The university was in the process of examining the viability of each of the locations for several years after determining both complexes exceeded their projected life span by about 25 years.

Both facilities housed about 400 leaseholders, about 42 percent of which were graduate students enrolled at MSU.

Each complex — particularly Cherry Lane — had utility and piping problems, officials said. In the end, demolition proved a more financially viable alternative to repairing either of the facilities.

“There were several different reasons from a priority standpoint,” said Ken Horvath, the chief planning officer for Residential and Hospitality Services, or RHS, the department which handled the process of transferring residents to alternative housing.

“There were a lot of factors into the reasons we had to demolish (the facilities),” Horvath said.
Officials with the Physical Plant have been in the process of preparing the site for the work,
said Karen Zelt, the communications manager for the Physical Plant.

The plant also focused on preventing soil erosion at the site and removing as many reusable materials as possible. After the company finishes with the demolition process and site improvements, the school will step in and restore the site to green space.

There are no plans in place for the future of the location.

The process of notifying residents of the impending demolition and arranging for alternative housing went smoothly, Horvath said.

The university’s extensive preplanning in relation to the project also aided residents and construction officials, said Dennis Hansen, the project’s design representative for the Physical Plant.

“We’ve had a very thorough communication procedure with all the community and the neighborhoods,” Hansen said. “Knowing that people would have some emotional attachment — I know we had a few people who were concerned about alternative housing.”

Most residents were offered alternative housing in Spartan Village.