Lansing Business Corridor Seeks High-End Retail Investors

Lansing's nine-member Corridor Improvement Authority is in the middle of developing a plan to attract new, high-end retailers to invest in the Michigan Avenue corridor. The group is brainstorming ideas to woo the new retailers, and will give their recommendations in the next year.

According to excerpts from the article:

Once traffic, beautification and the area’s business climate are studied, the committee will craft specific development plans and make an estimate on the amount of money necessary for carrying out the plan, said Brian Anderson, a member of Lansing’s Economic Development Corp.

“We want to make sure Lansing and Lansing Township’s residents understand the concerns of East Lansing’s residents, and vice versa,” Anderson said.

Renovations are possible because the state Legislature passed a law in 2005 that provides tax incentives for developments spanning more than one community, Anderson said.

Because the committee is regional, Anderson said he expects a broad spectrum of ideas, including suggestions for businesses the committee would like to pursue and ways to beautify the street, Anderson said.

“Higher speeds tend to discourage (people from walking) and slower traffic tends to encourage it,” he said. “Traffic makes a lot of things different, not just walking but whether people want to sit outside at cafes.”

When human biology junior Amanda Reisedge travels down Michigan Avenue to volunteer atSparrow Hospital, she sees stores that don’t appeal to her and little foot traffic.

Read the entire article here.