Friday, March 29, 2024

PNC bank, medical facility construction plans move forward

February 24, 2012

A local developer plans to start demolishing a former office site within the next week and eventually build a medical facility and drive-thru bank on Lake Lansing and Coolidge roads.

The East Lansing City Council approved the site plan and special use permit application submitted by Caddis Development Group LLC at its Tuesday night meeting, clearing the way for local construction company E.T. MacKenzie Co. to start demolition at the property, 1525 W. Lake Lansing Road, the former site of the Blue Cross Blue Shield offices.

Environmental cleanup and site work will start shortly after the demolition is finished, Caddis Development Group President Kevin McGraw said.

A third lot owned by the development group remains vacant and available for development, McGraw said.

The project’s total budget is set at $6 million, McGraw said.

Construction on the bank, slated to be a branch of PNC Bank, is expected to start sometime this summer.

It is not yet known when construction will start on the medical facility, which was proposed by a group of about 20 local physicians known as Compass Health Care.

The group submitted a certificate of need application last July with their proposed plans for an outpatient cancer treatment center within a few blocks of the development site.

The application will need to be approved by the state of Michigan before construction can start.

Chris Abood, a Lansing neurosurgeon among the group of physicians who submitted the application, said the center will treat all types of cancer and is expected to use advanced treatment technology.

“The newest radiation technology we have in the area is about 10 years old,” he said. “This would be a state-of-the-art system.”

Family and community studies senior and MSU Relay for Life participant Jeremy Franklin, who lost his mother to colon cancer, said access to a high-tech center could be beneficial for those afflicted by cancer.

“Quality cancer treatments are kind of few and far between,” he said. “Sometimes it can be really hard for a cancer patient to go to a treatment center that will treat the type of cancer they (have).”

Councilmember Don Power, who supported Caddis Development Group’s application at the Tuesday meeting, said the process of approving the application and zoning for the project was lengthy, but council members felt they met the needs of the community.

The city council previously approved rezoning for the area in December 2010, allowing the development to move forward.

Power, a member of the Pinecrest neighborhood close to the development, initially opposed the rezoning but now said the plan agreed upon by the developer and the neighborhood is satisfactory.

“We had a lot of battles, but in the end, we all came together,” he said. “What you see is the end result.”

East Lansing resident Milton Price, who addressed the city council on the proposed development at its Tuesday night meeting, said the council’s approval of the project was disappointing because further construction could lead to additional issues with his own sewer system at his house on Coolidge Road near the development site.

“I just think they go ahead and approve these things,” he said. “(If) they put three more buildings in there, that’s going to lead to more (sewer) backup.”

Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.

Discussion

Share and discuss “PNC bank, medical facility construction plans move forward” on social media.