Wednesday’s East Lansing Planning Commission meeting featured a hometown favorite: Wanderer’s Teahouse, as the group unanimously passed a permit to add a seven-bedroom apartment unit above the location.
After a public hearing, the commission unanimously approved a Special Use Permit that will allow Perry Investment Group, the organization that owns the space at 547 E. Grand River Ave., that Wanderer’s is a component of, to use the second floor of the structure to build one seven-bedroom apartment unit.
In addition to the seven bedrooms, Perry Investment desires to build four bathrooms, a kitchen, a small rear balcony and a set of exit stairs.
The existing two-story building has a first floor comprised of the former Wanderer’s Teahouse and a satellite office for the Greater Lansing Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, according to a staff report from the East Lansing Department of Planning & Community Development. The second floor has been vacant for many years, but was once occupied by Perry Investment co-owner Loren Perry and his family, Perry said.
Perry said his father built the building in 1947. The Perrys called the space “home” until 1952 when the family moved to Grand Ledge, Mich. Perry’s father, who was a German immigrant, considered the building “the combination of the American dream,” his son Perry said.
The building is approximately 2,500 square feet.
“The proposal would not have a negative impact on the downtown or the city,” East Lansing Community Development Analyst Timothy Schmitt said. “(It’s) a good step toward creating a more vibrant downtown.”
Seven parking spaces will be required by the new residential use. Spots could be absorbed either in Parking Lot 11 —which is directly behind the building — or the Division Street parking ramp. Schmitt said the traffic from residents would not be substantial.
East Lansing Planning Commission member Laura Goddeeris asked Perry if he had considered a different model. Perry responded by saying that the seven-bedroom model would make the best use of the space.
Although the teahouse closed in May after owner Michael Spano took a job with MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, several tenants have shown interest in the bottom floor that was once Wanderer’s Teahouse.
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