Building a village one day at a time

Plans to overhaul area east of campus to move forward this month

By Brian McVicar (Last updated: 02/03/08 4:15pm)

Editor’s Note: This article was clarified to accurately represent Campus Village apartment prices.

Cedar Village and the other apartment complexes that dot the 35-acre swath of land between Bogue Street and Hagadorn Road have been a spot of tension among the city of East Lansing, students and property owners.

Home to more than 2,000 students, the city sees the East Village as an area filled with wild, partying students.

In February, Pierce Education Properties, a San Diego-based development firm, will ask the East Lansing City Council for its blessing to begin an overhaul of the area, which also is bounded by Grand River Avenue and the Red Cedar River.

A new look

Instead of an area dominated by rental houses and apartments, the city and Pierce Education Properties are proposing an ambitious redevelopment plan that would remake the area.

The apartments and rental housing that line the streets would be replaced with buildings five or more stories tall. Retail space would be on the first floor and office or apartment space is planned to fill the remaining levels.

The style could be similar to the developments at Taco Bell, 601 E. Grand River Ave., or CVS, 240 M.A.C. Ave.

“We want it to be a place, a place where people will want to go to live, work and shop,” said Jim van Ravensway, director of East Lansing’s Department of Planning and Community Development. “Over time, the area could have significant regional appeal.”

The development plans, which must be approved by the East Lansing City Council, include a man-made canal, extending from the Red Cedar River, cutting through part of the area. Music clubs and storefronts could line its banks and the apartment complexes near the river would be demolished in order to create a public park.

Currently, there are about 600 rental units in the East Village, 546 of which are in the project space. Pierce Education Properties plans to increase the number to 965 housing units, with 80 percent targeting graduate and undergraduate students. The remaining 20 percent will be used for owner-occupied housing.

The price of those apartments will be determined by the market, said Fred Pierce, president and CEO of Pierce Education Properties. The price could be lower than the cost for apartments at Campus Village, which charges $700 per bedroom for a two-bedroom unit and $575 per bedroom for a four-bedroom unit.

Students living in the East Village pay about $350 or more for an apartment. Prices fluctuate depending on the size of an apartment and the number of people living in it.

“The theme of what we’re doing is using 24/7 environments as recruiting tools for students, faculty and staff,” Pierce said. “Our proposal, from the beginning, has always been dominated by student housing.”

Will it work?

Despite the project’s $750-million price tag, Pierce Education Properties is convinced it can pull off the project.

With the help of tax incentives from the city of East Lansing and bonds from financial lenders, Pierce said construction could start as early as 2009.

But he must persuade local property owners to jump on board — or face a project that’s dead in the water.

While the task could prove to be difficult, Pierce is confident he can strike a deal with property owners.

“We had a chance to speak with most of those owners before we even considered coming in and they all encouraged us to do so,” Pierce said, adding that major property owners, the city and university all were open to the project.

Still, those same property owners have concerns. And some say they aren’t sold on the idea of a redeveloped East Village.

While Colin Cronin, area director of student properties for DTN Management Co., did encourage Pierce to explore redeveloping the area, he isn’t convinced the plan will work.

“So far, we’ve agreed to absolutely nothing,” he said. “We love the East Village and the property we have there.”

DTN manages seven apartment complexes and five houses in the area that is being considered for the first part of the project. It is bounded by Bogue Street, the Red Cedar River and Stoddard and Grand River avenues. Stoddard Avenue doesn’t run through the area, but still is a boundary for the first phase.

Cronin said before DTN considers the project, he needs more information from Pierce.

That information includes whether a market for owner-occupied condos and increased retail space exists in the area, Cronin said.

With Michigan’s economy in a slump, the answer to those questions looks bleak, Cronin said.

“It just seems like it’s a really bad time to try to build more,” he said. “Maybe the economy will turn around in five years, but that’s a big bet.”

Lori Mullins, East Lansing’s senior project manager, said the city and Pierce Education Properties are confident Michigan’s housing market will recover by the time the first apartments and condominiums are for sale in 2012.

“Because of the timing, they are thinking it will be in an upswing by then,” Mullins said.

Yet, one property owner has been steadfast in her opposition to the project.

Nancy Kurdziel, president of Prime Housing Group, said she has no intention of selling her property to Pierce.

“When the time is right, we are going to redevelop on our own,” Kurdziel said in a statement. “Prime Housing Group will not be selling any of our properties — not to (Pierce Education Properties), not to the city of East Lansing.”

City officials hope the area will draw permanent residents, professors and young professionals.

While the development slowly moves forward, Ross Heath has continued to rent his three Woodmere Avenue homes in the East Village, which he has owned for more than 50 years. They also are located in the area that would be in the first phase of the project.

Heath said he has heard little from Pierce during the past few months, and he hasn’t decided on the future of his properties.

“I think most of the landlords are going on as they always have,” Heath said. “To me, and it’s just my opinion, I don’t think the money is there.”

Student housing

Some students are concerned the development will result in a fundamentally different East Village, one that bears scant resemblance to the student community it is now.

For Jake Sutter, the prospect of an East Village filled with older residents and shopping centers is troubling.

Sutter, an accounting senior, has spent the past two years living, socializing and partying in and around his East Village apartment.

“I think that these apartments, and especially in Cedar Village, they’re able to give you a certain student camaraderie like that you get at the dorms,” Sutter said. “It has a bit of the dorm appeal, but it also gives you your independence.”

One of his favorite memories is Tour de Franzia, an event where Sutter and friends would hop between area apartments sampling many of the brand’s flavors.

Sutter fears these freewheeling events could become extinct.

“There’s going to be a lot of complaints that are going to result, there’s going to be huge regulation, probably a higher police force around the area,” Sutter said. “The fun around the area is probably going to drop tenfold.”

The thought of the area’s communal feeling disappearing is depressing to Nate Geetings.

Geetings said the East Village is as an open environment where doors are left open.

“You walk through the Cedar Village area and a lot of people leave their doors open and it’s no big deal,” the transfer student said. “You change that around and you get other people that want their privacy.”

Originally Published: 01/31/08 11:00pm