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  #801  
Old Posted Nov 14, 2017, 10:30 AM
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Looks like The Hub in East Lansing goes back in front of the Planning Commission, tomorrow. There has been some very minimal revisions to the plan. The only one I see is that the overall height of the project has been reduced to 144 feet from 152 feet because of changes in the height to the second full floor. The reduction of 8 feet puts the main roof at 119 feet and the roof-top deck at 124 feet. Anyway, the 144 feet overall would still make it the tallest stand-alone high-rise in East Lansing by four feet.

The exterior details are pretty much the same:





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  #802  
Old Posted Nov 20, 2017, 1:33 AM
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^ I like it. What did the Planning Commission think?
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  #803  
Old Posted Nov 20, 2017, 8:35 AM
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It's recommendation failed on a 3-3 vote. Now it goes before council for a public hearing and then a subsequent approval/rejection vote. This is pretty typical for East Lansing, though. It's a small miracle that the 10-story project down the street is just about under construction. The minute something even so much as begins to run up against the 140-foot height limit, the city looses its nerve to the NIMBYs.

The crazy thing is that the developer addressed the parking concerns from the first showing before the planning commission. The developer added enough bicycle parking so it's now at a 1:1 ratio; they removed balconies to appease people yelling about balconies being hives for "noisy students."...but the commission is still hung up on the 0.22 parking/resident ratio even though the city's transportation commission praised it.

Anyway, the developer has not been deturred and made known he wants approval for this project from city council before the end of the year so he can keep with a February 2018 ground breaking.

You'd think in a college town like East Lansing that the city government would discourage parking, particularly knowing that students are less likely to own cars than other folks in the city. But they often do quite the opposite.
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  #804  
Old Posted Nov 21, 2017, 1:21 AM
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Quote:
You'd think in a college town like East Lansing that the city government would discourage parking, particularly knowing that students are less likely to own cars than other folks in the city. But they often do quite the opposite.
Ithaca was like that, but a couple of years ago they changed zoning in the Collegetown neighborhood next to Cornell and didn't require parking. Building boom happened, but there are height limits (60 feet for the core of the area).
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  #805  
Old Posted Nov 21, 2017, 6:01 AM
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Originally Posted by Ex-Ithacan View Post
Ithaca was like that, but a couple of years ago they changed zoning in the Collegetown neighborhood next to Cornell and didn't require parking. Building boom happened, but there are height limits (60 feet for the core of the area).
East Lansing actually has a zoning district like that, too: B3-City Center. It has no parking requirements and a 140-foot height limit. This project is just outside of downtown, but even its district (East Village) has half the parking requirements of a normal district and the same height limit as downtown.
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  #806  
Old Posted Nov 22, 2017, 2:56 AM
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Prep work began a bit over a week ago for Center City in downtown East Lansing. Well, yesterday, demolition officially began.

Photos by Peter Atkins.

Parking attendant booth:



Looking east up Albert:



Looking east up Grand River:



Looking east on the backside of the properties.



Little sad to see the buildings go, but fortunately, they weren't particularly architecturally significant. That is to say that at least they didn't tear down any landmarks. For instance, this little interesting curved building at the corner of Grand River and Abbot has been renovated and houses a business kicked out to make way for construction.


Grand River & Abbot by Brandon Bartoszek, on Flickr
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  #807  
Old Posted Nov 22, 2017, 5:46 AM
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Still cannot believe they are tearing all of that down. Lansing, a place I called home for over a decade, is becoming virtually unrecognizable. Charlie Kang's was an institution. I had a friend who was a cook there in college. Also, many friends lived in the second stories of those buildings.

Sure, I've heard the argument that they aren't that historically significant. But what is that, 20% of downtown EL's historic commercial strip? I also acknowledge that the university has far outgrown the town, but this just seems so dumb to me. Same with the strip down the road that was demolished where Emil's was, the buildings that used to be where the Lansing Center now is, and the old Lansing City Market for that matter, and the strip of buildings where the Stadium District now sits, and the old theater downtown Lansing, and the site next to the People's Church that held Curious Book Shop so many years ago that has sat vacant for a dozen years waiting to be "redeveloped" etc. etc. etc. Why has the Lansing region, a relatively stable area by Michigan standards, always just thought demolishing everything is progress?

