downtownlansing77

The alley has to be worked on because of the CSO construction and for steamline renovation. So during the period when there are 20 foot trenches in the alley, the dumpsters have to be placed on the street. The BWL is also working on the steamlines and burying all the power lines currently hanging all over the place in the alley (allowing building owners to potentially fix up their rear facades). After the construction, they are limiting the number of dumpsters to make the alley more attractive. If you've ever walked by the Allegan Beaners in July, you will understand why this is VERY necessary. The odor is awful. As for whether or not this is legal - the alley is public right of way. Lansing could pass an ordinance restricting any and all dumpsters. That the city is paying to cap meters during a required construction period seems pretty nice. Not to sound defensive, but many cities would say, "Your trash is your problem." Did anyone see the news about Hollister Building today? Basically they said Boji is going to do something with the building and details will come. Nothing new.

Nothing is going on with Knapp's...the dumpsters were all moved out of the alley between Allegan and Washtenaw for Combined Sewer Overflow Construction. They are proposing limiting dumpsters back there after construction so the alley is more attractive.

The new business is Fresh. It's supposed to be a traditional salad bar and should be open Mon-Fri from 11-3. One of the owners is Senator Buzz Thomas from Detroit. I don't think it has opened yet. That whole building (Capitol Pharmacy, Hair Company and Fresh) is under renovation and should have eight lofts up above - maybe by summer. I was at the library when they were looking for old photos of the building and it looks like they are going to try and keep the historic character of the building.

They might not have to tear down the current library. Cooley owns the parking lot and empty office building, so there is a lot of space to play on. Working around the library might be a pain, but I am guessing tearing down the current library would be a bigger pain, considering Cooley can't stop operating during construction. If Accident Fund tears their building on Washtenaw down (the empty office/soon-to-be-empty jewelry store), that might create enough extra space for staging. It also depends how many lanes they're willing to shut down on Capitol. Have they said anything about putting retail space on the ground floor? Downtown needs more retail space badly.