Eyesore of the Week

108-110 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Lansing

City Pulse is pleased to update an Eyesore from Jan. 3, 2018. The 146-year-old house, the first built by famed Lansing architect Darius Moon (1851-1939), had been boarded up in 2015 and then was damaged by fire in 2017. But two years later, Alesia Flowers and her E.M. Cannon Designs LLC in Dimondale purchased it at auction (E L Investment Properties was the previous owner), and she launched a long-term restoration project. CHR Services, a Grand Ledge-based company owned by her cousin Terry Cannon, is working on a building permit issued March 5 by the city of Lansing, according to the city’s BS&A online site. Flowers’ plan for the two-story, 3,000-square-foot house is two two-bedroom units on the top floor and a common area on the first floor for offices or, perhaps, a bakery. The property was in tax foreclosure and went to auction before Flowers bought it with a bid price of $8,500. She and Cannon are also from the west side, near the house, and had admired it growing up in the neighborhood. It sits across from the Michigan Hall of Justice. The house has been on the city’s make-safe-or-demolish list since Flowers purchased it, and due to challenges from COVID-19 that resulted in labor issues and increased prices, the process has taken longer than intended. “Every time we meet with the city, we have to show them the progress we’re making so they can keep giving us an extension,” she said.

—    STEVE UNDERWOOD

“Eyesore of the Week” is our weekly look at some of the seedier properties in Lansing. It rotates with Public Art, by Bill Castanier. Have a suggestion? Email eye@lansingcitypulse.com  or call in a nomination at 517-999-5061.