Officials in Lansing are planning to open its new City Hall at the old Masonic Temple building.
Mayor Andy Schor announced Wednesday that the city is working with the Boji Group to convert the historic Masonic Temple down the street into a new city hall facility.
Speaking inside the old Temple building, Schor said the project will put the available property to good use.
“This is one of those things where you hear across Lansing, we have so many incredible properties, we need to be reusing, we need to be rehabbing," Schor said. "It’s always great to build new, but if you can take a property like this and rehab it, that is a win for the community.”
The Masonic Temple was built in 1924 and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Ron Boji, CEO of the Boji Group, which owns the Temple property, framed the project as part of a wave of proposals to redevelop downtown Lansing.
“It’s an incredible opportunity to truly transform not only the capital city, but this historical building,” Boji said.
Previous mayoral administrations have had a longstanding goal of finding a new space for government services to replace the current City Hall across from the State Capitol. The building's condition has worsened over the years, and Schor said keeping the facility running requires thousands of dollars in maintenance every year.
$40 million allocated from the state budget will help fund the project.
That opens up the current City Hall for redevelopment. Some developers have proposed turning the property into a hotel and restaurant space.
"It's prime real estate...and deserves to be preserved," Schor said. "Now that we have identified a new city hall, we can unlock the old city hall, and we can make this a double win for the city."
Schor said he wants the new facility to make it easy for visitors and residents to take care of city business, like visiting the city clerk or paying a parking ticket. He said most services will be centralized and accessible on the ground floor.
“We want a customer service center," Schor said. "That may not be as convenient for city employees, and we’ll work that out, but it is convenient for the customers that deal with the city of Lansing.”
It's unclear when the project will be complete. Boji said he hopes to have a new City Hall open for business in early 2025, while Schor said it could take around two years.
