Downtown : In the News

An army of volunteers descended upon the Capitol building to beautify the grounds, planting 19,152 plants in a single day.

According to excerpts from the article:

Working quickly and efficiently, the crew - more than 70 strong and ranging from teens to seniors - plucked color-coded plastic straws from the dirt and replaced them with colorful flowers. The blooms ranged from deep-burgundy petunias to pink begonias and screaming yellow marigolds.

Their goal for the day: get 19,152 plants into the ground to beautify the Capitol for the summer.

In the long beds leading up to the Capitol steps, the colorful annuals form a scroll pattern, one of four or five that rotate from year to year, said Trena Trowhill, the Capitol events coordinator. That's not so obvious from ground level, but the pattern is easy to spot from the steps.

Read the entire article here.

Experts say the Ingham County Land Bank is one of the best in the state and will be a model for the other 29 Michigan land banks at a conference in June.

According the excerpts from the article:

A statewide conference of land banks, which reclaim and resell foreclosed properties to put them back on tax rolls, is being hosted in the capital city June 6-8.

The national Center for Community Progress chose Lansing for its fifth annual Michigan Land Bank Conference. The Ingham County Land Bank—which is one of 30 banks in the state—is a poster child of success, officials say; so when the conference opens, about 200 people from all over Michigan will be drawn downtown to the Lansing Center to listen to local experts and learn from them.

Currently the city and the Ingham land bank are working together to use $17.4 million in federal money to address 255 housing units and another 230 foreclosed properties.

Land banks are set up to be more entrepreneurial than cities, experts say. They buy, lease and market property to families, businesses and developers.

Read the entire article here.

It's been two and a half years, but the redevelopment of the Downtown Lansing landmark power station is taking shape.

According to excerpts from the article:

All nine floors of the 190,000-square-foot power plant are in place. Workers are routing computer cables, heating and cooling vents and assorted spaghetti into the floors. A glassy new 105,000-square-foot addition is almost finished and a parking deck to the north is going up fast.

Most work on the Lansing-based insurance giant’s new corporate campus is expected to end this Thanksgiving, followed by a month or two of inspections and last-minute fixes.

Accident Fund employees can start hauling in the computers, coffee urns and kid photos in early 2011. The parking deck is scheduled for June 2011 completion.

The project is on budget at $132 million, according to the Christman Co., the general contractor. The parking deck is expected to cost another $31 million.

The theme here is adaptive reuse, on the grandest scale ever seen in Lansing.

Read the entire article here.

The redevelopment of the iconic Knapp's Building in Downtown Lansing took a major step forward on Monday night with City Council approval of some key financing tools.

According to excerpts from the article:

The Lansing City Council voted unanimously to apply for a $5.4 million loan through the federal Housing and Urban Development Department and a $2 million federal Brownfields Economic Development Initiative grant to help fund the project.

The project, estimated to cost $22.8 million, also received preliminary approval for a state historic tax credit worth roughly $3.3 million, according to Brian Conway, Michigan's state historic preservation officer.

Developer Eyde Co. plans to turn the former J.W. Knapp's Department Store building at the corner of Washington Square and Washtenaw Street into a mixed-use building containing retailers, office space, a business incubator, high-end apartments and underground parking.

Read the entire article here.

Tim Potter, who grew up in Okemos and went to MSU, has been helping to establish a new Lansing Bike Co-Op. The co-op recently held its Spring Launch Party at Basement 414 in Downtown Lansing.

According to excerpts from the article:

Casey McKell, a Lansing resident, helped organize the co-op after a Power Shift Conference last fall, which brought together student activists from across the state. McKell said one of the sessions focused on the idea of bike co-ops and some Lansing community members decided to start one.

McKell said the Lansing Bike Co-op will work to advocate bike-friendly practices and construction in Lansing as well as work to raise awareness about biking events in the area.

“As a part of the U.S. Social Forum, people will be biking from all over the country to come to Detroit for a national summit,” she said. “At least 50 people and maybe more will be passing through Lansing. We’re hosting them in a tent city on the east side of Lansing and will have a knowledge share, a community service project and then bike from there to Detroit together.”

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MSU student and periodic Capital Gains contributor, Kelly Steffen, writes in On Earth magazine about the four key things Lansing is doing to support more innovation, sustainability and young talent in the Capital region.

According to excerpts from the article:

Many people have this perception of Michigan and even more specifically of Lansing, that is clogged with a generic negativity. I will even admit that before I plugged myself into this whole vibrant and innovative scene, I thought only "losers" who couldn't find a job in Chicago or elsewhere, stayed here.

Now, I know I couldn't have been further from the truth. Both young and old students, professionals and entrepreneurs here in Lansing work endlessly to create green cities, collaborative co-working spaces and a vibrant nightlife.

So, before you even start with "there's no opportunities nor a fun nightlife in Lansing (or Michigan)," come hang out with me and my friends for a day, we'll change your mind.

My life is booming with innovative ideas, entrepreneurial resources, incredible mentors, impressive friends in Lansing; yours could be too.

Read the entire article here.

Time magazine recently published a piece about Lansing Community College’s (LCC) promise to give tuition money back to students who cannot find a job within a year of taking a six-week class in certain subjects.

According to excerpts from the article:

Money-back guarantees hardly seem to go with higher education. And offering them to prospective applicants during a recession sounds downright insane. But that's the sweetheart deal a community college in Michigan has started dangling to try to increase its enrollment. Beginning in May, people who take six-week courses in certain subjects will be guaranteed a job within a year—or they'll be refunded their tuition money.

