Lansing officials are pursuing a new plan to relocate city hall and replace a surface parking lot downtown.
With the current city hall facing costly repairs and aging infrastructure, Lansing Mayor Andy Schor had been seeking to convert the former Masonic Temple at 217 South Capitol Avenue into a government facility.
But after half of the city council made their opposition to the location clear by voting down that plan, the mayor is considering other options.
Schor announced a new proposal Thursday to build a city hall from the ground up at a one-acre city-owned surface lot located at 425 South Grand Avenue.
He said the location would be a good use of the $40 million allocated by state lawmakers for the project.
“The legislature’s back in, we want to show them that we are moving down the field using these dollars. And we can move immediately on this lot,” Schor said.
City officials say the surface lot has been underutilized.
During the announcement, Schor referenced a 2018 blog post that called Lansing a "parking crater complex," with readers ranking the state capital at the top of a list of U.S. cities that dedicate space to vehicle parking.
While the mayor acknowledged many of those lots are part of the state Capitol complex, Schor said one of his priorities to encourage "urban infill" at those spaces, including the proposed site of city hall.
Lansing was earning $150,000 annually from parking space fees at the municipal lot prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a city spokesperson, a figure that has dropped to $6,000 in recent years.
The area was previously home to the BoarsHead Theater, which closed in 2009.
Officials said the proposed facility would have a customer service center on the ground floor where residents can visit one central location to handle city business.
Schor said the plan is in its early stages. The specific design for a new city hall would still need to be finalized and any proposal would need to gain approval from the Lansing City Council before moving forward.
"This is transparency for me," Schor said. "We have made this decision and today we are sharing it with you. I've shared it with all eight city council members and today we share it with the public."
Two city councilmembers voiced their support for filling the underused space, noting the new city hall would be relocated close to in-progress performing arts and housing projects.
“One of the biggest things when I came into office was our surface lots," said Councilmember Ryan Kost, who opposed the Masonic Temple proposal. "This city has so many surface lots and we're going to repurpose this one."
"I'm absolutely excited for this project," he added.
The location is also across from the Capital Area Transportation Authority's main bus station. CATA CEO Bradley Funkhouser said the agency's offices could also be relocated and share a building with the new city hall.
"This is a central pivot point of the city," Funkhouser said. "I am thrilled that the council and the mayor are thinking about this. And it isn't just transportation connections. We're transporting people during their daily lives, we're connecting communities."
If the plan moves forward, Schor estimates construction for the building would take around two years.
