The LSJ has a story on their front page about documents related to selling and redeveloping city hall. They link to http://lansingcityhallredevelopment.com/ which is the website advertising the redevelopment.
I am pretty against this. I don't think the city should be giving up prime real estate, and I don't think the city will get the better end of this deal. Either City Hall will become a tenant of some landlord and be stuck with perpetual lease fees, or they will end up in a smaller and/or more expensive building that doesn't necessarily solve their current problems.
This to me looks like it is set up to make a chosen developer very rich at the expense of the constituents of Lansing.
This to me looks like it is set up to make a chosen developer very rich at the expense of the constituents of Lansing.
Which is basically what happened with the City Market. Really, I thank Virg for his service, but it's crazy he's still pushing these schemes on his way out the door. Were this another mayor, I might give something like this a second look. But like you said, from Bernero, this feels like a scheme and we've seen this story play out before.
If developers really want a hotel near the capitol, they can go get the Farnum Building, or build out the top of the Townsend Parking Garage at Capitol View, or build on part of that lot just southwest of the capitol. The only reason developers would be going after city hall is because they know Virg would practically give it away cutting down on their development costs.
Anyway, it's cute that they have the old Capitol Club Tower design as a filler...you know, the tower we were promised at the old Capitol Club they demolished if we sold them the garage. Maybe Virg should concentrate on that promise. All we got out of that was a gussied up parking garage and a surface lot where the historic building used to be while the owners rake in the parking bucks.
@MichMatters , I thought it was amusing to see the Capitol Club tower reappear...way for them to be creative. Also, I agree, if people want to redevelop around the Capitol why not focus on the surface parking lots or garages? I recently interviewed at another firm downtown, currently work downtown but had taken parking for granted, and they complained about how full the lots and garages are in terms of monthly permits. Perhaps there is a need for more vertical developments with parking decks that exceed requirements for the project. It surprised me that we have a several month waiting list on parking while surface lots and garages are abundant.
@Jared , I used to support and like Virg but I'm really getting sick of these shady deals. The current building seems more than adequate, prime location and a great example of international style architecture in the midwest. They will not be able to construct something even remotely as high end and tasteful as the current city hall for their budget. Gillespie would probably do it and have a mess of multi colored panels on it. Further more, the sale price seems like it's ridiculously low for its location and encouraging its demolition.
I saw an article where Virg said it would take $60 million to renovate the current city hall, working in architecture that number seems absurdly high. While renovations do tend to run more than a new build, $60 million is ridiculous. I would like to know why there was not a study done on the feasibility and cost of renovation. I have to say, state projects are a nightmare to deal with because of things like that but at least they're more logical and smart with their money, sometimes.
I work at a top architecture firm nationally and with various major developers and I haven't even heard of rumblings of this proposal in my office. They're keeping it suspiciously low key for some "odd" reason. Way to go for Virg, leaving office with a bang by destroying our second great city hall...
I'll stop before this just turns into a full out rant!
I hadn't really realized this was that serious of a proposal until reading the City Pulse article. I'll just say that this needs to be stopped. There's absolutely no reason to be pushing through a sale of City Hall at this point, much less for that price. If this sale goes through we'll end up with City Hall demolished and a mediocre building or a parking lot in its place.
The timeline is ambitious to say the very least; I seriously doubt Virg can follow this timeline. Even in the off chance that he does, there would be all kinds of lawsuits to tie this up, to speak nothing of what the council would be able to do to stop, I'd have to believe. I haven't been under the impression that the mayor can just unilaterally sell property; he'd have to get council approval, wouldn't he?
So, I'm not too worried about the process, especially since the LSJ and the City Pulse blew the whistle on this
I have been wondering about the project going on at the south entrance to the Capitol Building. I am not sure that I have heard what is going on there. I know they were talking about how much repair the building needs, is this the beginning of that work?
Thanks for the information. It is good to know they are serious about the upkeep of the Capitol.
I noticed an story about the old warehouse next to 496 on Hosmer Street. Neogen has been the company rehabilitating that building since last winter. It is good to see this area get some activity and Neogen has found a better place to build a warehouse type building. I have not seen anything happening at the large warehouse up the street towards Kalamazoo. There was a story about that building becoming a self storage business about a year ago.
Yeah, the story says Neogen was running out of room at its current complex for this subsidiary up at Hosmer and Vine. It makes me wonder what they are going to use that old facility for now, though.
Was reading the most recent agenda for the Committee on Planning & Development to be held Monday. Nothing major stuck out, but I did catch that Kindsvatter Dalling and Associates, a consultant and lobbying group currently located in the non-descript modern office building at the corner of MLK and St. Joseph at the very southwestern corner of downtown, is moving forward on their plan to renovate the old Fire Station #3 in the Capitol Commons apartment complex just a block or two away as their new home. It was built in 1953 and constructed in the early-modern style.
This is a nicely designed building for a city service. I wonder how did Lansing do this back in the 50's. I can't believe that the feds and the state gave the city so much more money that they could design and build expensive stylish modern buildings. I know there are lots of places for less money to go in the city now, but I think they must of had much different priorities in those days. I wonder how much if any federal or state money was used to build this fire station, as it is often cited the lack of this money as a reason for many ills like and bad roads and weed filled parks. I also wonder if say 65 years from now will we look at buildings like the Grand Tower or the PNC Building and say "wow is that a great building"?
