The city of East Lansing forever will be tied to the students who inhabit it. But in the foreseeable future, City Hall will be aiming toward a new crowd to engulf the city. And that’s for the best.
Current city projects include the Park District project, which has been narrowed down to a decision between Lurvey White Ventures and DTN Management Co., and the former Barnes & Noble space being converted into Jackson National Life Insurance Co.
Both of these projects, along with The Residences and St. Anne Lofts, also look to bring in more young professionals to East Lansing, which is a much-needed addition to East Lansing if it is to move forward.
The city doesn’t have to rely on the students to bring in business. Far too many businesses have come and gone because they thought it would be successful because it was across the street from campus.
With the aim toward attracting more young professionals to move to the city and work, the city is trying to change its identity to attract a wider base, which is a good idea.
East Lansing always will be a college town, but it could be so much more. It shouldn’t limit itself to what it’s always been when it could evolve into something greater.
A more diverse downtown is what the city needs in order to attract these young professionals, and so far, it’s on the right track. And that’s where these projects come in.
The Park District project, which aims to build multiple mixed-use buildings in the downtown, has been an ongoing project for more than a decade, as it is a subsidiary of the former City Center II project.
The city has been trying to spearhead this project for a long time, and whenever it seemed to get close, the rug was pulled from underneath it.
But now it seems the project is getting closer to fruition, with East Lansing aiming to make a decision between the two developers in August. The city is trying to learn from the past mistakes it made with City Center II and seems to be on the right track.
This project, along with Jackson National Life Insurance Co. coming to the city, will help encourage young workers to work in East Lansing. The city can’t rely on the students all the time, as they’re too unpredictable in what they purchase.
The downtown, as it stands, is not diverse. What currently stands is too singular and doesn’t appeal to a wide base, but these projects might just do that.
But it’s too early to tell if any of these projects will indeed make East Lansing a destination for young professionals.
With the Park District project likely not going to be completed within the next couple of years, whether or not these plans will do what they intend to is uncertain, but they are in the best interest of the city.
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