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Some Lansing Park Board members are asking for an updated appraisal of the Lansing Shuffle before a potential sale of the city-owned riverfront park land.
Detroit Rising Development, the group that operates the Lansing Shuffle, is allowed to request to purchase the property after three years under its lease with the city.
If approved, the land would be sold to the group that operates the Lansing Shuffle for $953,000, a figure based on an appraisal from before the building became the Lansing Shuffle.
Detroit Rising Development Co-Owner John Hartzell said the group invested more than $4 million to make the building, which formerly housed the City Market, suitable for its current use.
“You guys own the asset I’m investing in. I risked greatly for that, on that agreement that we would assess the property pre- my investment, because the landlord – the city – didn’t invest in it,” Hartzell said. “I’ll do that investment. I’ll take that risk. But on the agreement that we at least ask the public, can I buy it.”
Selling the property at its current market value would amount to penalizing the developers for their previous investments, which contributed to a likely increase in its value, Hartzell said.
Hartzell said the building’s aging HVAC system and roof will soon need to be replaced. Owning the land would give the developers more liquidity to make those repairs, he said.
The sale would first need to be approved by Lansing voters and would then go back to the Lansing City Council to determine the details of a specific sale agreement.
That agreement could include commitments that the Lansing Shuffle’s owners would continue funding utilities for the nearby Rotary Park and would maintain public access to the building’s restrooms and water fountains.
City Council members planned to act Monday on a resolution placing the proposed sale on the August ballot but postponed any action to give the Lansing Park Board more time to weigh in.
The Lansing Park Board tabled consideration of the proposal during its March meeting and will continue discussing it in April.
Lansing Park Board member Mike Dombrowski said an independent appraisal would allow voters and officials to understand the difference between the contracted sale price and the current market value.
“Members clearly understood how this sale benefits the Lansing shuffle as a private business,” Dombrowski said. “What we did not hear, and what has not been demonstrated, is how selling a desirable, recently updated income generating city asset serves the Parks Department or the taxpayers of Lansing.”
City Council members could act on the proposal at their April 20 meeting. The deadline to place the question on the August ballot would be May 12.
But Lansing resident Deborah Mulcahey said City Council members shouldn’t bring it back at all.
“Don’t just table this. Get rid of it,” Mulcahey said. “We don’t need to be putting something on the ballot for the future when we’ve already decided.”
