“It gives character to the East Grand River area where there are mostly apartments and businesses,” Fike said. “If the house was changed, the city would be losing a beautiful piece of architecture.”

But efforts by the city of East Lansing to preserve the architectural character of greek housing were put on hold last week when the East Lansing City Council voted to postpone creating a district for six months.

Creating the fraternity and sorority historic district, a move the city began studying in 2004, would require the development of the properties to follow specific guidelines, said Ron Springer, an East Lansing community development analyst.

That includes banning items such as plastic siding and requiring properties to be developed in a manner consistent with their current architectural style, he said.

Twenty-six of the city’s 47 greek houses are scattered throughout the city’s six historic districts, Springer said.

“Some of these houses stand out. You don’t have to be an expert to know that,” Springer said. “You want to retain these characteristics of these houses because they add to the culture of the city.”

East Lansing City Councilmember Roger Peters said the council chose to wait to grant approval because fewer than six representatives from the 13 greek houses showed up at council to voice their thoughts on the decision.

“If we’re talking about 13 fraternities and sororities, I want to see each have an opportunity to know and learn about this before it happens,” Peters said. “Even though we’ve held public hearings, I think it’s important to get a feeling for how this would affect fraternities and sororities thinking about renovations.”

Before the council makes a decision, the city needs to consult with the rest of the members of the greek community before it reaches a decision, Peters said.

Andrew Sass, corporate council for Community Resource Management Company, said he doesn’t think his company’s property, 131 Bogue St., should be incorporated into the list.

In the event the fraternity, Delta Kappa Epsilon, renting the property wants to move or close, redeveloping the property could be difficult, Sass said.

Steve Rupe, vice president for the Delta Chi building corporation, said the designation could raise redevelopment costs.

“We want control of the property to rebuild it as a modern structure if we want to,” Rupe said.

While preserving the building’s character is important, the district doesn’t require the properties to stay within the greek community, said Tony Lake, assistant director of the Department of Residence Life at MSU, who serves as an adviser for the greek community.

The higher redevelopment costs could be passed onto students living in the houses, Lake said.

“It would cost more to live in a fraternity and sorority house if it’s classified as a historical property,” he said.

“But if the prices of the upgrades are shared between the 40 or 50 people living in a house, it might not be as drastic.”