I wish MSU would just start integrating uses on its own campus and Lansing would stop acting like it doesn't have surplus vacant land where these buildings could've been built. And I'm not talking about building residential colleges with premium dining options. Make MSU a more integrated place instead an island of bucolic academe.

This is becoming anemic and no one seems to give a damn, or even notice for that matter, evidently.
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  #808  
Old Posted Nov 22, 2017, 6:07 AM
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Charlie Kang's is still very much an institution. It's moving down the block while construction is happening. Same with Oodles of Noodles and a few others. All will get first crack at moving back into their location on the avenue if they want to.
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  #809  
Old Posted Nov 22, 2017, 8:45 PM
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Marketplace - November 22





Gillespie Group
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  #810  
Old Posted Dec 5, 2017, 9:25 AM
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Huge development news: McLaren Greater Lansing announced Monday evening that they are consolidating their two south Lansing hospitals, which will allow them an even closer partnership with MSU's College of Human Medicine than before.

Quote:
McLaren to build $450 million hospital adjacent to Michigan State

By Haley Hansen and RJ Wolcott | Lansing State Journal

December 4, 2017

LANSING — McLaren Greater Lansing will consolidate operations at its two south Lansing facilities into one $450 million hospital on what was once farm land near Michigan State University, the hospital announced Monday.
Quote:
The new health care campus will be developed on land acquired from the MSU Foundation in the foundation's University Corporate Research Park between Collins Road and US 127 south of Forest Road.

Work on the project will begin in spring and should be completed by 2021. The new campus will be paid for through bonds, Mee said.
This is big news for Lansing since MSU's College of Human Medicine had not really invested in its Lansing home and base, opting instead for Grand Rapids. A big reason for this project is to allow for MSU to be able to be able to recruit better, nationally, which it hadn't divided between all of the hospitals in the region. They will still partner with Sparrow and such, but this will become their main campus hospital.



Before anyone says anything, the University Corporate Research Park is at the literal edge of the City of Lansing, which is why the initial design and site plan are so suburban-minded. The technology park is MSU's technology incubator and a SmartZone which allows it tax capture. It includes laboratory, warehouse, light manufacturing and associated office space.



Anyway, what the campus will include:

Quote:
Plans are still coming together, but Lansing can expect these operations:

- Acute Care Hospital. A state‐of‐the‐art 240-bed acute care hospital.
- Karmanos Cancer Institute. A new cancer center will provide medical and radiological oncology treatments, as well as access for patients to clinical trials through Karmanos Cancer Institute, a national leader in cancer research and care and one of only two National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive programs in the state.
- Ambulatory Care Center. The office building will provide space for the physicians necessary to support hospital operations in addition to other independent practices from the community. The office building will allow also for the consolidation of a number of services into a single location, improving efficiency.
The building is planned for 9-stories.

This also allows for McClaren to compete more directly with Lansing-based Sparrow Hospital near downtown Lansing, and give the region two, large consolidate health campuses.
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  #811  
Old Posted Dec 5, 2017, 10:53 AM
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Massive industrial project coming to Shiawassee County. The county, which has fallen on hard economic times, is part of Lansing's combined statisical area, and lies halfway between Lansing and Flint. "Project Tim" is going to be a high-tech steel mill just outside of Durand, a significant railroad crossing in the state.

Quote:
Reports say massive steel plant planned for 1,000 acres in Michigan known as 'Project Tim'

By Paula Gardner | MLive.com

December 4, 2017

Efforts to assemble 1,000 acres in mid-Michigan raised questions earlier this year as the secretive so-called Project Tim promised hundreds of jobs and a $4- to $6-billion development.

Now the nature of the mysterious project is known: Steel.

An Ohio-based steel technology company is taking the lead on the land options in Durand, off I-69 between Flint and Lansing, according to a report in Crain's Detroit Business.
Quote:
In Durand, the plant could create electricity during the clean-coal steel-making process.

The community became concerned about the project early this year as it became clear that options for acreage were being sought in Durand and nearby Vernon Township, both in Shiawassee County.

