RustTown

Photo of the Day: Rare Skyline View Taken by Wezern (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wezern/), or Flickr, this is a view of Lansing rarely seen, and with great weather to set the mood. This photo was taken back in November, and has to be the from Ingham Regional Medical Center - Greenlawn Campus Patient Tower. That's the only building down that way that could offer this view.

Still, even Detroit's corporately-named stadiums don't sound all that bad compared to other's. Ford and Comerica really aren't that bad, as Ford is a family name, and Comerica could be anything. It doesn't scream a product like some of the other ridiculously named stadiums. I actually kind of like how Ford Field sounds, as it's not your typical "stadium."

I meant Quicken Loan Arena. Sorry about that.

You'd see that happen in few other cities. What an great story. Man, I was on the edge of my seat. BTW, I don't care how many times I hear it, but Quick Loans Arena sounds so lame. lol I'd just knickname it "The Rock."

Malden Park? I really like that view. It would look even better as a pan. It really shows how linear the skyline really is; something you don't get to see from the river or coming down Woodward.

Yeah, it definitely rubs me as a historic building reclad. Being right on Woodward, that would be more likely. It has such an odd shape which further makes me believe it was just covered up.

Hey, I was just looking through Flickr, and came across this picture. It's good I did because I wanted to ask if anyone knows if Peterboro Place (International-styled glass building picture) was a new construction or a recladding? It almost seems to me that it is the latter: Also, what's the usage (besides the groundfloor retail, of course)?

The bottom looks like it could be concrete, or GFRC (Glass Fiber Concrete Reinforcement), which is a special concrete reinforced with different types of fiber (glass, steel...)

I really thought they were going to do more with the bridge. That almost looks exactly like the one that was there before. I'd have liked to have seen some greenery on the bridge. The old bridge was kind of depressing it had so much concrete.

What a strangely styled building.

I couldn't agree more. I hage to admit it, but Detroit has more empty and decayed housing than the city will ever be able to renovate for decades. It's time to spend the money to bring down the worst-of-the-worst in neighborhoods where revitalization won't happen for years, and stop worrying about the market downtown, and let it handle itself.

Interesting. To me, if the extra floors were deemed unnecessary, I'm glad there was a trade off (underground parking). All-in-all, it sounds like it will be a quality project that will attract a niche market. It sounds like a much smaller, but more personalized and upscale Stadium District. I'm just inching for ONE of these to start. lol Patience, I tell myself, patience.

Hey, I'm not sure if I've just totally missed this when looking at the old Abrams Aerial Survey Building on Larch, but I just noticed today that the "for sale sign" now says "sold."

I may be inclined to agree. Northern cities are losing ground to southern and western cities in terms of many different types of conventions. Still, the Lansing Center could still be great for smaller and/or niche conventions. IMO, the current center, while decent, is just that: decent. There is nothing special about it, and in such a competitve market there needs to be something special about the centers. Lansing's always had the problem (on many fronts) with being lodged between two major metropolitan areas, and quite a few smaller ones. Lansing's location between Detroit and GR, in this case, has really hurt it's convention business

I keep hearing that it's the size and condition of the convention center that has driven people away, more so than the hotel space. It seems as if conventions in Lansing have been accustomed to transporting their goers in from the suburbs and the city's edge. There have been quite a few conventions Lansing has lost to the new DeVos Center in Grand Rapids because it's larger and more modern.

Man, oh man, I love shots displaying a city's texture. Detroit is a feast for the eyes, even in its declined state. The busier, the better, IMO.

Yeah, but from a hoteliers point of view, who'd want to risk building a new hotel in such a miserable market? The Raddison, routinely, post miserable occupancy numbers.

The whole convention center/hotel issue is a chicken/egg thing. For the Radisson to post increased numbers, more and/or larger conventions need to be found. But, to do that, the Lansing Center has to be significantly expanded.

I was about to tell you all to hold on for the minute seeing that the council has to pass this, but the article seems to say that this is likely to pass. If so, this will be just great. Really, just great.

Also, Has anyone recently noticed that the Capitol Building has new lighting? It's not on the building (and the dome lights are still turned off after a certain time), but HUGE flood lights have been installed at the top of the Romney Building across from the Capitol (about 3-4 it looks like), and the light the entire grounds just about. It gives the Capitol a very eerie glow. If you watch the WILX at 11 P.M. they often show the capitol and you can see it. I wonder what it's all about?

BTW, I was just watching city council and they said something about the Mutual Building being redeveloped. Unfortunately, the city council site hasn't been updated in nearly a month. It sounds like someone else is looking to redeveloped the Mutual Building.

You may be right. The current city hall is really inefficient. I can only imagine how much more they could save in energy cost in the like with a new "green" city hall that wouldn't require as much maintenance and power and... But, I really don't think it's going to happen anytime soon. I can imagine how angry this would make the regulars if the mayor proposed moving city hall with our current budget. They have whined for much less. Though, if the mayor can really prove that this will save the city in the long run (a very tough sale), than he may be able to get this through city council. It's something that should be considered. I've been to city hall a few times, and as I've said before, they are so out of space in many departments that there are file cabinents out in the already narrow hallways, not to mention all of the mechanical problems I hear about coming from this building.

It's not all that subtle; it sticks out like a sore thumb amongst all of the brick. I just wished they could have designed even a little bit of extra detail to give it some kind of character. I'm not joking when I say it looks completely unfinished, especially considering the postmodern designs that directly abut it. All that said, I'm really glad with the direction developers are now going in in concerns to quality of design. These are much better, architecturally, than Woodward Place, the pioneer residential development.

I really like Centurion Place, but that corner building throws me off every time. I can't imagine why it's designed the way it is. It wouldn't even have to be a brick, but it looks completely unfinished, IMO.

Also, with LCC on the other corner, I expect whatever is built here to have some quality retail on all of the street frontages. They could really milk this site for all its worth. The Grand and Shiawassee is a very busy corner. I still wonder, though, if the city is still pondering putting up a new city hall on this site? This is one rumor that has not died. Even just a few months ago the former Lansing EDC leader told me that it was still very much a possibility, but the probability of it happening any time soon was low due to us facing bad budget even beyond 2006 as the city shrinks.