LANSING, MI -- The building was vacant, but it was beautiful. Walking past this empty space in downtown Lansing, Suban Nur Cooley had an idea.

Soon after, she began noticing more and more of these impressive unoccupied structures throughout Lansing. Although seemingly forgotten by the city, she knew something cool could be done in these spaces.

That was the start of VACANT Lansing, a series of mysterious, ticketed events held in vacant buildings throughout the city. And on May 5, VACANT will host its third gathering somewhere in Old Town.

“I created VACANT because I want to go to a VACANT,” Nur Cooley said. “I would be one of those people buying the tickets because I would just be curious enough.”

VACANT’s tagline is “expect nothing.” The idea is that guests are going somewhere with no expectations and are pleasantly surprised by the fun they find, Nur Cooley said. Each VACANT event is announced without any information as to where it will be held or what it will entail. As the date of the event nears, those who have purchased tickets receive email clues to help them decipher the details. Clue-containing posters are also created by Redhead Design Studio and hung in various Lansing establishments.

Jennifer Estill, partner and creative director at Redhead Design Studio, has been working with the VACANT committee on the design of its posters and website since the group’s inaugural event. When the 150 tickets available for VACANT’s first event nearly sold out in just 48 hours, Estill was excited. She had always thought VACANT was a fantastic idea and was glad to see it succeed.

“It speaks a lot to people’s sense of adventure in this town and how they are curious to support something new and something innovative,” Estill said.

The primary goal of these events is economic and community development. Nur Cooley and her fellow VACANT committee members hope that by utilizing vacant buildings in Lansing and showing their potential, these spaces soon will be occupied once again.

The majority of VACANT’s proceeds go to local, grassroots nonprofit organizations in the area of town in which the event was held — the first event, a speakeasy, was held in REO Town and raised money for nearby REACH Studio Art Center, and the second, a 1990s block party, was held in south Lansing and raised money for the South Lansing Community Development Association.

VACANT committee members simply keep enough money to ensure they can host their next event.

“The premise behind it was to spark a little intrigue while at the same time working for the betterment of the city,” Nur Cooley said.

Each event is held in a part of town committee members hope attendees have never been, along with individuals they hope attendees never have met.

“The further away from the nucleus we get, and the more of Lansing we get involved, the happier we are,” Nur Cooley said.

VACANT Lansing founder Suban Nur Cooley, second from left, stands alongside fellow VACANT committee members Leslie Sunderlin, far left, and Shannon Nobles, far right, as well as future committee member Sommer Young, second from right.

For the seven VACANT committee members, their project is a labor of love. They all have day jobs working in economic development, creative fields, nonprofits or as entrepreneurs. Nur Cooley is the managing editor of online publication Capital Gains and the communications director for Habitat for Humanity of Michigan, as well as a wife and mother.

Growing up in Australia, Nur Cooley always had a natural curiosity and a love for community.

She first came to the Lansing area to take part in Michigan State University's The American Semester program

, and later made Lansing her adopted home when she married her husband in 2006.

Shannon Nobles, a VACANT committee member, said Lansing has benefited from Nur Cooley’s fresh perspective as a newcomer to town. Not only does she have great ideas, but she has the determination to see them through, Nobles said.

“Suban’s motivation and her drive is really contagious,” Nobles said. “The more people she shares ideas with and the more people she knows — that energy’s contagious.”

VACANT held its first event, the speakeasy, on Feb. 29, 2012. With a performance by the Lansing Unionized Vaudeville Spectacle, immersion theater, high-end mock cocktails, lounge singers, a DJ and more, Estill considers it the best event she attended all year.

The 1990s summer block party was just as impressive, featuring a competition between hip-hop artists and break dancers, spoken-word poetry, a graffiti ice cream truck and arcade games, among other activities.

And Nur Cooley promises even more for the third. As always, guests are putting faith in VACANT’s organizers that the evening in Old Town will be worth a blind investment. This time around, there are just 49 tickets, and each one costs $50 — the highest a VACANT event has ever been priced.

“It will be worth every penny, and in earnest,” Nur Cooley said. “I’m most excited about — I say that every VACANT — but I’m really excited about this one.”

In the future, the VACANT team hopes to become a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Organizers hope to continue to hold two events each year, one in the spring and one in the fall.

The committee is always planning, but you would never know it.

“Expect nothing,” Nur Cooley said. “We might do something with 10 people or we might do something with 1,000 people. But we hope it grows.”

Follow Marina Csomor on Twitter: @MarinaCsomor. Email her at marinacsomor@gmail.com.