City officials met with citizens in July, outlining a few details, like the projected job count of 800 and the likely location where a 24-million-square-foot facility would be built.
To put this into even more perspective, the site will be nearly half the total area of the City of Durand:

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  #812  
Old Posted Dec 5, 2017, 5:26 PM
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^ That is HUGE. But it sounds like there is a lot of missing / very preliminary information. It seems that the steel produced here would go towards automotive uses, which helps explain why this location. New Steel International builds it, but they don't operate it. What company would actual operate the plant? From the article, it is presumably not Russian-based MMK.

And who the heck is Tim?
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  #813  
Old Posted Dec 5, 2017, 8:48 PM
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Here's the Crain's article it seems to hint at big automotive players like GM & Tesla possibly being involved the reporter was called "well informed" but there was no comment.

Quote:
Project Tim revealed: Steelmaker planning sprawling plant in rural Durand

By CHAD LIVENGOOD
Crain's Detroit Business
December 04, 2017

....

New Steel International Inc. CEO John Schultes confirmed Monday that his company is one of several pursuing a project to build a multibillion-dollar manufacturing facility that it has kept under wraps for months using the code name "Project Tim."

....

Schultes confirmed New Steel International has applied for a Department of Energy loan, but declined to divulge the amount or details of the application.

The Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program was created by Congress in 2008 at the height of the financial crisis to help automotive companies finance development of new energy-saving technology.

....

The company has portrayed the project as having a renewable energy component.

Schultes declined to discuss investors and potential customers of the plant's steel or renewable energy when asked specifically whether GM, Tesla and DTE were involved in the project.

"Whoever is telling you all of this is certainly well informed, but I'm not going to confirm or deny it," Schultes told a Crain's reporter.

....

Crowe said Monday that the footprint has changed in recent months "because we do have a person who is not willing to sign an option."

Developers are considering plans to straddle the south and north sides of I-69 in Shiawassee County's Vernon Township, Crowe said.

"We are pretty close," he said. "We do have a few houses that we have to get yet."
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...plant-in-rural
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  #814  
Old Posted Dec 6, 2017, 10:01 AM
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Yep, since I hear they'd be shipping pellets in (and maybe finished parts out), this is the perfect location for GM since you can directly access its facilities in Lansing and Flint (via the CN Flint Subdivision), Detroit (via the CN Holly Subdvision), and Saginaw (via the Huron & Eastern Railway). It also links up directly with Toledo via Ann Arbor on the Great Lakes Central and Ann Arbor railroads. It's really a good location for something like this, though I think access to large amounts of water might be an issue.

Back on the new hospital, it seems that this is also just as much about economic development in the University Corporate Research Park than anything else.

Quote:
According to LEAP, not only will the hospital to cause property values to go up, but the city will also have a better chance of recruiting new medical device manufacturers.

“We’re going to be able to build I think a brand new sort of invigorated private industry related to knowledge based economy – you know health issues, health care – around this specific location,” Trezise said.
The technology park's potential has been mostly unrealized. The last big deal that would have landed a headquarters in the park for TechSmith, a software development company in the area, was announced in 2007, but eventually fell apart. So it's been 10 years since anything big was planned for the park. This should change that and help link Lansing and East Lansing more closely together economically.
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  #815  
Old Posted Dec 10, 2017, 9:25 AM
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This kind of appeared out of nowhere. A giant silver bust appeared on Michigan Avenue at Museum Drive a few days overlooking the science/children's museum:

Quote:
LANSING - Officials on Monday plan to officially unveil a new piece of public art in downtown Lansing.

"Portrait of a Dreamer," a sculpture by Ivan Iler, was transported from St. Johns on Thursday morning and installed at the intersection of Michigan Avenue and Museum Drive, according to an item on the city's Facebook page.

The sculpture has gears protruding from the forehead of the figure. A crank can be used to turn the gears.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is set for 2:30 p.m. Monday, according to the Facebook post.

