East Lansing's latest apartment complex Newman Lofts hosted its grand opening for housing for ages 55 and up as a part of the Center City Project.
"I want to say to everybody today, welcome to tall buildings. Welcome to changes on a skyline," said Robert Trezise, CEO and president of the Lansing Economic Area Partnership.
Trezise called a skyline a symbol of hope and inspiration and praised the evolution of the city.
"Downtown East Lansing was, and is, really growing into something even more spectacular and beautiful," Trezise said.
East Lansing Mayor Mark Meadows said he appreciated the environmental benefits of building up rather than building out.
"You don't want to eat up the green space that's out there because that green space absorbs water, it puts oxygen in the air, it absorbs carbon dioxide," Meadows said.
The apartments aim to attract older tenants than other high rise complexes in the city. Meadows was pleased with the design of the apartments given the demographic they target.
"These are apartments designed for 55 and older," Meadows said. "So you're either going to have one or two people probably living in each one of these apartments. This is a good size for one or two people."
Mark Bell, Harbor Bay Real Estate Advisors CEO, said he is optimistic about the relationship between Harbor Bay and East Lansing going forward.
"[I] couldn't be more thankful for the community," Bell said. "This is really a community project. It's a public-private partnership."
Harbor Bay oversaw The Landmark apartments that opened earlier in the year. After monitoring the early goings of The Landmark, Meadows is confident in the developers.
"This building, The Landmark, is filled with people with zero problems in it because the management is so excellent," Meadows said.
One of the reasons Meadows likes building these large apartments downtown is the easy access it gives residents to all the features of the city.
"You don't even have to get your car out to enjoy all amenities that are available in this area," Meadows said.
After seeing the interior of the building, Meadows said the finished product exceeded expectations.
"This is way better than I expected, I don't know how to put it any other way," Meadows said.
This story is part of our fall 2019 housing guide. Find more stories about on and off campus living in this week's print edition of The State News, or click here.
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