“Take me out to the ball game” has become a reality for tenants of the new The Outfield Apartments, which has units sitting along the baseball field of Cooley Law School Stadium in Lansing.
The 84-unit apartment complex currently has 77 units pre-leased, and marketing manager for the Gillespie Group, Tara Smith, said it’s expected to completely fill up. The building opened officially on May 4.
“We had leased up a ton of them before we even opened the building,” Smith said. Gillespie Group developed the property and invested $11 million into it.
Outfield apartments leasing manager, John Bean, said the other half of the apartments look out to downtown Lansing and offer a similar closeness to the stadium.
Average square footage is between 750 to 800 square feet, Smith said. The third floor of the complex has move-in Thursday, and the second floor will be opened in June for move-in.
Units in the complex will include studio, one bedroom and two bedroom apartments. Price ranges from $875 to $1,700 depending on the number of bedrooms and bathrooms.
“It’s such a unique building, it’s really cool,” Bean said. “It’s the only one like it in the entire country.”
Bean said the apartments are 20 feet from the field, and the idea is so different that they have been receiving calls from all over about the complex.
“We’re one of the only, if not the only, in the entire United States that has built a residential building like this that’s actually attached to the stadium,” Smith said.
From home plate at Cooley Law School Stadium to the windows of the Outfield apartments is 420 feet, home-run territory for the Lansing Lugnuts.
“It’s a part of the appeal,” Smith said. “I mean, there is action all the time.”
Bean said a home run hitting the windows of the apartments is rare, but in the event it does take place, the windows are shatterproof.
The partnership between the Lansing Lugnuts and Outfield apartments has been helpful throughout construction and leasing, Bean said.
“They’ve been great partners,” Bean said. “Hopefully it brings a lot more people to the downtown Lansing area.”
Cooley Law School Stadium received updates last year as a part of a $13.5 million investment from the city. Improvements included new concessions areas, the Pepsi Porch and a 360-degree concourse.
“I think it’s just the atmosphere that we’re actually starting to grow a district now,” Smith said.
All of the complexes on the baseball field leased out months ago, Smith said.
“When they’re in there and they actually hear the players on the field playing, you get that ‘Wow’ factor,” Bean said.
