, the old pavement has been raised and they seem to be putting down sand and stone for the base of a permeable pavement.[I don't know but that is what it looks like]. They are saving the trees in the lot which is nice. The private company building and running the project seems odd, as does the tax abatement. It seems like no one will build anything without a tax abatement. I know the MSU gets power from other companies as well as making it's own, it seems like this is a project MSU could have taken on itself.
Comments
This the only blog type thing I have ever written to, I know that all my post are not relevant to the subject,and be totally not ever going to happen,but I think that is one of the interesting things to talk about here. What could happen. So I am thinking maybe my posts are interesting or not, at least no one has commented on me personally. Thanks! I am pretty mature in age anyway, and do use the term 'they suck' but mostly when I actually know they do!
All that said, I agree with everyone else that this is a weird location for it.
With three kids, we love Costco. Plus, gas is generally 10-15% cheaper per gallon at their discount station, which is awesome too.
You also tend to get people shopping there who support that business model, so yes, similar to the Whole Foods crowd. I could see Costco being successful on the west side but makes the most sense on the east side. There is nowhere nearer to Whole Foods large enough to handle Costco- probably not in Okemos, either. The chosen site has a lot of traffic and is only a few minutes drive from major population centers and the freeway. I just don't know where else they would put it. Red Cedar is as close to downtown as would have been possible, but Costco isn't going to attract foot traffic. And I know I'm not carrying a 40 pack of toilet paper to the bus stop.