Some of the finishing touches are starting to be put on the residential portion of the St. Anne Luxury Lofts project in downtown East Lansing this week.
The apartment building, which has experienced several controversies during the course of its production, is being inspected this week for any outstanding issues in its structure and general construction, East Lansing Planning and Community Development Director Tim Dempsey said.
The East Lansing City Council was briefed on the status of the project at its work session Tuesday night at City Hall, 410 Abbot Road.
“What we are waiting on is a number of issues that have been identified by our inspectors,” Dempsey said. “There’s a couple of plumbing issues that have to be addressed, there’s several building issues, we expect all of those to be addressed this week. Another key one that we’re not responsible for is the state inspection of the elevator. … (After Thursday) we expect all of the outstanding items to be identified and resolved.”
If the inspection goes well, the structure will be granted a temporary certification of occupancy, which would allow tenants to move into the building. The commercial portion of the building won’t be completed until later this year.
“They are planning on having all of the final necessary items wrapped up this week,” Dempsey said. “By Thursday, we’ll have the (residential) project completed.”
Despite the outcome of the inspection, councilmember Vic Loomis expressed his concerns for the safety of the building.
“I will personally go on record to say it’s not it’s not acceptable to me,” Loomis said.
However, Dempsey feels confident that the building is structurally sound and move-in ready.
“We have taken the steps to ensure that the building has been constructed according to Michigan building code,” Dempsey said. “We believe we have taken the proper steps to do that, and the construction company and the owner and his design team have been working with us to address any of the issues (with the project).”
A parking agreement for the Grove Street parking structurelocated behind the St. Anne Lofts building was also approved in Tuesday’s work session by a 3-2 vote. The agreement sets aside 45 spaces for use by loft tenants.
“The number (of parking spots for the building was) derived based upon the occupancy level of the residential units,” Dempsey said. “What we tried to do was make it a fair allocation based on what the apartment units can hold, based on occupancy.”
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