Grand River Redevelopment Moving Lansing Full Steam Ahead

The beautiful Grand River in the middle of Downtown Lansing is starting to realize its potential as investors plan to put $300 million into a variety of mixed use developments that will create more activity on Lansing’s underused riverfront.

According to excerpts from the article:

So far this year, developers have put forward plans for more than $300 million in riverfront projects.

Those developments would add nearly 1,500 workers and hundreds of residents to the core downtown riverfront between Shiawassee and Kalamazoo streets. They stand to remake a large swath of the river now often devoid of activity.

Among the plans are a proposed redevelopment of the Ottawa Power Station, a $45 million headquarters for the Michigan State Police, a $22.4 million proposed condominium high-rise and an idea for a new City, retail and housing complex north of the Lansing Center.

It's the stuff that was only dreamed of just 14 years ago, when the Lansing State Journal convened a series of community summits on the river as part of its "Grand Vision" campaign.

"Some good things did come of it, but there wasn't a heckuva lot of bricks and mortar," said Mark Nixon, who led the effort as the Lansing State Journal's editorial page editor and now is communications director at the Lansing Board of Water & Light.

"It's almost like somebody just finally rubbed Aladdin's lamp and we got our wish."

Read the entire article here.