Over on Mount Hope the walls for the new school are going up already. It is always a relief to see actual construction going on, as opposed to the talk and plans that we usually have that go on for years before anything happens.
I had forgotten all about Hobbs+Black, their buildings are never very adventurous but have a nice look. The public safety complex does have their aesthetic, I can certainly believe it's them.
I'm happy that they're at least building the Mt Hope School close to the street. The only rendering I've seen, which is of the back of the building, is not promising for how it will look.
A couple other items on the construction front: The windows at Walter French have been going in and look great, they really make the building pop. Also, the fence around the Ovation construction site has gotten wind screen in the past couple days so things may be close to getting going there.
I think I saw a ground breaking thing on LinkedIn for it. They do good work but rarely anything exciting. Especially the studio that would have done this.
Have to say, I drive by Walter French a lot and was so glad they were installing windows more true to the original. I thought they might cheap out on it. It's coming together nicely.
I have not been over to this area in a while, and I was wondering about the high-rise apartment building that was talked about a while ago on N. Grand River at the north side of the river. I have not heard or read anything about this project for some time.
I don't know what to make of that project near Turner Dodge. Someone obviously put a fair bit of work into coming up with a fairly detailed proposal unique to the site and took the time to go through rezoning. The Land Bank owning the property kinda eliminates one concern I had about it being a speculator trying to get it rezoned to remarket the land. Remember, this was around when they announced the Megasite in Eagle, I tend to think maybe this project was proposed because there was the immediate possibility of a chip factory being built just down N Grand River and someone wanted to be ahead of the game.
I'm anxious to see what the Boji/CATA project ends up being. At first they didn't even sound sure about the inclusion of apartments, now that seems likely. I really have no idea what to expect: How much space is CATA going to take? How many apartments? Any ground floor commercial space? Will they work with the housing commission on a combined site plan for the block? Will this be another 4 floor building or might we get a mid-rise? Lots of unknowns.
I'm really happy to see the reconsideration of the Ovation's extra funding, although given the attitudes I saw at the last meeting I'm having difficulty seeing how they come to a different result. Must be someone had a change of heart.
Ah, I think I remember city kid mentioning that in a thread, right? A 4-5 floor five-over-one would seem the most predictable option but I was figuring that if CATA was going to end up on anything more than the first floor that could change things, every time this project has been mentioned everything has seemed up in the air. I could just about see these from my house, at least when the trees are bare, so they are of particular interest to me.
I'm very much hoping to see that property redeveloped, I'd be happy to see something similar to what was originally proposed.
City Council denied the sale of the Grand & Lenawee lot to Boji. One thing I was not aware of was that these apartments are also to be managed by the housing commission. With that information I'm with the councilmembers denying this plan, the LHC is horribly mismanaged and for them to control an entire block of apartments downtown, with the potential for a third building across Cherry St, is sure to be a net negative. I had been hopping that the Riverview 220 would ultimately be managed by someone other than LHC but it's sounding as if it will be under their direct control.
On the other hand, they passed the Ovation brownfield so we should be getting a decent version of this.
I actually went to school with Gary Granger, I don't remember that he was a jerk then but it seems like he has grown up to be one. Of course, the $40 million pecked his interest, while he let his downtown properties to fall into the worst disrepair of any downtown, and his parking lot sits on one of the most visible corners downtown. One question they could ask is why this has been going on for decades.
The Granger debacle is an absolute joke. Their proposal for city hall is unexciting, but not offensive itself. The fact that they'd ask for an exclusive agreement to develop the old city hall and the Lansing Center (!?) is dumbfounding. Why is the Lansing Center even being brought up? Is the city trying to offload it behind the scenes? I hope not.
I think the statements about the Walter Neller building being a grass field implies the city won't allow a surface parking lot there. I imagine surface lots aren't allowed by-right in that zoning?
Comments
I'm happy that they're at least building the Mt Hope School close to the street. The only rendering I've seen, which is of the back of the building, is not promising for how it will look.
A couple other items on the construction front: The windows at Walter French have been going in and look great, they really make the building pop. Also, the fence around the Ovation construction site has gotten wind screen in the past couple days so things may be close to getting going there.
Have to say, I drive by Walter French a lot and was so glad they were installing windows more true to the original. I thought they might cheap out on it. It's coming together nicely.
https://www.wkar.org/wkar-news/2023-10-26/new-public-safety-campus-breaks-ground-in-lansing
I'm anxious to see what the Boji/CATA project ends up being. At first they didn't even sound sure about the inclusion of apartments, now that seems likely. I really have no idea what to expect: How much space is CATA going to take? How many apartments? Any ground floor commercial space? Will they work with the housing commission on a combined site plan for the block? Will this be another 4 floor building or might we get a mid-rise? Lots of unknowns.
I'm really happy to see the reconsideration of the Ovation's extra funding, although given the attitudes I saw at the last meeting I'm having difficulty seeing how they come to a different result. Must be someone had a change of heart.
City Council denied the sale of the Grand & Lenawee lot to Boji. One thing I was not aware of was that these apartments are also to be managed by the housing commission. With that information I'm with the councilmembers denying this plan, the LHC is horribly mismanaged and for them to control an entire block of apartments downtown, with the potential for a third building across Cherry St, is sure to be a net negative. I had been hopping that the Riverview 220 would ultimately be managed by someone other than LHC but it's sounding as if it will be under their direct control.
On the other hand, they passed the Ovation brownfield so we should be getting a decent version of this.
I think the statements about the Walter Neller building being a grass field implies the city won't allow a surface parking lot there. I imagine surface lots aren't allowed by-right in that zoning?