A 10-story, mixed-use apartment building is coming to the corner of Bogue Street and E. Grand River Avenue.
The new building will house 347 apartments and 585 beds. Its site plan and special use permit were unanimously approved by the East Lansing City Council in a special meeting Tuesday evening.
The new development will be built by Core Campus Lansing, LLC, which is a part of the Chicago-based firm, Core Spaces. In the past, Core Spaces has built student housing at other Big Ten campuses, including the University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Michigan.
Georgio’s Gourmet Pizzeria and 7-Eleven will be demolished for the new development, but will be part of the building after it’s completed, according to a State News article.
Core Campus Lansing, LLC, said it will not seek any money from the city to build the development.
A rooftop pool, barbecue and a basketball court are a few of the amenities the apartment building will offer.
Parking was discussed during the meeting, as there will be 158 parking spaces for residents and people visiting the retail space.
However, councilmembers said they did not view parking as a potential barrier.
“I’m a real component of the walkable, bikeable,” councilmember Shanna Draheim said. “I also believe if you build parking, sometimes they will come. If you don’t build it, most of the times they won’t. I think there are clear trends that students are driving less and I think we should be building for future as well as present.”
Councilmember Erik Altmann agreed with the sentiment.
“I think we need quality apartment style housing close to campus and that’s exactly the right place to house students,” Altmann said. “It’s just a good match of a housing style to the need and so from that perspective, that’s just a great project.”
Another feature of the development is wider sidewalks. The sidewalk along Grand River Avenue will be 22 feet wide, the one along Bogue Street will be 20 feet wide and the one along Cedar Street will be 14 feet wide. Most sidewalks currently along Grand River are seven feet wide.
This new development comes on the heels of the groundbreaking for the Center City Project, which will feature 273 apartments and a Target. Another new apartment building, at 565 E. Grand River Ave., has 36 apartments and a mixed-use first floor. Construction is almost complete.
It also follows the failure of the Park District Project, which was supposed to include a hotel. No new project is proposed for the now empty lot.
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