East Lansing City Council approves $105M Park District plan, including 10-story hotel

This story has been updated to include comments from Mayor Mark Meadows.

EAST LANSING — After years of delays, a plan for a long-blighted corner of East Lansing's downtown may soon come to fruition. 

The East Lansing City Council approved a site plan for the latest iteration of the $105 million Park District project, which would add hundreds of hotel rooms and residents to downtown East Lansing.

Chicago-based DRW/Convexity plans to build an 11-story, 140-foot tall mixed-use building with two levels of parking at the corner of Abbot Road and Grand River Avenue. The first floor would have about 13,800 square feet of retail space. There would be 89 parking spaces between levels two and three. 

The apartments would be mixed-market units comprised 105 studio units, 18 one-bedroom units, 45 two-bedroom units and 50 three-bedroom units. There would be a rooftop terrace on the eleventh floor. 

The developers also are planning a 10-story, 119.5-foot tall Graduate Hotel adjacent to the People's Church. The first floor would be used for the hotel lobby and retail space. The upper floors would have guest rooms, meeting rooms, a ballroom, fitness room and a rooftop restaurant. The building would have 194 rooms, 6,480 square feet of meeting space and 3,290 square feet of retail space. The hotel will have valet parking.

The two buildings aren't the only ones adding to East Lansing's skyline. A 12-story student apartment building is currently being constructed on the opposite end of downtown and just a block away construction crews are working on the 12-story Center City District project.

East Lansing Mayor Mark Meadows said he's pleased to see the influx of tall buildings in downtown. He said the trend is likely to continue.

“I believe in greater density," he said. "I’d rather build up than build out."

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On Evergreen Avenue, the developer is proposing a four-story, 52-foot-tall building with residential units and one level of parking. The building would have 28 efficiency units, 26 one-bedroom and 18 two-bedroom units. There would also be one level of structured parking with 26 parking spaces. 

East Lansing’s Planning Commission and Downtown Development Authority gave unanimous approval of the project earlier this month. 

David Pierson, an attorney for Convexity Proprieties, said the project could break ground in January.

Concerns over construction

The council also held a public hearing for the project Tuesday night where some business owners brought forward concerns about the negative impact construction could have on downtown businesses

Pat Riley, who owns Harper's Restaurant and Brewpub, said that, while he supports the project, local businesses have already lost money because of the closures related to the Center City District Project.  

“Small businesses can’t afford to do that for years on end," he said. "You will have empty storefronts." 

He said the developers should create an advertising campaign urging people to come downtown during construction so they don't lose interest in the area. 

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“We have to be sure that what we’re doing down here isn’t building for nothing," he said. 

Harry Saites, co-owner of Lou and Harry's, echoed Riley's concerns. He urged the city to keep small, local businesses in mind during the construction process. 

“You have to make sure you remember us," he said. "At the end of the day, big chains leave, but local businesses stay.” 

Meadows said he agreed that part of the development process should involve additional marketing efforts to get people into downtown. 

A long history

In 2002, developer Scott Chappelle began work on what was dubbed the Museum Place project, which would have brought a mix of housing, office and retail space to the corner of Grand River Avenue and Abbot Road. He wanted it to be the new home for the state archives and the Michigan State University Museum.

But the state withdrew from the project in 2007. MSU withdrew in 2008, the same year the last businesses on the 100 block of West Grand River Avenue were forced out. 

Chappelle's plans for the blighted corner shifted and finally fell through in 2012 after years struggles to secure financing. DRW/Convexity, the site's current developer, bought the property at a foreclosure auction in 2015.

In April 2017, the East Lansing City Council approved plans from DRW/Convexity to build a 13-story hotel and luxury apartment complex on the site as part of a $154-million project. Those plans called for a building with 197 apartment units and 150 hotel rooms managed by Graduate Hotel. 

A second, six-story building was also planned for Evergreen Avenue with 57 condominiums and two levels of parking. A surface parking lot would have been built across the street. 

But in September, the East Lansing City Council amended the $19.6 million brownfield plan for the site to comply with state law. That shortened the time frame during which the developer could recapture new property taxes generated from the project. 

At the time, the developers said that change, paired with the potential loss of a $10 million tax credit from the state, killed their plans. But demolition crews tore down the buildings between The Peoples Church and Abbot Road in October, and Convexity submitted new plans for the space in June. 

Meadows said he was glad to see the developer stick with the project. He said breaking the project along Grand River Avenue into two buildings was a good move, as it makes the development less overbearing.

“It's a better plan than the prior plan," he said. "They’ve really thought this out well.”

Contact reporter Haley Hansen at (517) 267-1344 or hhansen@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @halehansen.

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