Here’s Capital Gains’ look at investing in Downtown Lansing. Also check out our guides to visiting and moving to Downtown.

The more than 30,000 state and local employees who work in Downtown Lansing have always provided a strong financial base for Downtown businesses.

Since the mid-1800s, when Lansing was incorporated and anointed as the state’s official capital city, these workers have spent their money at bars, restaurants and boutiques in Downtown Lansing. In 1897, Olds Motor Vehicle Company added more consumers to Downtown Lansing when it set up shop down the street from the Capitol.

This strong customer base turned Downtown Lansing into a destination, and has helped the city keep its head above water during tough national economic times.

In 2000, Lansing experienced its greatest population dip ever, losing six percent of its residents. But local and state employees, government officials and downtown business owners refused to let Lansing turn into a ghost town.

Optimism, new economic policy, and a commitment from Lansingites to keep the city great breathed life back into Downtown Lansing. Though only eight years have passed since the population dip, an onslaught of developments make it impossible to walk through Downtown Lansing without walking under scaffolding or noticing a new business.

From 2006 to 2007, Lansing saw a 300 percent increase in new investment and job creation. The city also saw $538 million in new developments, most of which are based in Downtown Lansing. Since 2006, the city has seen or heard about more than 30 new development or redevelopment projects.

Residential Boom

City officials often point to the renovation of the 108,000 square foot Arbaugh Building on Washington Street as the development that launched Downtown’s revitalization. The five story former department store was closed in 2002. It’s 2004 renovation converted the building into 48 lofts and more than 17,000 feet of commercial space.

Developer Gene Townsend and the Odeena Development Group have been putting their faith and money in Downtown since they created the $4 million Printer’s Row development in 2003. The Printers Row condos create a walkable community space for tenants that come from all different socioeconomic backgrounds.

“I wanted to build in a place that was close to jobs, recreation, school and things like that,” Townsend says about starting his Downtown development venture.

Townsend says in 2003 he noticed national living trends moving away from suburbs and toward downtowns. “It was pretty clear that that trend was going to come to Lansing, and we’re starting to see the front end of that,” Townsend says.

Townsend has plans to construct another $12 million mixed-use development on a large plot of mostly vacant land near the Hall of Justice on Ottawa Street in Downtown Lansing. These condos as well as the $13 million mixed use development he plans to build on Kalamazoo Street, will be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified.

Townsend’s Kalamazoo Gateway project on Downtown Lansing’s eastern end, and his Ottawa Street project on Downtown’s western side, act as new development bookends for the Downtown. Between these two pending developments are several hundred new lofts and millions more in new investment.

Developers Allen Drouare and Shawn Elliott are transforming dilapidated buildings on Grand Avenue into a $22.5 million 12-story mixed use development. Developer Pat Gillespie and the Gillespie Group are putting the finishing touches on the Stadium District, a $15 million mixed use property across the street from minor league baseball team the Lansing Lugnuts.

Gillespie also has plans for two new developments near the stadium. Ballpark North will sit behind the Lugnuts stadium and include two six-story, 120,000 square foot office buildings. The second development, Market Place, will replace the existing City Market that sits near the Grand River and transform it into a larger all seasons market and entertainment park. The price tag on these projects stands at $22 to $26 million.
 
The Accident Fund Insurance Company is putting $182 million into the old Board of Water and Light building on Grand Avenue so it can move its headquarters to the building. Ron Boji is renovating the classic Hollister building with $4.5 million, and Wenco Properties is using more than $1 million to renovate lofts on Washington Street.

Downtown Anchors

Big time developers wouldn’t risk losing millions if baby boomers and Generation Yers weren’t attracted to the Downtown Lansing lifestyle.

But small businesses have been working on attracting consumers long before the developers moved in. Since the early 1900s, small business owners have been creating a Downtown culture that’s just as important to the success of the area as spacious, New York-style lofts.

Kositchek’s, Downtown’s premier men’s clothing store, opened its Washington Avenue location in 1897, and has been selling high end clothing to businessmen and politicians ever since. The Peanut Shoppe, which is one of the only remaining on-site roasting shops in the nation, has been on Washington Avenue since 1937.

“We’ve stayed here because of the foot traffic,” says Peanut Shop co-owner Glenda Osterhouse. Osterhouse and her sister, Tammy Melser, took over the shop when their father retired. “There are thousands and thousands of government workers down here, and a lot of the major banks are down here.”

Kewpees Restaurant and Linn & Owen Jewelers have also held strong in Lansing’s Downtown for more than 70 years. The Knight Cap, a fine dining restaurant known for delicious steak and seafood, has been in Lansing since the 1960s. Joining the Knight Cap in the fine dining category is Troppo, which has been serving great wine and dolling out after work martini flights since 2004.

Jalapenos Mexican Restaurante owner Joseph Marzinski and his wife Robyn opened their Venezuelan-inspired restaurant in 1994, after selling their first Downtown business, the Daily Bagel.

“There is a lot of private sector business coming in and there’s a lot of new buildings going up,” Marzinski says about his decision to open a second business in Downtown Lansing. “This is just a good time to be Downtown.”

Sybil Shelton-Ford opened her As You Are Yoga location in 2005 because she saw a great potential customer base in the thousands of state employees who work Downtown.

“I was impressed they (the city) were trying so hard to build so many lofts and apartments Downtown,” Shelton-Ford says. “There was also a push to get people to live here.”

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Ivy Hughes is the Development Editor for Capital Gains and can be reached here. 

Dave Trumpie is the managing photographer for Capital Gains. He is a freelance photographer and owner of Trumpie Photography.

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Photos:

Printers Row condos

Kalamazoo Gateway project

Future Accident Fund Insurance Headquarters

Kositchek's

Jalapenos Mexican Restaurant

All Photographs © Dave Trumpie