[LMich]

After hitting some roadblocks this summer and fall, both the Knapps Center redevelopment and the Marketplace (looks like the name has been combined) development are moving forward, again. So, finally some more construction coming down the pipe, next year:

Knapp's building, Marketplace projects in Lansing advance

Barbara Wieland • bwieland@lsj.com • December 15, 2010 • From Lansing State Journal

The former J.W. Knapp's department store and the Marketplace development projects received state tax credits Tuesday as they gradually move from ideas to reality.

But they also need other financial components to fall into place before construction can begin.

The Michigan Economic Growth Authority board approved a $4.9 million brownfield redevelopment tax credit for the Knapp's renovation project and a $6.7 million local and school tax capture for East Lansing developer Pat Gillespie's Marketplace project.

...

The renovation of the former department store, owned by East Lansing-based Eyde Co., is a $36.4 million project that would turn the dilapidated downtown landmark at 300 S. Washington Ave. into a building with retail and commercial sites on the lower floors and residential space on the fifth floor.

...

If all financing is secured, construction should begin in the late spring or early summer of 2011, Clouse said.

...

Gillespie Group's Marketplace project would include 170 residential units on 3.6 acres near Shiawassee Street and Cedar streets. But the property needs environmental cleanup before work can begin. Gillespie said the project is still awaiting the approval of a Michigan Business Tax Credit - a meeting is set for Dec. 22. If approved, Gillespie said construction would begin in fall 2011.

The perennial greening of Frandor on Lansing's far eastside has come back up, again. Frandor literally sits atop an old swamp, and the area has to be redone to comply with federal law:

A New Frandor?

by Andy Balaskovitz | Lansing City Pulse

December 15, 2010

On a cold, windy Wednesday night in November, Ingham County Drain Commissioner Pat Lindemann offered the first public glimpse into his vision for the Frandor Shopping Center at Emil’s restaurant on Michigan Avenue.

To Lindemann, Frandor represents a river-polluting planning blunder. It’s his mandate, he says, to keep polluted rainwater from running off the massive parking lot and draining into the Red Cedar River.

Yet, when City Pulse ran a story in June 2007, Lindemann said the plan was to be in place by now, with construction finishing by 2012.

And while he says the plans are in motion, he is bracing for another two, three, maybe five years of political wrangling, regional cooperation and investment commitments from developers. The newest visuals are merely tentative.

...

The Frandor shopping area, which blankets the below-ground Montgomery Drain, is the largest contributor of nonpoint source pollution (i.e. rain water from the streets) in the Red Cedar watershed, Lindemann said.

His aim is to turn the area back into a swamp that will absorb the rainwater. This can be accomplished through “low impact design,” such as rain gardens, as opposed to piping it, as is done now.

“I have to interrupt that flow. That’s my charge under the Clean Water Act and I can’t do it alone,” Lindemann said.

Aside from rain gardens in the parking lot, there is also the defunct city-owned Red Cedar Golf Course to the south across Michigan Avenue.

“That becomes the sewer — the whole damn golf course. It’s a huge catch basin,” Lindemann said.

And then there is the commercial development nearby, which Lindemann says could be a catalyst to get the project moving.

...

A planned pedestrian bridge over Michigan Avenue would be key to linking MSU students to Frandor, heightening its retail prowess. There is also consideration for an outdoor amphitheater and a bit of retail on the old golf course.

“This is how we rebuild cities,” Lindemann said. “This is about rebuilding Lansing.”