Alexander Alusheff

Lansing State Journal

EAST LANSING – The city might eliminate a decade-old requirement intended to bring older residents to a part of town dominated by student housing in order to lure in new development.

East Lansing City Council wants to get rid of an owner-occupancy requirement in East Village, a 35-acre area on the south side of Grand River Avenue between Bogue Street and Hagadorn Road, which mandates that developers market 50% of new units as owner-occupied condos until that demographic makes up 25% of the district’s population. Today, the population is entirely students, city officials say.

If the zoning code were to be amended, it would allow Chicago developer Core Campus to “develop a large housing project” on Grand River Avenue and Bogue Street, according to a memo written by City Attorney Thomas Yeadon to city council.

No formal plans have been submitted to the city. A representative from Core Campus could not be reached for comment.

It would be the first time a developer has shown interest in the area since a $750-million proposal for a mixed-use urban village, including a grocery store, offices and restaurants, fell through in 2009.

East Village "was one of the first areas to develop into student housing,” said Mayor Mark Meadows. “The idea behind the code was that somehow that would change. There’s really no motivation to redevelop the area because the only housing likely to be located there is student housing.”

Council introduced an ordinance to amend the zoning code during its meeting Tuesday night and referred it to the East Lansing Planning Commission. The planning commission will discuss it at a later meeting.

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In 2004, East Lansing formed a special committee to draft a master plan to redevelop East Village, which encouraged the development of high density housing, offices and entertainment options that would appeal to the general public.

It encouraged a mix of students and permanent residents, in part because of the large parties and riots that had occurred at Cedar Village over the years. Changing the environment, the thinking went, might change those behaviors. The plan was adopted in 2006.

“It was the perfect location for a lot of uses,” said Kevin Beard, a former member of the East Village Planning Team. “It had a lot of things going for it that had never been realized.”

California developer Pierce Education Properties proposed the $750-million project in 2006, but when the Great Recession hit in 2008, plans fell through. The area hasn’t seen new development since.

“We passed a code that looked at the potential for the area, but that potential doesn’t always play out,” Meadows said. “It hasn’t prompted any change.

"It seems better to provide a mix of opportunities for students to live there.”

To provide that mix, council has rewritten the ordinance to allow for a mix of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. No more than 25% of a development can contain three bedrooms. Four-bedroom apartments aren’t allowed.

It’s one way to discourage a student-focused development, which are typically comprised of only four-bedroom units. Young professionals may be attracted to a one- or two-bedroom option, Meadows said.

“The strategy is to get more mixed-market housing in the area, which makes sense because the area is right next to Michigan State University,” said Mayor Pro Tem Ruth Beier. “If someone were to develop there, it would increase the tax base, which is something we need.”

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Beier does have reservations about changing the code because it's a move away from the original vision for the area. However, she added, the “zoning is designed for something that will never get built.”

While the vision may have not panned out as planned for East Village, its ideas were translated into East Lansing’s downtown zoning.

Last year, council passed an ordinance that requires 25% of any multi-family rentals built in B-3 zones downtown to consist of senior housing, owner-occupied condos or low-income housing. The intent was to ensure that new developments wouldn't only include student housing, which city officials argue has become a trend.

Two major developments proposed downtown will have to comply with these rules: the $148-million Park District project and the $132-million Center City District project. The Park District project originally included condos while the Center City project will include senior housing.

“It made more sense to have something like that in the core of downtown rather than an area that’s always been student housing,” Meadows said. “There’s already condos downtown, and we’re trying to encourage the diversity of individuals downtown.”

Beard, who served on city council from 2005 to 2013, believes the city is giving up to early on the East Village vision.

“It can take a long time to get the critical mass necessary to see redevelopment comply with a master plan,” said Beard, who is now an aide at MSU’s Vincent Voice Library. “Is 10 years long enough? I don’t think so. I think the elimination of the owner-occupancy requirement is short-sighted.”

Alexander Alusheff is a reporter with the Lansing State Journal. Contact him at (517) 388-5973 or aalusheff@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexalusheff.