When Andrew Abood was considering what to do about the extra office space in his 9,200-square foot building near the corner of Abbot Road and Saginaw Street in East Lansing, he noticed something missing in his neighborhood.
"There isn’t really a restaurant or bar on Saginaw in East Lansing," he says. "You have to go the
McDonalds near
Frandor before you can find something to eat or drink."
That notion got him thinking that perhaps the vacancy in his building, near Big Apple Bagel, had a greater purpose than just more office space.
On January 12, the
East Lansing Planning Commission approved a special use permit to allow Abood to get creative with his property. His proposal included retaining his current space occupied by
Abood Law Firm as office space while converting 2,200-sq ft of the building into a restaurant and bar and the final 1,700 sq-ft into a residential unit.
"The residential part is almost done,” says Abood. "It’s going one of the nicest places in East Lansing to live."
Abood anticipates he’ll invest approximately $200,000 in the project, and he’s eager to get work underway so that the search for the right restaurateur can be found for his space.
"It’s available to anybody who wants to come," he says. "The place will sit about 70 people. A restaurant like
The Tap Room would work well in the space."
One of Abood’s goals with his upcoming project was to find a great use for the property while avoiding the long process of waiting for the right office tenant to come to him.
"I didn’t want to go another 18 months just to see what would happen," he says. With his residential unit close to completion and a great dining spot soon to be available to prospective businesses, it looks like he won’t have to.
Source: Andrew Abood, Abood Law Firm
Writer: Natalie Burg, Interim News Editor
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