City Center II construction scheduled to begin soon

The predemolition work for City Center II is set to begin in the coming weeks after the East Lansing City Council began discussion on the project’s construction plan Tuesday.

Predemolition work includes anything that needs to be done to prepare the site, such as tree removal, knocking out fences and asbestos remediation, said Tim Schmitt, a community development analyst for East Lansing.

“They would like to start (asbestos remediation) relatively soon because they have to do very specific things to get it out of building, and to avoid it traveling through the air,” he said.

City Center II is a proposed $116.4 million redevelopment project for downtown East Lansing, featuring a 10-story building at Abbot Road and Grand River Avenue. The building will contain a restaurant, an upscale hotel, a performing arts theater and residential units.

Demolition for the project is expected to be completed by the end of the year, with construction beginning in early 2009, Schmitt said. Demolition will first include parts of Grand River Avenue and the Evergreen Arms Apartments.

Construction on the 10-story building will begin first, because it will take the longest to build, he said.

One concern raised by Mayor Pro Tem Diane Goddeeris was how the construction project will be enclosed.

Blocking the view along Grand River Avenue and Abbot Road seems like a better idea than construction fencing, she said.

However, Councilmember Nathan Triplett said he was concerned that constructing a wood fence to block the view may prevent the police from monitoring the area.

Other concerns council members mentioned were storm water control, the impact of the construction’s noise on The Peoples Church, 200 W. Grand River Ave., and off-site cleanliness.

The modified construction containment plan will come before council again at its work session next week.

During the meeting, council also approved a resolution supporting a greener building code for 2009.

This resolution urges code officials to approve the 30 percent solution, which would make new buildings constructed 30 percent more energy efficient by using more energy-efficient appliances, said Howard Asch, director of Code Enforcement and Neighborhood Conservation for East Lansing.

The state adheres to a single building code that all local governments are bound by, meaning East Lansing cannot have stricter building requirements than the state code, which limits its ability to promote green building, Triplett said.

“One of the reasons East Lansing is particularly interested (in recommending this solution) is that we do have a commitment to green building and environmental initiatives,” he said. “We’re bound by state law, so we have to be creative in the way we influence the codes.”

The resolution is going to the International Code Council, or ICC, which writes model codes that Michigan’s codes are generally based on. Every three years, the ICC updates its codes, and this is part of the standard update, Asch said.

Published on Tuesday, September 2, 2008