Bridging Lansing and MSU

It’s no secret Lansing has struggled to attract Michigan State University students into Lansing, both for leisure and employment. It’s also no secret that the city’s trying to change that.

Whether it’s the Entertainment Express trolley or programs targeted at employing students in Lansing, the city knows an important source of economic activity — 40,000-some people strong — awaits just east of U.S. 127.

The proposal to develop part of the old Red Cedar Golf Course is the latest tool the city is using to bring those students west. On Monday, the City Council voted 6-2 to place the proposal on the Nov. 8 General Election ballot. It asks permission to sell 12.68 acres along Michigan Avenue of the former 61-acre golf course for “redevelopment purposes.” 

Bob Trezise, president and CEO of the Lansing Economic Development Corp., told the City Council last week that “real estate speculation moving west of the Frandor area has not taken place at all. This needs to change in order to drive business so two areas (East Lansing and downtown Lansing) can begin to link up in the middle.”

Trezise also said that through various “market study groups,” MSU students “have some feelings of not feeling safe coming into the city. They said it had something to do with Michigan Avenue.”

Dan Myers, a Michigan State University student, told the Council Monday that he used to live in the apartments immediately to the east of Red Cedar Park. Myers supports asking voter permission to improve the park and encouraged environmentally friendly construction on the nearly 13-acre parcel, if it sells.

“I understand it’s a really pretty park the way it is. Also, the way (storm water) drains right into the river, that’s a huge problem we have,” Myers said. “Make sure the development we put there is eco-friendly and low impact on the rest of the area.”

Trezise said Monday that this particular area is “underdeveloped as a college town” when it comes to housing and said “development firms have strongly indicated this is an untapped resource.” 

If voters approve the sale of the property, which has been appraised at $5 million, the Lansing Economic Development Corp. will launch a “national, if not global in scale” public Request for Proposals from interested developers. If the city finds an interesting deal, the City Council would give final approval before the land is actually sold.

As for the other 48.32 acres, Ingham County Drain Commissioner Pat Lindemann plans to repurpose the land to act as a buffer and natural filter for storm water runoff to pass through before it reaches the nearby Red Cedar River. While filtration will happen below ground, a multi-use recreation area will occupy the surface.

The resolution passed by Council Monday says that “any net proceeds from the sale of the (12.68 acres) would be exclusively dedicated to capital improvements within the remainder of the Park.” Since May, the Council has been unanimous in supporting Lindemann’s plans to clean up the Red Cedar River, which must come into compliance with the 1972 Clean Water Act.

The Lansing Economic Area Partnership and the MSU Land Policy Institute issued a “Greater Lansing Next” plan in November 2009. Ray De Winkle, senior vice president of LEAP, told Council Aug. 15 that utilizing city-owned parks means creating places were people want to go: “That, today, is not a park you’re going to go to,” De Winkle said. “It’s not maintained and it’s fenced off.”

De Winkle said the Greater Lansing Next plan identified Michigan Avenue as a “gateway and corridor” between MSU and downtown Lansing: “This (project) creates an opportunity to become a positive catalyst.”

The administration intended for the ballot proposal to be on the Aug. 2 primary ballot, but it died in committee on a 4-3 vote the night before the deadline to approve ballot language. It needed five votes for full Council consideration. Council members Derrick Quinney, Brian Jeffries and Carol Wood voted against it then. 1st Ward Councilman Eric Hewitt was absent for the vote. 

Wood voted Monday to support putting the question on the Nov. 8 ballot, but was quick to point out she won’t be voting for it Nov. 8.

“I have faith in the public and faith in citizens who have passed parks millages,” she said. “When I personally cast my vote, I will not be supporting (the proposal) in the ballot box.”

Hewitt, whose Council term expires Dec. 31, voted Monday against the project that’s in his ward “for a number of reasons.” Hewitt said because there’s no plan on what’s going to happen and because there’s no proof any development is needed. Citing a “surplus” in commercial and retail space along Michigan Avenue he said he would not support the project. 

At-Large Councilman Brian Jeffries was the second no vote because he said selling park property is a “slippery slope.” Between the Red Cedar proposal and the idea to ask voters permission to sell of the former Waverly Golf Course and Michigan Avenue Park, that’s 133 acres of city parkland the administration is asking to sell, Jeffries said: “If we’re going down this slope, it’s a very slippery slope.”

Jeffries also wondered aloud that if “this is such a great area” to develop, “why haven’t we had great development happening all around us? We don’t need to sell park property to do that.”

Quinney switched his vote to yes from last time, when he opposed it because he said he didn’t have enough information about the proposed sale. He and Wood were joined in the majority by A’Lynne Robinson, Tina Houghton, Jessica Yorko and Kathie Dunbar.

Mayor Virg Bernero, who appeared briefly at Monday’s City Council meeting to tout the Red Cedar proposal, said approving the ballot language is a matter of being proactive.

“It’s an opportunity to spark new private investment, strengthen our tax base, reinvent the Red Cedar property and an opportunity to protect our environment,” Bernero said. “It’s an opportunity for new jobs or we can bury our heads in the sand and hope for the best.”