The East Lansing City Council shut out local developer Corey Partnership on Tuesday from refurbishing its own vacant building on the corner of Bailey Street and Grand River Avenue into apartments and condos. And in doing so, it's elected to micro-manage city development.
It's not like Corey Partnership developer David Krause wasn't working with the city - he was. In fact, after attending more than 10 meetings with East Lansing government beginning in June, Krause bent over backward to accommodate the city's every whim.
Krause tweaked his plan three times - each time applying changes the city demanded - only to have the final development plans rejected by default in a tied council decision. Mayor Mark Meadows - as the fifth council seat - would have broken the tie, but he was not there.
Here's what happened: Corey Partnership got caught in the crossfire of a city struggling to define its involvement with development. Officially, the council has been split evenly over the issue of adding more condominiums or owner-occupied housing to the city since late October.
Planning more condominiums in an area of mostly student housing pushes students out. Like it or not, it sends a message that students aren't welcome, or at least that the city feels the need to segregate students to certain parts of the city.
Krause's plan provided room for the condos some council members wanted to see, as well as apartments that would be more affordable for students.
Admittedly, Krause only wanted to get his own building back up and running. The idea was that after reworking the complex, which formerly housed restaurants such as Murasaki and Peking Express, it could become a crowd-pleasing, combined four-story building, complete with retail space, apartments and condominiums.
But the plan got caught up in the system. City Council decisions on the plan were deferred several times. Then, after waiting for about five months, the Corey Partnership plan was tossed out on a technicality. Not even cutting the student-geared, multiple-resident apartments, reducing the maximum occupancy from 76 people to 51 or adding condos helped out.
The Krause plan fell well within city codes. It wasn't breaking any ordinances. Much like any businessman, Krause is trying to make his building profitable again. But the council delegations are costing him time and money.
If there's a point when city involvement in development becomes too much, it's when free-market rights get trampled under foot. While the city's role in development remains ambiguous under East Lansing's laws, the line might have been crossed.
If Corey Partnership decides to re-apply with a revised plan, putting the developer through another five-month personal hell will not unify the East Lansing City Council's collective vision of where the city should go.
Allowing one developer to build a limited number of apartments that do not appeal just to students would not have destroyed the city's vision for East Lansing's future - especially when that vision has yet to be determined.