Nick King | Lansing State Journal


Nick King | Lansing State Journal


Nick King | Lansing State Journal

Still trying to figure out, though, why they thought it was a good idea to obstruct the sidewalk like this. This is a fairly busy stretch of sidewalk. Given that it required so much space, it would have probably been better to put this on a plaza somewhere, like at Lansing City Hall or maybe near the City Market.
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  #816  
Old Posted Dec 10, 2017, 4:47 PM
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I don't know about location, but it has some nice legs in that first picture.
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  #817  
Old Posted Dec 13, 2017, 5:45 PM
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Site plan passes for new 10-story apartment building at Bogue, Grand River
10-story, mixed-use apartment building is coming to the corner of Bogue Street and E. Grand River Avenue.
State News
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  #818  
Old Posted Dec 15, 2017, 10:15 AM
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I was mildly surprised that the vote on this one was unanimous. It's been really weird, too, that the planning commission is less progressive than the city council. It's usually been the other way around. Then again, the council had a slight change last month when elections brought in a more pro-development candidate to council.

The planning commission bizarrely was complaining this project didn't have enough automobile parking...despite this being geared toward students. The developer actually went back and added even more bicycle parking to make the commission feel better, and they still ended up split 3-3 on the project. If they are truly worried about traffic, they should have been rewarding the developer for not oversupplying parking spaces.

Meh. Anyway, the council saw through this concern - in fact, they told the media they were not the least bit bothered by the "lack" of parking - and this looks like it'll have shovels in the ground by fall. Glad to see this one moving so quickly and with minimal controversy given how crazy trying to get stuff built in or near downtown East Lansing can be.
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Old Posted Dec 15, 2017, 5:23 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LMich View Post
Before anyone says anything, the University Corporate Research Park is at the literal edge of the City of Lansing, which is why the initial design and site plan are so suburban-minded. The technology park is MSU's technology incubator and a SmartZone which allows it tax capture. It includes laboratory, warehouse, light manufacturing and associated office space.
Still, not a bad looking design, and a great addition to the city.

Quote:
Originally Posted by LMich View Post
I was mildly surprised that the vote on this one was unanimous. It's been really weird, too, that the planning commission is less progressive than the city council. It's usually been the other way around. Then again, the council had a slight change last month when elections brought in a more pro-development candidate to council.

The planning commission bizarrely was complaining this project didn't have enough automobile parking...despite this being geared toward students. The developer actually went back and added even more bicycle parking to make the commission feel better, and they still ended up split 3-3 on the project. If they are truly worried about traffic, they should have been rewarding the developer for not oversupplying parking spaces.

Meh. Anyway, the council saw through this concern - in fact, they told the media they were not the least bit bothered by the "lack" of parking - and this looks like it'll have shovels in the ground by fall. Glad to see this one moving so quickly and with minimal controversy given how crazy trying to get stuff built in or near downtown East Lansing can be.
Another great win for Lansing! With this and Center City under construction at the same time, I'm a tiny bit jealous.
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  #820  
Old Posted Dec 18, 2017, 4:41 PM
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As part of its plans to shutdown all of its coal-fired power plants, the Lansing Board of Water & Light announced it's replacement for the Erickson Station in Delta Township, today.

Quote:


BWL to build $500 million natural gas power plant in Delta Twp.

By Sarah Lehr | Lansing State Journal

December 18, 2017

LANSING — The Lansing Board of Water & Light plans to build a $500 million natural gas-fired power plant at the site of the coal-fired Erickson Power Plant in Delta Township, part of its drive to reduce the city's dependence on coal.

Construction of the new plant will create 1,200 temporary jobs. The project is expected to conclude by 2021.

The city-owned utility has promised to bring the Erickson Power Plant offline by 2025. It has also pledged to retire the Eckert Power Plant in Lansing's REO Town by 2020.

The elimination of Lansing's two remaining coal-powered plants will reduce the city's carbon emissions by 80%, according to the BWL.


The project also includes the relocation of its Penn-Hazel operations facility out of a floodplain on Lansing's eastside to the site of the former Fisher Body plant on Lansing's far-westside, which the city has been trying to get redevelopment on for years, now.



This comes on the heels of the BWL having replaced its aging downtown Eckert Station with its REO Town Cogeneration Plant back in 2013:


BWL Headquarters & Cogeneration Plant by Brandon Bartoszek, on Flickr
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