I do enjoy digging things like this up, sometimes I wonder if the LSJ or Pulse looks at this site. We have become a pretty good aggregator of Lansing area development information.
Seeing the color rendering, this looks like a pretty nice project. It's a little disappointing that it wont break ground for about a year, but I think it's a great sign to see things like this already going up this far east on Grand River.
Yes it is, this is exactly the type of infill that we need to build a dense urban core. In fact, the building where Tasty Twist moved to would also be a good block for redevelopment in the same fashion that this project is proposed in.
Also, that was actually an accidental pun there lol. Will be good to see orange cones out there ;-)
A heads-up. On the special election ballot in May 5th is also charter amendment that would change East Lansing's oppressive supermajority requirement to sell large-scale city-owned real estate to a simple majority. This outdated requirement needs to go. Anyone know what kind of majority threshold the actual charter amendment needs to get to pass? It's a simple majority, right?
I'm pretty sure it'd be a simple majority. I'm glad to see them making this common sense change as requiring a supermajority for something so unimportant seems silly.
Yep, I had a brainfart, because the entire framing of how ridiculous this was in the story I read is that it only takes a simple majority to change the city charter (a big deal), but takes 60% to sell land (over a certain valuation). To be fair, I don't mind the supermajority for something like parkland - that should be made most difficult to sell. But, a 60% vote to sell something like a parking lot? Nope.
In fact, East Lansing government has in general been set up for a very long time, now, and this is just one of the most glaring examples. Others include their crazy-detailed zoning code, stringent height limits, etc. It's funny, because I'm air on the side of more regulation than most Americans, and I'm sure East Lansing points to the relative success of their city weathering Michigans economic climate and point to their strict way of doing things as to what saved it, and maybe they could get away with doing that for years. But, it seems the narrative falls apart when times start to get good and people are falling over themselves to get into the city and projects are being cancelled or delayed for years. Then, you see the truth that they've done so well not because of the strict way they do things, but because they have always and will always be town with a huge, stabilizing university, and that the strictness of their government actually becomes a major detriment in boom years. It's good to see the NIMBYs never took over, but their power relative to their counterparts in most other Michigan cities is way oversized.
Looks like East Lansing narrowly (52% to 48%) approved the charter revision to allow for a simple majority for land sales (that aren't parks). This will make things like the Park District and future large projects easier at the front end.
The city council unanimously approved the site plan and special use permit for Gateway on the west side of downtown, last night. The brownfield agreement was approved much more narrowly on a vote of 3-2. The approval is tentative, and the development must work out easements with the city at the request of the neighboring West Village development.
Comments
Seeing the color rendering, this looks like a pretty nice project. It's a little disappointing that it wont break ground for about a year, but I think it's a great sign to see things like this already going up this far east on Grand River.
Also, that was actually an accidental pun there lol. Will be good to see orange cones out there ;-)
In fact, East Lansing government has in general been set up for a very long time, now, and this is just one of the most glaring examples. Others include their crazy-detailed zoning code, stringent height limits, etc. It's funny, because I'm air on the side of more regulation than most Americans, and I'm sure East Lansing points to the relative success of their city weathering Michigans economic climate and point to their strict way of doing things as to what saved it, and maybe they could get away with doing that for years. But, it seems the narrative falls apart when times start to get good and people are falling over themselves to get into the city and projects are being cancelled or delayed for years. Then, you see the truth that they've done so well not because of the strict way they do things, but because they have always and will always be town with a huge, stabilizing university, and that the strictness of their government actually becomes a major detriment in boom years. It's good to see the NIMBYs never took over, but their power relative to their counterparts in most other Michigan cities is way oversized.