Former Walter French school building to be redeveloped

LANSING - The building that once housed Walter French Junior High School is set to become a mixed-use residential development.

The families of Louis and George Eyde, founders of the Eyde Company, are donating the long-vacant building at the corner of Mt. Hope Avenue and Cedar Street to the Capital Area Housing Partnership, a non-profit that works to develop affordable housing.

The Eyde Company purchased the building from the Lansing School District in 1983 for $942,000. The donation not only allows for the site's preservation, but puts the project in the hands of a group more experienced developing moderately-priced housing, said Mark Clouse, Eyde Company's general counsel and chief financial officer.

"We're not fans of seeing buildings torn down," Clouse said.

The building housed a charter school from the mid-1990s until 2004. Michigan Works also had offices in a portion of the building briefly while its nearby building was being renovated close to a decade ago, Clouse said.

In August of 2016, it caught fire, though the blaze was limited to the section of the building that housed a gymnasium and swimming pool. In the wake of that fire and subsequent asbestos abatement, rumors circulated about the building being torn down. Former Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero called and said he wasn't a fan of that idea, Clouse said.

It was Bob Trezise, President and CEO of the Lansing Economic Area Partnership, that connected the two groups in an effort to find the best possible outcome, Clouse said.

Photos: Firefighters battle fire at Walter French school

Fire at former Lansing school extinguished after four hours

Capital Area Housing Partnership will aim to preserve the historic building in the course of doing the necessary renovations, according to Mikki Droste, the group's executive director.

"As a non-profit working in neighborhood and housing development, we take cues from the community," Droste said. "Saving this building and the historical value it provides to the neighborhood and entire community was very important to people."

Droste said the Capital Area Housing Project has been looking for a site to do housing development for some time. It was among the two agencies that bid for Eastern High School, which the Lansing School District ultimately sold to the other bidder, Sparrow Health Systems.

Droste said the rest of 2018 will be spent assessing the building and cleaning up the inside, studying the best use for it and finding money for the project.

CAHP plans to pursue funding through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the Michigan Housing Development Authority. A recently launched program through the two agencies allows development of housing that accommodates individuals and families with incomes up to 120% of the area's median income, according to the release.

In order to get historic tax credits, Droste said the organization would have to keep all but the most recently added section of the building, which houses the former school's large gymnasium. The housing partnership would also have to retain the building's existing facade and either preserve something like the original layout of the auditorium and gym spaces or maintain something like their original use.

If the non-profit elects to include affordable housing, they plan to ask for a payment in lieu of taxes incentive from the Lansing City Council.

The Capital Area Housing Project officially took possession of the building on December 28, Droste said.

Walter French was built in 1925 and operated as a junior high school until 1981. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.

Contact RJ Wolcott at (517) 377-1026 or rwolcott@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @wolcottr.