The building that houses Cottage Inn Pizza and the city-owned parking lot behind it are slated for demolition.
The East Lansing Planning Commission met to discuss redeveloping the area Wednesday night and reviewed plans to construct a new apartment building and condominium complex on Lot 7 and 611 through 617 E. Grand River Ave.
"It will be a nice space to look out over Grand River and the campus," said Jeanne Rogers, a community development analyst for the city. "The front will have a patio, possibly for a restaurant in the retail space."
A vote on the plans is expected at the commission's July 12 meeting.
The building that could be constructed along Grand River Avenue will contain nine two-bedroom apartments targeted at renters. The first floor of the building will have room for businesses and 12 parking spaces in the back.
"It benefits the entire community, tries to stop some of the urban sprawl and utilizes the space we have downtown," Rogers said. "It would encourage building up instead of out and maximizing the frontage on Grand River."
The project will be called Stonehouse Village II and will be directly next to the Stonehouse Village I development on the corner of Bailey Street and Grand River Avenue. Both projects will be inhabited by renters.
"I'm very pleased with this development," said David Krause of Corey Partnership, the developer for all three projects. "They complement each other."
Although a majority of the planning commissioners expressed their delight in the projects, Commissioner Bill Hartwig said he would like the second Stonehouse project to be five stories tall — making it one story taller than the building next to it.
"I don't think the skyline has to be even in this area," he said. "It is up to the city and the planning commission to push developers."
Bob Owen, the city's planning and zoning administrator, said developing a building beyond four stories puts it into a whole new zoning code, which makes a project more costly to construct.
The condominiums will contain three one-bedroom units and 33 two-bedroom units. It, unlike the Stonehouse buildings along Grand River Avenue, will be marketed to older occupants.
According to a market study done for the city, there is a need for an additional 200 condominium units throughout the area.
