Fraternity Gets Rental License
After weeks of waiting for the Housing Committee’s approval, the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity received rental license approval Tuesday by the East Lansing City Council.
The motion will allow fraternity members to move into their 1148 E. Grand River Ave. location after vacancy in the house forced members to reapply for the lease that was originally supposed to begin Aug. 1.
Several of the Albert Place Condominiums also received rental licenses by the Council Tuesday.
Of the 36 units, 12 licenses were approved.
Source: East Lansing City Council
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Council grants 12 licenses for rent in Albert Place condos
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.
Published on Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Comments
John
12/03/08 @ 8:18am
This 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 @ 8:38am
Agreed.
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 @ 10:21am
I 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 @ 10:44am
AEPi’s new house is a ‘10’ ;) Congrats boys!
Philip
12/03/08 @ 10:44am
The 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. So, the only way to prevent budget probelms is to do one of three things:
1) Dramatically cut sity services such as police and fire protection.
2) Increase taxes.
3) Increase development to gain more tax revenue without raising taxes.
The city has, understandibly, concluded that the least controversial and politically challenging of those 3 options is the third one.
This means they have to pursue a somehwat pro-growth policy. But, not only that, developing the downtown is also good for the quality of life of the residents. More shops, restaurants, entertainment options, etc. The problem is, that the cost of doing these developments is astronomical, and the only way developers can recoup the money is by builing condos, etc. This is because urban planning and development experts all agree that the best way to develop a downtown is by building more mixed use projects that increase population density in these areas.
It baffles me as to why people so strongly object to making the downtown a better place to live, work and enjoy for the residents. I suppose they would rather have a bunch of parking lots (which the Albert place development replaced), or a big, ugly, abandoned set of old buildings with boarded up windows and grafiti right on one of the main corners of the downtown area across from campus (where City Center II is to go).
Jack
12/03/08 @ 12:15pm
Building 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 @ 3:32pm
People 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 @ 6:34pm
First, 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. Now we are at $55 Million Dollars, and City Center II and East Village projects will bring the total G.O. Bonds to $285 Million Dollars. This is PUBLIC DEBT not RESPONSIBLE GROWTH. They are driving our property values down, worsening the oversupply of housing, making the developers rich, and burdening the taxpayers with tons of debt. The answer to the East Lansing budget crisis is to shrink the size of government: cut spending. City Council failed to honor their word, to try to decrease rentals and increase owner-occupied housing. They are oblivious to the free market. If Albert Place lowers their astronomical asking prices for the condos, eventually someone will buy. Instead, City Council kowtows to the Developers, engages in Corporate Welfare, and grants them rental licenses—at the expense of the common taxpayers. City Council voted unanimously for the Rental Licenses and for City Center II, by ignoring the voices of legitimate opposition.
Hans Larsen, IV
(The Younger)
JD
12/03/08 @ 8:43pm
Take 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 @ 8:36am
Tim 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. There is no shortage of Student Rentals. Please check out how much rent is for Albert Place: $900 for a Studio and $1800 for a 2-Bedroom. These were supposed to be owner-occupied, luxury condominiums. Do the math and check the facts, rather than call people names, as you hide behind some initials, “JD.”
My argument is clear: City Council encourages irresponsible development—using taxpayer money, worsens the oversupply of housing, drives down home values, bails out the developers, creates City Center II and East Village Student RENTALS, and is well on their way (according to their published calculations) to more than quadruple our taxpayer obligation debt from $55 Million to $285 Million Dollars.
Hans Larsen, IV
(The Younger)
Hans Larsen, IV
12/04/08 @ 9:22am
Please 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:
MSU’s enrollment has remained fairly steady, which means there isn’t really a market for more rental units, Dempsey said.
“If you add too many, you’re going to saturate the market, you’re going to see more vacancies, and you’re going to make more problems,” he said.
Those are the facts.
Hans Larsen, IV
(The Younger)