Council grants 12 licenses for rent in Albert Place condos
By Jeff Kanan (Last updated: 12/02/08 11:42pm)Albert Place Condominiums are available to rent after the East Lansing City Council approved rental licenses for 12 of the 36 units at its meeting Tuesday night.
The rental licenses were granted for units on the third and fourth floors of the complex, located at the corner of Albert Avenue and Bailey Street.
“I’m aware of two MSU graduates who wanted to stay in downtown East Lansing and found residence in the stadium district of downtown Lansing,” Mayor Vic Loomis said. “We need to continue to do what we can to create job opportunities for MSU students, and we need to have them stay in the area by creating housing opportunities,”
In the original request, there were 22 rental licenses before property owners finally decided on 12. The leases run for two-year terms and cannot be sublet to another person, according to condominium bylaws. Only two unrelated people or a family can rent the spaces.
Because fewer licenses were approved than originally requested, the outcome might not be viewed as a complete victory for property owners, but at least it’s a step in the right direction, Councilmember Roger Peters said.
“This wasn’t the original intent of the owners, but given market conditions, and looking at the number of condos, we’re looking at a two-year term,” Peters said.
Also on the council’s agenda was the Delta Triangle rezoning project, which was deferred until the Dec. 16 meeting.
The council unanimously approved a rental license for the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, whose members had recently reapplied for a license because the house, located at 1148 E. Grand River Ave., has been vacant since December 2006.
The house received a favorable recommendation from the Housing Commission on Nov. 20 after being put on the commission’s agenda during the summer.
“They take recommendations very importantly, whether it’s the housing or the historical district — or whatever district is involved,” Peters said. “We always pay attention to that because that tells us the public’s interest as well.”
The lease was originally supposed to begin Aug. 1, but the house’s extensive vacancy period forced members to reapply.
“I watched the previous owners, and there was a night and day difference with this management, and that has a lot to do with it,” Councilmember Nathan Triplett said.
Originally Published: 12/02/08 11:34pm
John
12/03/08 8:18amThis developer has major problems to say the least. First of all, nobody in their right mind would purchase a condo in East Lansing of all places in this real estate market. Secondly, if you buy a condo there is a 66% chance you cannot rent it out, which is scary. Let’s face it, the whole building will have to go rental because nobody is going to purchase these condos.
Can we not agree these condos were built at the peak of the bubble? The developer made a huge mistake.
Ben
12/03/08 8:38amAgreed.
I feel that the condos in east lansing area prime example of poor planning by developers, city planners, and investors alike.
Mary
12/03/08 10:21amI am in complete agreement with John and Ben. People do not want these condos in East Lansing. Word is that West Village has one occupied unit. Now Strathmore is going to tear down a good portion of our town to build more condos. Extremely poor planning and I only hope this building can be stopped or done in stages so they can also see that it’s not wanted or needed here.
Bob Cant Rell
12/03/08 10:44amAEPi’s new house is a ‘10’ ;) Congrats boys!
Philip
12/03/08 10:44amThe ignorance of the folks who comment on these stories is astonishing. First of all, the cost of city services — especially police and fire — is constantly going up. And labor costs, particularly in ths two areas, constitute more than 60% of the city’s budget. The rest of the budget is for fixed costs such as maintenance of the city fleet of trucks, etc.
Also, the state is constantly reducing its revenue sharing with the city, and therefore, the revenue stream for teh city keeps going down, even though its costs are increasing.
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Jack
12/03/08 12:15pmBuilding housing that will lay fallow doesn’t improve the downtown – it just adds lots of empty space to it.
However, I’m all for these condos getting rental licenses. There’s no chance I would pay 180k for a condo in downtown E.L. when I could buy a very nice house a couple miles away for less than that; I’d consider renting one, though, if the price is reasonable.
Re:Philip
12/03/08 3:32pmPeople object to making it a better place to live because no one can afford to live in the kinds of places they are building. Even if they give out rental licenses you know rent will be around $500-600 a person minimum.
Hans Larsen, IV
12/03/08 6:34pmFirst, City Council abuses Tax Increment Financing, to encourage developers to worsen the oversupply of housing, by building luxury condos that cannot sell. Next, City Council bails out the developers, grants them rental licenses, as they will likely do for the City Center II and the East Village Projects. They are more than QUADRUPLING our taxpayer obligation debt.
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JD
12/03/08 8:43pmTake note that Hans Larsen (or Hans Larsen’s son) is essentially anti-student because of his stance on decreasing the availablity of rentals. Let’s keep that in mind when the Larsens pipe up from now on..
Hans Larsen
12/04/08 8:36amTim Dempsey, the head of economic development for East Lansing recently stated in the newspaper that there is an oversupply of rentals and that adding more rentals may cause more harm. Those are his words. If he points out the economic facts, does that make HIM anti-student?
I love students. I love MSU. There are FOR RENT signs EVERYWHERE! City Council views students as the enemies who shall be controlled and crushed by Police in Riot Gear, Parking and Code Enforcement, and the City Code.
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Hans Larsen, IV
12/04/08 9:22amPlease do not attack my Dad, when he has said and done nothing. How would you like it if someone else attacked your Dad when he has said and done nothing. I wrote Hans Larsen, IV, to clarify that it is me and NOT my Dad, because people have mistakenly accused him of things that I wrote.
HERE IS MR. DEMPSEY’s QUOTE Verbatim FROM THE STATE NEWS:
MSUâs enrollment has remained fairly steady, which means there isnât really a market for more rental units, Dempsey said.
âIf you add too many, youâre going to saturate the market, youâre going to see more vacancies, and youâre going to make more problems,â he said.
Those are the facts.
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