Funding for development projects was on the Lansing City Council agenda Monday as the group accepted state dollars to support a downtown housing project and renovate city hall.
The council voted unanimously to accept $40 million allocated by the state budget to support affordable housing. The funding will contribute to developer Paul Gentilozzi’s $228 million "New Vision Lansing” proposal to construct three mixed-use buildings with more than 450 housing units as well as new office and retail spaces.
The council expressed support for the plan.
“We need housing. And since we don't have the state of Michigan down here as much, our downtown is suffering because of it. So if we're able to bring people to live there, it will help all the businesses,” said Councilmember Brian Jackson.
The proposal includes a tower on Grand Avenue, a renovation of the Washington Square building and housing and office space at the corner of Ottawa and Walnut streets. Around a third of the housing units would have rents capped at 120% of the area median income.
The developers have pitched the projects as vital to changing the city’s skyline, attracting new residents and transforming Lansing’s downtown.
Some expressed concerns about what would happen if the developers aren’t able to deliver on the promise of the proposal.
Councilmember Adam Hussain said he is excited about the project. But he said if officials fail to deliver on the project’s promise, it would be “an embarrassment” to the state lawmakers who helped bring the funding to Lansing.
“If that tower doesn't get built...that will absolutely be catastrophic, in terms of our asks to the state in the future for appropriations for economic development,” he said. “We have to make sure we do everything we possibly can to ensure that that happens.”
New city hall
The council voted 7-1 to accept a separate $40 million state allocation to fund renovations for Lansing’s city hall.
The city has long been exploring a move out of the current building, which has deteriorated over the years.
Lansing mayor Andy Schor’s administration announced a plan last year to work with the Boji Group to convert the historic Masonic Temple building into a new city hall. Schor said the plan would open up the current city hall for future development opportunities.
Though councilmembers accepted funding to support a new facility, they rejected the plans to purchase the Masonic Temple on a 4-4 vote.
“I do want to see a project move forward,” Councilmember Trini Pehlivanoglu said. “I do believe it will happen, but I would feel more comfortable taking more time and making sure that we are going step by step in a transparent process for the public, for our residents, and explaining to them how we are taking in this information, the steps we're going through.
“It very well could be that this is the project that we end up with. And that will be okay with me at that time.,” she said. “I would feel better if we took a bit more time.”
