The MSU Board of Trustees discuss the Spartan Gateway Development project at Hannah Administration Building in East Lansing, Michigan on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025.
Michigan State University is moving forward with a scaled back version of the ‘Spartan Gateway District,’ after the Board of Trustees voted Friday to axe plans for a new sports arena and consider an alternate location.
The modified plan will have a "stronger focus" on retail, office space, dining and housing, according to the motion.
University spokesperson Emily Guerrant said the project was scaled back due to a ‘totality’ of factors including the ongoing budget cuts across all university departments, and the athletics department no longer needing a $150 million arena.
That money, Guerrant said, could be better spent renovating aging facilities like Jennison Fieldhouse. The original plan involved moving some varsity sports to the new arena.
Trustee Dennis Denno, who voted against the proposal, expressed strong opposition to the project. He said constructing a hotel on the proposed campus sites would greatly increase automobile traffic and pollution on campus.
"I’m strongly, strongly, strongly opposed to even the concept of putting a hotel on Munn Field or where IM West is," Denno said. "I think we have way too many vehicles on campus as it is."
After voting against the original proposal for the gateway district due to budget concerns, Trustee Mike Balow voted for the scaled down version of the project while saying that his ultimate support would depend the proposals submitted by developers.
"I do want to support the study, but I have some pretty strong reservations coming in that will need to be solved in order for me to ultimately proceed on this stuff," Balow said.
The university will also begin accepting new proposals from developers. Gillespie Group and Goldenrod Companies, selected in April to build the gateway district, are no longer the joint developer for the project. Barton Malow Co. was also initially tapped to construct the now-shelved arena. Trustee Sandy Pierce sat on the board of the firm.
The anticipated cost of the project is still unknown, but will be presented after the board reviews proposals from developers.
MSU’s plans to develop a mixed-use plaza surrounding an athletics facility bear similarities to initiatives pursued at other universities. The University of Kansas and George Mason University are both planning to add dining, retail and entertainment spaces in the areas surrounding their athletic facilities. Goldenrod Companies, one of the firms originally set to build MSU’s gateway district, is developing a similar project at Iowa State University.
The vote passed 7-1, with Trustee Denno voting against the proposal.
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