I can't get over how squat it looks even at 8-9 floors. The more I think about it the more I wish that the units in this building could have been spread out over multiple buildings of varying sizes and heights, but I guess we'll have to take what we can get at this point.
I am hoping the facade will be light in the sense of it is a huge building by Lansing or any standard and it kind of fills the sky as you drive east down Michigan Ave. so something the is reflective of sky white or light grey tones like sand stone,and be illuminated at night would help to lessen the fortress feeling the building has now. Of course I have seen the drawings, and well I hope it looks better in reality. Plus now that it seems like it is just for students for some reason it seems less appealing, you know kind of like all those big blocks they built in E.L.. I probably will never know some one who lives there and won't be ever visiting that building. I also think the parking structure is very ugly and it all you can see from 127.
The way that this was built without public funds shows the amount of demand for student housing close to Michigan State. It greatly increases the land value of Sears and will likely lead to a similar development on the Sears property in the next 5-10 years. The land value won't increase as much for the Frandor Plus outlots since they are in East Lansing and will face much stricter zoning ordinances. The Red Cedar property is largely on the flood plain which is why it is so much more difficult for Ferguson to develop over there.
The map seems so poorly thought out,I have to remember I guess that Frandor was a huge field and really was the edge of town. I can not remember if there was a neighborhood were 127 runs through, or if it was in Lansing Township. I think a business association or some kind of private authority could come together and really help pull the edges of Frandor together[cross city limits], build better streets and sidewalks.Have better zoning use and signage rules, and add landscaping for beauty and drainage.
I view the annexation of the section of Lansing Township south of Michigan near 127 as an absolute necessity for Lansing. Virtually that entire portion of the township, including infrastructure, is run down and will have an increasingly negative effect on the surrounding areas of the city if left unchecked. In the short term I think annexing that piece of land is realistic and should be a priority, perhaps the Groespeck portion of the township would also be candidate for annexation in the not-too-distant future.
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