E.L. officials approve amended site plan for City Center II project
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Chappelle
The East Lansing Planning Commission was reacquainted with an old friend Wednesday when it unanimously approved a site plan amendment to City Center II during the commission’s meeting at District Court 54-B, 101 Linden St.
The site plan amendment will allow a five-story building included in the of the 5.5 acre, $116.4 million project bounded by Abbot Road, Grand River Avenue and Valley Court Park to include office space. Currently, the parcel is allowed to accommodate commercial and residential units, of which it has planned for 25.
“We have a substantial amount of demand for the commercial space, such that we’re really not interested in committing any more space until we get further into the construction process,” said Scott Chappelle, president of Strathmore Development Co., the project’s developer. “We’re actually setting the market for rates right now and we’re comfortable that as construction progresses that situation will improve.”
The East Lansing City Council now will have to vote on the amended site plan.
Two members of the commission were not present at the meeting.
Tim Schmitt, East Lansing community development analyst, said the success of the Technology Innovation Center, or TIC, at 325 E. Grand River Ave., the upcoming Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, or FRIB, and offshoots from the city’s new IBM facility will create a demand for office space that the city cannot meet without changes to its infrastructure.
“I think there’s a clear need for office space downtown,” he said. “We can’t accommodate bigger office users right now, and hopefully this gives us the opportunity.”
Chappelle said he hopes to break ground this summer, but that depends on the financial climate.
“The credit markets are still shattered,” he said. “We see a path. It’s not without obstacles, but we still think we have the pieces to think that we can move this project forward.”
Paul Cervenak, an East Lansing planning commission member, said he agrees with the new site plan because there are already too many vacant housing units in the city. He said he would like to see whether Strathmore could keep rent lower for graduates from the TIC program to spur business activity and office use within the development.
“If this idea keeps on path it’s going on to attract more business,” he said. “I think it’s a good move. Taking away residential and adding office space is key.”
East Lansing Mayor Vic Loomis said he hopes the project moves through the city smoothly, although he expects the opposition to the project in general will remain. Still, he said the amended site plan suits the city, residents and businesses better.
“In my opinion it’s a positive change to the project,” he said. “I’ve always been concerned there were too many housing units from the get-go. This alternative removes some housing units and makes room for office space that we hopefully are going to need.”
Commentary
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torrance
(02/25/10 7:50am)Report
What a surprise! Who would’ve guessed?
This project will capture $59 million in school, city, CATA, and other taxes for 30 years. Why does the City have such a deep and abiding interest in Scott Chappelle’s financial fortune?
Every member of the City Council who votes for this gigantic monument to one man’s ego needs to be recalled. Shame on them all.
a nice addition
(02/25/10 8:26am)Report
i can’t wait to see that end of downtown el get a face lift. those old buildings are a scar on the city.
hey torrance
(02/25/10 9:03am)Report
there are minimal taxes collected on those properties now. without redevelopment there will be ever declining value and taxbase on those properties. the new value gets taxed and much of it is captured to pay for infrastructure improvements, not the buildings themselves. at the end of the 30 years when the TIF is done all that revenue goes to the school, cata, etc. not bad when you consider the buildings will stand for 80-100 years (and be taxed for that period).
Phil Bellfy
(02/25/10 9:23am)Report
It appears that everyone is still living in a dream-world. If Strathmore wants to develop ITS properties and build some office space, more power to them. But the city should not be selling him the land on which that office building will sit (the parking lot just south of Dublin Square) —especially when they need a 60% vote of the people to do so.
On the finance side of this issue: it’s a virtual certainty that HUD will NOT guarantee a loan to this developer —that is, assuming any bank would give him a loan in the first place, especially when he couldn’t find one to loan him the money to pay his taxes.
Bottom line: if he has tenants lined up, develop the property he already owns to suit those tenants (period).
Eliot Singer
(02/25/10 9:55am)Report
I become more and more convinced that Staton and company approach government much like Bush and his cronies. They seem to have read some theory on urban development that reminds me of “shock and awe.” What is a “restaurant incubator”? The one time I went to the perfectly good restaurant at the Marriot on a non-peak Friday night, we were the only people there when we arrived c. 6: 30 (by time we left there were a handful of other customers). East Lansing, at best, supports joints for students, and most of those don’t make it. And you can’t make plans based on past patterns, like people spending money they didn’t have to eat out, when the new reality is people are realizing they are broke—any rational planning (not that reason is a strong point for these development ideologues) for the intermediate future needs to assume cautious consumers, like those who lived through the last Great Depression.
A performing arts theater? How is that going to pay for itself? Who do they expect to perform there? Local theater companies don’t make it even with cheap performance space. Anyway, is there going to be need for live performance at this level in the future: already we can watch great performances on DVDs or with streaming, so it is hard to get us to a live performance that costs more and takes effort to get to and usually isn’t as good.
By the by, as I will keep reminding folks, the Eyde’s Hannah center is not a success just because Staton says it is. When they stop advertising for occupants and can show some cutting edge research going on with actual potential to produce jobs, then it might be deemed a success.
Eliot Singer
(02/25/10 10:20am)Report
By the way, there is a nice piece in today’s TImes about the billion dollar debt Vancouver taxpayers are liable for because of pie-in-the-sky financial expectations for the Olympics (with a powerful development lobby partly to blame).
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/25/sports/olympics/25vancouver.html?ref=global-home
Motown Rocker
(02/25/10 11:11am)Report
You can’t put your heads in the sand and think that the downtown is going to miraculously develop on its own, without initiatives taken by developers. This vote is an endorsement that the current PC makeup has vision, forethought and—most of all—a deep concern and care for the life of the downtown area. Way to go, PC!
Note to morons...
(02/25/10 11:16am)Report
Tech companies don’t need downtown office space the same way service companies do. They need to be close to each other, but the location doesn’t have to be in premium real estate. Remember all of these companies start in a basement or lab.
Benjamin Campbell
(02/25/10 12:54pm)Report
Liquid web IS NO WHERE NEAR downtown. Its in Lansing, close to delta township next to big shops, and Mejiers warehouse. Its much cheaper per sq ft in an industrial area. Plus the drive there is much easier and that not touching parking. No one smart enough to make money is going to move in there and pay top dollar. Thanks for the giant Fail EL. Maybe I will get off my butt and take your job. This is a giant pipe dream and a huge waste of our money.
Benjamin Campbell
(02/25/10 12:56pm)Report
People by houses for the SCHOOLS. That is what increases out property value. Good schools.