“They know that we’re still fighting to try to save this place,” said Dan Shupe, MSU chapter president. “With all of that, it really just came down to we needed a place to be next year, and 128 Collingwood just wasn’t sure enough.”

The fraternity’s new lodgings, leased through Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s national organization, will be a step down regarding size, as its current home is licensed for 51 residents while its future one can accommodate 40.

Lambda Chi Alpha is guaranteed three years rent in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house because it will receive the first chance to re-sign for the two years following the 2010-11 lease. Whether Lambda Chi Alpha could stay there after three years is uncertain, as Shupe said it is possible Sigma Alpha Epsilon will want to recolonize the fraternity — which lost its charter earlier this year — forcing Lambda Chi Alpha from the property.

In January, the majority of Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s members were suspended after a national review the month before, president Andrew Patterson said at the time.

“It helps both of us but there’s the knowledge that goes along that’s not a definite solution,” Shupe said.

The site plan is being reviewed by the Historic District Commission and code restricts additions from being visible from public streets. If it meets that requirement, the site plan will go before East Lansing City Council during its April 20 meeting.

If Troy, Mich. developer Dale Inman met all other city code requirements, the Historic District Commission’s April 8 meeting would be the last step before a council vote.

“If you’re in compliance with everything, I don’t know how council could not approve it,” East Lansing mayor Vic Loomis said.

The national fraternity’s housing corporation — Lambda Chi Alpha Properties Inc., or LCAP — owns the 128 Collingwood Dr. home and has signed a binding contract with Inman to sell the home. Inman plans to convert the home into 15 high-end apartments.

Christopher Kulesza, vice chairman for the Historic District Commission, said nobody raised any issues about the site plan when city staff presented it as an information item during its March 11 meeting.

Shupe said the fraternity will plead its case to the Historic District Commission and city council to remain in its current location. He also said the fraternity is trying to persuade LCAP to back out of its agreement with Inman so the local fraternity can purchase the home. If the fraternity does acquire its original home, it will live in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house for the 2010-11 school year and then move back to its home of 83 years.

“We’re still not going to give up on 128 Collingwood,” Shupe said.