Lansing Hooters building can be yours for $1.9M, former Sam's Club also available

Lansing State Journal

LANSING -- A south Lansing building, currently rented by a national restaurant chain with the motto "Delightfully tacky, yet unrefined," is on the market for $1.9 million.

The property is part of at least 140,000 square feet of available retail space in south Lansing's Edgewood Boulevard corridor.

The Hooters restaurant building at 172 E Edgewood Blvd. in Lansing is for sale. The building was constructed in 2001.

Clay Smith, a Dallas real estate agent, said the owner of the building that houses Lansing's only Hooters restaurant, 172 E. Edgewood Blvd., wants to sell it because of a neighboring Sam's Club's closure in January.

Smith declined to reveal the building owner's name and said he didn't know if Hooters' ownership group wants the restaurant to stay at that location.

"They can if they want," Smith said. "But we aren't sure what the plan is at the moment."

These residents won't apologize for south Lansing pride

The Hooters restaurant, according to city of Lansing property records, is owned by Hooters of Lansing, a corporate entity with a Dallas post office box.

Smith confirmed the 4,285-square-foot restaurant is in the 17th year of a 20-year lease. A document posted on the Matthews Real Estate Investment Services website indicates the standalone Hooters building would, through 2020, generate $162,382 a year in rent.

Sam's Club closed at 340 E. Edgewood on Jan. 26. The building is also for sale and listed on the Walmart Realty website as more than 136,000 square feet. The closure affected 172 employees.

City of Lansing property records indicate the restaurant building is owned by Nilem LLC of Pinellas Park, Fla. The records also show Nilem LLC listed under the address for a residential home in Pinellas Park.

Attempts to reach people at that address weren't successful.

'Accepting offers'

City Council member Adam Hussain, who chairs Lansing's Development and Planning Committee, said officials must work with a sense of urgency to find the right investors.

Hussain said the Edgewood corridor remains a draw, but lacks businesses like upscale restaurants and family entertainment venues that are prevalent outside the city.

“When you have areas that aren’t being reactivated, people vote with their feet (and leave)," Hussain said.

Hussain said Mayor Andy Schor, his administration and the Lansing Economic Area Partnership have tried to lure potential buyers for the Sam's Club building since it closed.

An asking price for the Sam's Club building isn't posted on Walmart Realty's website, but the listing mentions the company is "accepting offers."

A Hooters manager in Lansing declined to comment about the potential sale of that building and referred questions to the restaurant chain's corporate office in Atlanta.

Messages left with the office and Largemouth Communications, a company that handles public relations for Hooters, weren't returned.

'Huge spending power'

The area defined as Lansing's south side, south of Interstate 496, encompasses about 60% of the city's population and has business and neighborhood groups eager for change.

Business owner Revan Herfy, president of the Southwest Action Group, said potential investors for the available properties should meet with residents to determine what the area's needs are.

Business and neighborhood groups on the city's south side are concerned about a lack of businesses along the Edgewood Boulevard corridor.

Herfy owns the 1910 Food Market at Holmes and Pleasant Grove roads that he said serves 2,000 customers a week. On the south side, Herfy said he's noticed a lack of fine dining, ethnic food stores and restaurants, health clubs and banks.

"There is huge spending power in that area," Herfy said of the Edgewood corridor. "That’s a massive plaza. All those other places are still there for a reason."

Properties that remain open in the corridor include Target, Celebration! Cinema, Office Max, Go Workout Fitness Center and Texas Roadhouse.

Rejuvenating South Lansing, one of the city's largest neighborhood groups, keeps pushing officials to give the south side more attention and resources.

Elaine Womboldt, the group's facilitator, said the availability of the Hooters and Sam's Club properties presents a blank canvas.

"There's no quick fix answer on what to do," Womboldt said. "However, I'm looking at it as just the progress of change. I'm looking at this as a new business opportunity for developers to get their feet in the door."

Eric Lacy is a reporter for the Lansing State Journal. Contact him at 517-377-1206 or elacy@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @EricLacy.