Comments
The LSJ has a story on their front page about documents related to selling and redeveloping city hall. They link to http://lansingcityhallredevelopment.com/ which is the website advertising the redevelopment.
I am pretty against this. I don't think the city should be giving up prime real estate, and I don't think the city will get the better end of this deal. Either City Hall will become a tenant of some landlord and be stuck with perpetual lease fees, or they will end up in a smaller and/or more expensive building that doesn't necessarily solve their current problems.
This to me looks like it is set up to make a chosen developer very rich at the expense of the constituents of Lansing.
Which is basically what happened with the City Market. Really, I thank Virg for his service, but it's crazy he's still pushing these schemes on his way out the door. Were this another mayor, I might give something like this a second look. But like you said, from Bernero, this feels like a scheme and we've seen this story play out before.
If developers really want a hotel near the capitol, they can go get the Farnum Building, or build out the top of the Townsend Parking Garage at Capitol View, or build on part of that lot just southwest of the capitol. The only reason developers would be going after city hall is because they know Virg would practically give it away cutting down on their development costs.
Anyway, it's cute that they have the old Capitol Club Tower design as a filler...you know, the tower we were promised at the old Capitol Club they demolished if we sold them the garage. Maybe Virg should concentrate on that promise. All we got out of that was a gussied up parking garage and a surface lot where the historic building used to be while the owners rake in the parking bucks.
@MichMatters , I thought it was amusing to see the Capitol Club tower reappear...way for them to be creative. Also, I agree, if people want to redevelop around the Capitol why not focus on the surface parking lots or garages? I recently interviewed at another firm downtown, currently work downtown but had taken parking for granted, and they complained about how full the lots and garages are in terms of monthly permits. Perhaps there is a need for more vertical developments with parking decks that exceed requirements for the project. It surprised me that we have a several month waiting list on parking while surface lots and garages are abundant.
@Jared , I used to support and like Virg but I'm really getting sick of these shady deals. The current building seems more than adequate, prime location and a great example of international style architecture in the midwest. They will not be able to construct something even remotely as high end and tasteful as the current city hall for their budget. Gillespie would probably do it and have a mess of multi colored panels on it. Further more, the sale price seems like it's ridiculously low for its location and encouraging its demolition.
I saw an article where Virg said it would take $60 million to renovate the current city hall, working in architecture that number seems absurdly high. While renovations do tend to run more than a new build, $60 million is ridiculous. I would like to know why there was not a study done on the feasibility and cost of renovation. I have to say, state projects are a nightmare to deal with because of things like that but at least they're more logical and smart with their money, sometimes.
I work at a top architecture firm nationally and with various major developers and I haven't even heard of rumblings of this proposal in my office. They're keeping it suspiciously low key for some "odd" reason. Way to go for Virg, leaving office with a bang by destroying our second great city hall...
I'll stop before this just turns into a full out rant!
I hadn't really realized this was that serious of a proposal until reading the City Pulse article. I'll just say that this needs to be stopped. There's absolutely no reason to be pushing through a sale of City Hall at this point, much less for that price. If this sale goes through we'll end up with City Hall demolished and a mediocre building or a parking lot in its place.
The timeline is ambitious to say the very least; I seriously doubt Virg can follow this timeline. Even in the off chance that he does, there would be all kinds of lawsuits to tie this up, to speak nothing of what the council would be able to do to stop, I'd have to believe. I haven't been under the impression that the mayor can just unilaterally sell property; he'd have to get council approval, wouldn't he?
So, I'm not too worried about the process, especially since the LSJ and the City Pulse blew the whistle on this
I have been wondering about the project going on at the south entrance to the Capitol Building. I am not sure that I have heard what is going on there. I know they were talking about how much repair the building needs, is this the beginning of that work?
The LSJ had a story either today or yesterday on the $70 million renovation of the HVAC and electrical systems. It's going to last two years.
Thanks for the information. It is good to know they are serious about the upkeep of the Capitol.
I noticed an story about the old warehouse next to 496 on Hosmer Street. Neogen has been the company rehabilitating that building since last winter. It is good to see this area get some activity and Neogen has found a better place to build a warehouse type building. I have not seen anything happening at the large warehouse up the street towards Kalamazoo. There was a story about that building becoming a self storage business about a year ago.
Yeah, the story says Neogen was running out of room at its current complex for this subsidiary up at Hosmer and Vine. It makes me wonder what they are going to use that old facility for now, though.
Was reading the most recent agenda for the Committee on Planning & Development to be held Monday. Nothing major stuck out, but I did catch that Kindsvatter Dalling and Associates, a consultant and lobbying group currently located in the non-descript modern office building at the corner of MLK and St. Joseph at the very southwestern corner of downtown, is moving forward on their plan to renovate the old Fire Station #3 in the Capitol Commons apartment complex just a block or two away as their new home. It was built in 1953 and constructed in the early-modern style.
This is a nicely designed building for a city service. I wonder how did Lansing do this back in the 50's. I can't believe that the feds and the state gave the city so much more money that they could design and build expensive stylish modern buildings. I know there are lots of places for less money to go in the city now, but I think they must of had much different priorities in those days. I wonder how much if any federal or state money was used to build this fire station, as it is often cited the lack of this money as a reason for many ills like and bad roads and weed filled parks. I also wonder if say 65 years from now will we look at buildings like the Grand Tower or the PNC Building and say "wow is that a great building"?