Development and Planning

East Lansing's Downtown Development Authority voted 7-4 today to end developers' Royal Vlahakis's exclusive redevelopment deal on the Evergreen Avenue properties. ELi's Chris Root explains the votes and tells you what comes next.

Today was supposed to be an organized move-in day at The Hub. But with the Certificate of Occupancy from the City of East Lansing’s Building Department not being issued until the afternoon, things got a little crazy by evening.

Developers from Royal Apartments and Vlahakis Development will ask Thursday for another round of extensions on their exclusive deal to purchase and redevelop publicly-owned land on Evergreen Avenue. We bring you a special report from ELi's Alice Dreger and Chris Root.

East Lansing Council members Erik Altmann, Shanna Draheim, and Mark Meadows said that in hindsight the City should have advertised the eBay auction of the million-dollar public property on Merritt Road. But they think the taxpayers have gotten a great deal.

More billboards in East Lansing, more sorority houses, more alcohol sales downtown, more revenue for the City, more coffee near the Amtrak station, more rental licenses: all that plus the eBay land deal, depending on how the votes go. ELi brings you up to speed.

The City of East Lansing has been very quiet about the departure of Tim Dempsey, its long-time Director of Planning, Building and Development. Alice Dreger reports on the vacancy and what it means for some of the key development issues that have yet to be resolved.

Photos by Raymond Holt capture what ELi readers reported on Twitter yesterday: it's hard to figure out where you can walk downtown right now. Mark Meyer reports.

Responding to a reader's question, an investigation by ELi's Amalia Medina and Alice Dreger looks at what it takes for East Lansing restaurants to offer outdoor seating downtown. Spoiler alert: they would pay a lot less in Ann Arbor.

Broken air conditioning, windows not properly secured, a lack of disability-accessible parking spaces — some residents say things at the Bailey senior apartments have been way too rough. Now a change of management has arrived. ELi's Andrew Graham reports.

“We have had a gratifying and exciting time in the thirty years we have been doing business as Mackerel Sky Gallery," says Linda Dufelmeier. So why is this East Lansing institution planning to close at the end of this year?

Why do City staff say it's OK for Target to be selling alcohol without the required local permit, and how is the alcohol-selling landscape of East Lansing's downtown shaping up with big redevelopment? ELi's Alice Dreger reports.

The opening of the new Center City parking garage on Albert Avenue was supposed to trigger the start of ground lease payments by the developer to the City of East Lansing. So where's the money? ELi's Alice Dreger reports.

Developer Paul Vlahakis and his team went to Planning Commission and the Downtown Development Authority this week, to try to solidify their proposal for the Evergreen Avenue properties. What happened? ELi's Alice Dreger reports.