A local fraternity house is the latest casualty in East Lansing's goal of creating more business in the downtown.

But with businesses comes the need for parking, which East Lansing is sorely lacking. Whether the city is going to try to fix parking problems downtown still remains unknown.

Under a deal between the city and a developer, the Theta Delta Chi house, located at 139 Bailey St. behind Taco Bell, would be demolished.

The developer that is buying the house plans to tear it down and swap the land with the city in exchange for a parking lot on the east side of Bailey Street.

The developer is already constructing a mixed commercial and residential building on the east corner of Bailey Street and Grand River Avenue, and that parking lot could be turned into parking for the people who will live in those residences.

In this game of "musical properties," the city would use the land the fraternity house is on to extend a parking lot located along Albert Avenue.

They city's long term goal is to turn the whole thing into new businesses or housing.

Although it's sad to see an old East Lansing house get turned into more parking and development, it's always nice to get more businesses into the city.

But where are people going to park downtown so they can go to these new businesses?

It's no secret to anyone that has ever driven into downtown East Lansing that parking is a hassle.

Much like parking on campus, it's the bane of many who work or frequently shop in the downtown area. The parking lots are small, and paying for those spots can get pricey.

There are always the spots with meters or the parking garages. But if you park downtown a lot, it's expensive.

People who want to eat and shop, but want cheap, easy parking are being drawn to malls and supermarkets outside of town.

Parking problems can keep people from coming into the downtown area and spending money, so it should be something the city is focusing its attention on.

Other projects, such as the possibility of buildings being built by a private developer on Lot 1, currently a city owned parking lot, could make the parking squeeze worse.

If East Lansing wants to seriously compete with stores outside of the city, then it needs to focus on how to incorporate more parking into these new plans.

The city's pursuit of energizing the downtown and outer areas such as East Village must coincide with ideas of where people are going to park.

Whether it's creating new parking structures or doing something more innovative with the limited downtown space, it's got to be something they are always thinking about.