Yeah, I'll second that one. I can't imagine anything going into there current place based on its size. Unless a developer could modify it so you could put multiple companies in it. And it looks too nice to raze, so will it just sit vacant? Does anyone more familiar with the project know if there are any plans, even if just heresay? Any idea if Auto-owners would keep any employees at the current site or use it in another way?
I grew up in DeWitt and still consider it "home" so I have a personal issue with this project. It is completely out of character with the area. Should the project go through, it would open up the “green belt” that separates DeWitt and Lansing to sprawling development. Restaurants, hotels and shopping centers would need to be constructed to support the new headquarters. There are better options out there. I don’t buy the lack of parking argument in downtown from some of the bloggers on the LSJ site. I’m sure that a deal could be reached with the city (even the state or county via land swap – yes, that would require some out-of-the-box thinking on the part of government... it will have to happen sometime or MI is doomed) to remedy that problem. Besides, to attract the young professionals that businesses are competing for you need to have the infrastructure for mass transit, as well as a variety of urban housing options. I know as a young professional I love my 15 minute commute by bus and the fact I haven’t had pay a penny for gas to/from work in over two years! Oh and I won’t even go into the future of gas prices… by the way, thanks to everyone for fueling Houston’s economy every time you make a stop at the pump. (sad, but true…)
I would be suprised to see Auto Owners actually end up moving out there, they may not even want them out there. I really expect them to expand where their at somehow with a slim chance of moving downtown, depending how downtown development goes.
It’s my understanding that JNL has already outgrown its Okemos office building. They have apparently moved some of the employees back to a portion of the original building in south Lansing.
I agree with you hood, I’d be surprised to see them move in the near future. Auto Owners just finished that nice addition a few years back.
All they did was buy a huge chunk of land in the middle of nowhere, obviously any plans they have are in the distant future. Besides, their an insurance company they could easily just dump the HQ plans and hold the land as a long-term asset.
The LSJ reports this morning that Auto-Owners is buying the Blue Cross Blue Shield property across I-96 from its Delta Township headquarters. It's a significant chunk of land. I wonder if it's another sign that a new headquarters in DeWitt Township could be off or kicked much, much further down the road (the first sign being the investment in a new data center in Delta Township).
It certainly makes financial sense for Auto-Owners to stay put. No other single company reasonably would take over their massive existing HQ (look at how long it's taken Jackson National to put its old Lansing HQ building back to good use), the office space market generally is weakening with the national recession and the upheaval of Wall Street and financial companies (including banks and insurance companies) has got to impact Auto-Owners to some extent. So the company faces the choice of having a fragmented campus with locations in DeWitt and Delta townships or having an empty building.
While I would love to see Auto Owners move back downtown, I know thats not going to happen. However, I would like it much more if they stayed at or near their current site rather than move out into the middle of nowhere in DeWitt.
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I agree with you hood, I’d be surprised to see them move in the near future. Auto Owners just finished that nice addition a few years back.
It certainly makes financial sense for Auto-Owners to stay put. No other single company reasonably would take over their massive existing HQ (look at how long it's taken Jackson National to put its old Lansing HQ building back to good use), the office space market generally is weakening with the national recession and the upheaval of Wall Street and financial companies (including banks and insurance companies) has got to impact Auto-Owners to some extent. So the company faces the choice of having a fragmented campus with locations in DeWitt and Delta townships or having an empty building.