It's a radical idea, particularly for a school located in Lansing, Mich., where unemployment sits at 11.7%. Lansing Community College, the third largest community college in the state, has 30,000 students a year, but is looking for more. The new money-back guarantee will apply to the four most in-demand technical jobs in the area: call-center specialists, pharmacy technicians, quality inspectors and computer machinists. The average pay for these jobs in 2008 ranged from $12.10 an hour (call-center specialists) to $15.72 (computer machinists).

The cost for one of these six-week training courses—which don't come with a degree but rather a certificate granting qualification in a specific area—averages around $2,400.

Read the entire article here.

Pat Gillespie’s Stadium District mixed use property in Downtown Lansing, first opened in 2008, is nearly full.

According to excerpts from the article:

One commercial spot and three condominiums remain open in the nearly $13 million building that opened in May 2008 at the southeast corner of Michigan Avenue and South Cedar Street.

The structure is considered a key downtown development project.

A restaurant and bar operator from the Chicago area has a letter of intent to lease the last 4,125 square feet of the 36,000-square-foot commercial space, said developer Pat Gillespie of East Lansing-based Gillespie Group.

Read the entire article here.

The national magazine Next American City has taken notice of Lansing’s recent success in turning vacant neighborhood school buildings into spaces for high tech, medical and creative industries. The buildings are being scooped up by companies desiring large, relatively cheap start up space.

According to excerpts from the article:

Nanotechnology, biotechnology, and health care companies are scooping up abandoned school buildings ranging from 20,000 square feet to more than 50,000 square feet in size. After purchasing them for $100,000 to $400,000 or less than $20 a square foot, these firms are rehabbing them and turning them into economic generators.

“Over the last 20 years, we have taken five buildings that had really begun to be eyesores on the community and converted them into offices and manufacturing space,” says James Herbert, founder and CEO of the Neogen Corporation.

Neogen is a publicly traded company that develops food and animal safety products. Each year Neogen manufactures more than $50 million worth of product at its Lansing headquarters, which is divided into two campuses, both of which are situated in old school buildings.

The Lansing School District has sold more than 20 school buildings in the last four decades to a small group of tech companies, including Neogen.

Read the entire article here.

Now that General Motors is kicking up its production, local auto suppliers are preparing for a boost in business.

According to excerpts from the article:
 
Milwaukee-based Manpower Inc.'s national employment outlook survey shows Lansing-area employers have more optimistic hiring expectations for April, May and June from the first three months of the year.

Manpower reported 61 percent of more than 100 Lansing-area employers surveyed plan to keep their current staffing levels for the second quarter, while 22 percent expect to hire workers and 14 percent anticipate cuts.

That's better than the first quarter, when 70 percent of roughly 150 local employers surveyed said they planned to maintain their existing workforce, 21 percent expected to cut jobs and 6 percent planned to add workers.

Read the entire article here.

Theresa Gasinski’s plan to put bicycle banks around the region as part of a bike sharing program won her first place at Eve of Ignition and a spot at Ignite Lansing, reinforcing community interest in her idea.

According to excerpts from the articles:

The event's 15 presenters were chosen by popular vote in an online poll prior to the event. Topics ranged from how to become an amateur astronomer to how to write a novel.

The Lansing Principal Shopping District hosted the event along with area sponsors.

The presenters at Ignite gave the sort of keynote speech you might hear at a conference, but in a condensed form. The event's slogan is "enlighten us, but make it quick." Each presenter had five minutes to make their point. The presenters' slides forwarded automatically every 15 seconds.

Read the entire article here.

Charrette anyone? More than 20 urban planners and developers met with the co-founder of the National Charrette Institute to discuss how collaboration could help with Capital region building and zoning improvements.

According to excerpts from the article:

“Charrette” has become the term of art for gatherings of developers, officials, citizens, and anybody else in town with an interest in a proposed redevelopment project or zoning overhaul.

Bill Lennertz, co-founder in 2001 of the Portland, Ore.-based National Charrette Institute, came to Lansing last week to tutor 28 urban planners, developers and students from all over Michigan in the delicate art of running a charrette.

Municipalities sometimes run charrettes, but usually they are run by a team of professional designers and planners who are certified by a trainer like Lennertz.

Read the entire article here.

This summer six-to-eight science minded high school juniors will receive $2,000 stipends to spend the summer working as Michigan State University (MSU) researchers.

According to excerpts from the article:

Sexton High School junior Jade Frazier said she has wanted to get into the medical field since she was about 5, when she had trouble breathing and was rushed to the hospital for asthma treatment.

The 16-year-old could come one step closer to reaching her goal of becoming a radiologist if she is selected to participate in the Future Scientist Program, a paid summer internship announced Thursday.

Six to eight Lansing high school juniors will be chosen for the pilot program, giving them the opportunity to work with Michigan State University researchers in campus laboratories.

Read the entire article here.

The Lansing Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) is broadening the geographic coverage of its business loan program services to include more high tech companies.

According to excerpts from the article:

Historically, the Business Finance Assistance Program targeted specific areas such as Old Town, Michigan Avenue and downtown. It provided loans to several bars and restaurants.

"We've got to think about how we're going to help small businesses—in particular, how to diversify them," said Bob Trezise, the LEDC's president and CEO.

"The downtown has taken off. Maybe the loan and other efforts did their jobs."

Read the entire article here.