At the edge of campus, MSU students have looked down Michigan Avenue for years and seen the same houses, closed businesses and, at the very end of the street, the white dome of the Capitol.
Although the street has served as a primary connector between Lansing and East Lansing, Lansing officials say the transition between the two cities isn’t as seamless as it could be.
The Capital Gateway Project is the city of Lansing’s 50-plus acre answer to this problem, a proposed redevelopment spanning parts of both cities that would completely change the image residents — and students — have of the Michigan Avenue corridor and the neglected Red Cedar Municipal Golf Course.
Early development plans include student housing, a shopping center and an outdoor movie theater. But the project still is in its infancy; Lansing voters will decide Nov. 6 whether to leave roughly 45 acres on the abandoned golf course in the hands of city officials.
“When you look at the proposal, even the title Capital Gateway Project is appropriate,” Director of Manufacturing and Expansion at Lansing Economic Area Partnership, or LEAP, Steve Willobee said. “The overall development is going to create a connection between both communities.”
Both cities are teaming up to bridge the adjacent communities and connect them with an ambitious development vision, even though there might be some troubled waters ahead.
Building a bridge
When traveling down the Michigan Avenue corridor, Willobee said he noticed a clear disconnect between the neighboring communities.
Although the project mostly would take place in the city of Lansing, the surrounding areas — including the MSU campus — inevitably would be impacted by the influx of retail, housing and public park land.
Chris Jerome, managing partner of the development team behind the project, which includes MSU Trustee Joel Ferguson, said one of their goals is to create a smooth transition to the campus, which is adjacent to the project.
“(The project) backs up to Brody (Complex Neighborhood) and represents the main entrance to MSU,” Jerome said. “We are incredibly committed to (showing that) when you come to town, you’re coming to the home of Michigan State University; people should be wowed by the arrival on campus.”
A multitude of the features in the conceptual Capital Gateway Project plan in its entirety potentially could be attractive to students — including housing in close proximity to campus and entertainment options, such as an outdoor movie theater, retail space and two hotels.
Although efforts, such as the Entertainment Express, have been implemented to try and bring the student population westward, At-Large Lansing Councilmember Carol Wood said the Capital Gateway Project will be the most effective way to blur the lines.
The attractions developers have discussed would be an incentive to explore the city of Lansing, a place marketing sophomore Tyler Villarreal said never has piqued his interest.
“I don’t really go that way; it’s not a big draw,” the Rather Hall resident said. “I think (the project) definitely would be important to get revenue in there. It’s a pretty rundown community as it is.”
The steps
Although the development still is in the early stages, its beginnings go back nearly a century.
Ingham County Drain Commissioner Pat Lindemann said the area began its decline to one of the most polluted areas in the Montgomery Drainage District watershed after development started there in the early 1900s.
Since then, continued paving of the region with parking lots and destinations, such as the Frandor Shopping Center, 300 Frandor Ave., has made the case worse and flagged the region for environmental rescue, Lindemann said.
“If it doesn’t rain for two weeks, you have cigarette butts, rubber from tires, metal shavings from brake pads, old french fries, grit and grime (on the surface),” Lindemann said. “So when it rains, all that stuff flushes off the pavement areas and runs into the river … We are obligated to eliminate that discharge and clean it before it gets (to the river).”
Lindemann said the city of Lansing saw this as the perfect opportunity to combine upscale redevelopment with an environmental overhaul, since more than half of the plan is dedicated to public park land, which would be embedded with water treatment features to help limit pollution.
“It’s the perfect opportunity to create jobs while protecting the environment,” Lindemann said. “It seems like a win-win situation.”
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While the project has good intentions, East Lansing City Manager George Lahanas expressed concern about the fact the area is in a floodplain, and a large amount of work would need to go into making it developable for housing.
“You can go and take a look at it and you’ll see … (the land is) pretty low,” Lahanas said. “I’m not sure if it’s a little ambitious what they’re doing, or maybe the front should be developed when you go back further — (those are) questions they have to look at. But the portions that (East Lansing has) on the street toward campus there — you have concerns that have to be raised.”
Although the amount of the property in the East Lansing city limits is minimal compared to the entire scope of the project, the city of East Lansing is living under the shadow of controversial development projects, such as City Center II and St. Anne Lofts.
Planning and Community Development Director Tim Dempsey said the city has to take them into consideration for this project and others in the future.
Although the public had a negative view of these projects, Dempsey said the city will focus on making future projects, such as the Capital Gateway, as flawless as possible.
“Because only a small portion does fall in East Lansing … the project is mostly out of our control,” Dempsey said. “From that standpoint, there’s not much we can do (except look) at projects we have going and the ones for the future, and seeing that those are successful projects.”
Until Lansing voters approve the addition of the roughly 50 acres to the project in November, including the golf course itself, city officials are at a standstill with the project, Wood said.
“We don’t think … that the Lansing voters will do anything but overwhelmingly accept the proposal,” Jerome said. “We’ve seen nothing but incredibly high levels of support and excitement.”
