$150M Spartan Village seen as 'gateway' to Michigan State

EAST LANSING -- A planned housing development across from the Breslin Center would frame the area and act as a gateway to Michigan State University from the south, officials say.

Plans are moving forward for a new Spartan Village on a 10-acre site at the corner of Harrison Road and Kalamazoo Street. It would replace the decades-old Spartan Village Apartments a mile to the south, which university officials say have passed their useful life.

The project, estimated at $150 million, still needs final approval from the university's Board of Trustees. The plan is to open the new buildings in time for Fall classes in 2017.

Construction costs would be paid from rent and fees, not from the university's general fund.

New construction will comprise 10 acres. The eight-year-old University Village complex and land to the west of the property will be included for a total 40 acres of development.

Kathy Collins, MSU director of Residence Education and Housing Services, said a survey of current Spartan Village residents showed that they wished they were closer to campus.

"They will be getting their wish and we can't wait to see this project become reality," Collins said. "We are really excited about making this a campus landmark. It really speaks to the themes of building a community on campus."

Project details could change before a scheduled presentation to the MSU Board of Trustees in June.

The board authorized its planning and design in October, 2013, which has cost $1.7 million so far.

Plans include a 450,000 square foot apartment complex, 105,000 square foot office building for RHS, a community garden, town homes and plenty of open space in the back, she said. It will also have 1,800 parking spaces.

Combined with the nearby University Village and land west of the property, it would be 40 acres of development. A portion of the site once housed the Michigan State Police headquarters, which was demolished in 2012.

There are 914 students and 237 faculty and staff members living in the existing Spartan Village. The new development would actually have fewer beds, about 900, though they would be open only to students. The nearby University Village, built eight years ago, has an additional 300.

Kat Cooper, communications manager for MSU's Residential and hospitality services, said the buildings at the current site have become too expensive as they have aged.

"The buildings have far surpassed their life expectancy, and have become unreasonable to maintain," she said. "It's more fiscally responsible to engage in new construction in order to continue this important legacy."

She said the new development will offer students better access to the resources they need for their studies.

MSU already has torn down many of the buildings on the current Spartan Village property that once housed married students and visiting faculty. The current complex will be gradually phased out but not bulldozed yet. It could take as long as December of 2017.

There are no plans yet for the land.

The older buildings in the complex, built in the 1950s, fell in 2008. Cherry Lane and Faculty Bricks apartments were demolished three years later, 474 units in all.

Despite its age, the remaining apartments at Spartan Village are still heavily used. Currently there are 914 students and 237 faculty or staff living there, Cooper said.

Collins said there is a housing assignment plan that will be in place for those students interested in the new Spartan Village. She said the current complex has about a 50 percent turnover every new school year.

She said RHS is also conducting a study of future separate housing needs for visiting faculty and staff.

She said the cost of living in the new complex has not been determined but will be competitive with similar housing costs in the area.

"We want to be competitive with the price because RHS is self-supporting," she said. "We operate from revenue off rental fees and meal plans, not tuition or state appropriation."

The new Spartan Village will offer one bedroom studio apartments, two-bedroom town homes and larger two or four-bedroom apartments, she said.

"The opportunity exists to create a new vision of how students live, work and play on campus in this accessible, urban setting," Cooper said.

She said a nice feature of the new village will be the mix of students living there.

"The site is also flexible enough to really allow us to customize the experience for both single students and student families, giving them the spaces and community they need to maximize their academic success."

Will Kangas is a staff writer for the Lansing State Journal.