Construction on a Louis Street apartment building that will house 96 people could begin by June, giving students more housing options close to campus.
Joe Goodsir, president of Community Resource Management Co., said he hopes this project mirrors the success of an apartment building he opened in 2001 on Louis Street.
"That has been a very successful building for us," Goodsir said.
The plans for the new apartment building will go before the East Lansing City Council at its Nov. 8 meeting.
Rental homes located at 237, 242 and 243 Louis St. would be demolished to make way for the new building. Each of these properties, which are owned by Goodsir, are no longer useful, he said.
"They have outlived their life expectancy," he said. "It's a great area and a great location for students. It's right between two major roads, so it has a lot to offer."
The project needs to be carefully executed so it won't have a negative effect on surrounding Chesterfield Hills neighborhood, said Mark Terry, the neighborhood's treasurer.
The Chesterfield Hills neighborhood is bounded by Grand River Avenue, Michigan Avenue and Highland Avenue.
"I know that Joe Goodsir just built a couple single-family homes and that was an upgrade in housing," he said.
"It seems to me on Louis Street, those are a bunch of smaller, older rentals. It has the potential to be a good improvement."
With only two single-family homes left near the intersection of Grand River Avenue and Michigan Avenue, the area appears to be a place where students like to rent, Terry said.
"That seems to be an area where students are living now and where they are going to live for a long time," he said, adding that the development has the potential to fit with the other apartment buildings there.
Students seem to want to live in newer apartment buildings with a more modern feel, East Lansing Mayor Sam Singh said.
Living in older, cramped rental homes is something students have begun to shy away from in recent years, Singh said.
"That is a good approach for the community," he said. "Most of our older housing stock isn't really geared to student living. It doesn't have enough bathrooms. We've been hearing from students, they want to have adequate parking and access to their own bathrooms."
David Wells, an MSU graduate who lived in Goodsir's Louis Street apartment building last year, said it's easier for students to live in an apartment because rental homes come with many unforeseen costs and responsibilities.
Building new apartments in the city gives students what they want, while maintaining the quality of life in the neighborhoods, Singh said.
"It's much more cost effective to look at apartment living," Singh said. "We really focus on providing a tool that will meet the needs of today's students."
