Shoveling snow and cutting the grass can be a troublesome or time consuming task - and East Lansing officials are beginning to see a market in housing that doesn’t involve chores like those.
The city council voted unanimously in favor of constructing a 32-condominium unit on Coolidge Road following an unanimous recommendation from the city’s Planning Commission.
The commission voted on the proposal at its Jan. 30 meeting.
East Lansing-based Bone Builders, 2970 Lake Lansing Road, will begin construction in March, said Mike Bone, managing partner for Bone Builders, .
“There are small parcels of land available, and there is not a lot of land in East Lansing to build family subdivisions,” he said.
The condominiums will be marketed toward young professionals and retirees. They are priced at $135,000.
The buildings are several thousand dollars less than the condominiums located in the City Center I, which are priced at about $185,000.
The city has been unable to provide an area that could accommodate the retiree and young professional crowd, Councilmember Vic LoomisSB said.
But the trend could be changing.
“I think City Center I condominiums are proof of that,” he said. “I think that tells us there is a need for that, when you can actually own something that doesn’t have all the maintenance and sometimes guys with two young daughters are interested in it too.”
The plans will include four buildings on four acres located north of Saginaw Street, on the west side of Coolidge Road. The buildings will be no larger than two stories and have eight living areas in each one.
When finished, the condominiums will each have two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a basement for storage, Bone said.
Planning Commissioner Liz Harrow said the planning commission felt the condominiums would compliment the property.
“Its a long skinny site off Coolidge Road,” she said. “We did have some quibbles on the parking on that front unit, but we agreed with the developer that this was a better solution.”
The developers had looked into what other options were legal, but put on paper, the original plan for parking was still better, Harrow said.
Census data has been going toward housing for renters for the past 20 years, City Manager Ted Staton said.
“I think the planning commission wanted to see more balance restored so people in East Lansing have more choices,” he said. “It is a nice addition to the housing mix in East Lansing. It provides ownership opportunities to those that want to stay in the community, but don’t want to maintain a large house.”
