Community-based organizations look forward to 2025

Curious about what 2025 will bring to Lansing neighborhoods?

I talked with folks involved in neighborhood organizations and corridor improvement projects to see what changes and initiatives they are planning. I can report to you that energy is high: These community-based outfits serving every side of town have ambitious plans for strengthening neighborhoods and the corridors that run through them.

North side

Old Town Commercial Association is looking at two new housing developments coming to Turner Street, executive director Samantha Benson said. “One of these is part of Gentilozzi’s New Vision, which involves new housing downtown but also includes a seven-story development in Old Town. Five floors of residential units will sit atop two floors of underground parking.”  A second development on Turner is in the planning stages and will be announced soon. “Both will bring much needed housing to Old Town.”

Benson also highlighted the fish ladder development coming this year, which will bring a “plug and play venue inside the fish ladder, offering a sort of bandshell for performances of various sorts.”

Cristo Rey Community Center is a 501(c)(3) basic-needs provider serving under-resourced people in Lansing, particularly on the north side, with food access, medical care and mental health services. When I connected with CEO Joe Garcia, he was heading to the ribbon cutting on the organization’s new dental operation. This collaboration with University of Michigan dental school’s residency program will serve the most vulnerable people in the area, especially children and veterans.  While Cristo Rey’s longstanding facility is located on High Street, the new dental clinic is at 2800 W. Willow St., at what was St. Vincent’s Catholic Charities. This follows the recent merger of Cristo Rey with Catholic Charities — now called Catholic Charities of Ingham, Eaton, and Clinton Counties. 

Garcia noted that Cristo Rey’s long history of providing medical care in its High Street facility “shined a bright light on the dental needs of the most vulnerable people we serve.” The new dental clinic will have six chairs, and also offer five medical exam rooms.

East side

Allen Neighborhood Center New programs are par for the course for ANC, but the big news this year is the construction of the Asante Co-op. Being built on the second floor of the complex just west of ANC’s Outreach offices, the co-op is a collaboration with Spartan Housing Co-operative and Refugee Development Center. “When completed in summer 2025, the co-op will house 16 people, half of whom will be young adult refugees and half will be native born people,” ANC executive director Joe Enerson said. Partnering organizations will provide on-site classes in English as a second language, household budgeting and job training.

Nancy Mahlow, Eastside Neighbohood Organization’s president, is looking forward to the completion of the Michigan Avenue Rehabilitation Project this fall (followed by blight issues being addressed), another ENO Summerfest and additional traffic calming efforts in residential areas. She added that “ENO still strongly advocates for preservation of the west wing of Eastern High School, even while supporting creation of a mental health facility on UM Health Sparrow’s Michigan Avenue campus.”

The Michigan Avenue Corridor Improvement Authority is looking forward to “deploying all of the façade improvement funds it has secured for completion of the north side of the 2000 block,” President Jon Lum said. This busy block contains Everybody Reads, the Green Door, TheraPLAYoga, etc. Lum noted that his group, along with many Michigan Avenue businesses, is relieved that more than half of the avenue’s reconstruction project has been completed. This leaves the stretch from Horton Street to Pennsylvania Avenue for the coming year, with work expected to run from March until September. Lansing Public Service Director Andy Kilpatrick reported that by fall, “we will be celebrating the revitalization of the core of the Avenue with a new road and sidewalk, 10-to-15-foot street trees and marked cycle tracks and bike lanes.”

West side

The Ingham County Land Bank will be working to sell their nine newly built condos, on Saginaw Street near Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.  The two-story, one-and-a-half bath, roughly 1,200-square-foot units are energy-efficient; some even have solar panels. The condos range from $150,000 to $160,000.

The Land Bank also continues to offer support to the redevelopment in the 900 block of Saginaw of what was formerly Parks Furniture. A 50-year fixture, the business closed in 2021. “Between our condos, Moneyball and the old Parks Furniture buildings, that area of Saginaw is going to be transformed,” noted Executive Director Roxanne Case.

The Northwest Initiative, led by Peggy Vaughn-Payne, will be focused on integrating a housing component into its ARRO Program (Advocacy, Resources, Re-entry, Outreach). ARRO helps people being released from correctional facilities to reacclimate to the community by, among other things, assisting them in securing essentials such as a driver’s license and social security card.  Vaughn-Payne said NWI will also beef up work with younger offenders coming out of Ingham County courts. “These young people have an opportunity to participate in a wholistic, wrap-around program that includes GED classes and assistance in getting into skilled trades training and other LCC programs,” she said.

South side

SWAG, a catalyst for transformation in southwest Lansing, has a busy 2025 planned. Executive director Paul Anderson shared SWAG’s broad agenda:

• Repurposing Pleasant Grove Elementary School into housing, essential services and a community space honoring Malcolm X. The development will address community needs while celebrating the area’s rich history.
• Supporting the South Side Community Coalition’s SNAP-ED program to improve the health of SW Lansing’s most vulnerable residents, particularly children and seniors.
• Supporting the Lansing 360 initiative, working to address gun violence through policy changes and prevention programs.
• In partnership with the South Martin Luther King Corridor Improvement Association, streamlining projects to support small businesses, promote economic growth and enhance the association’s appeal, functionality and safety.

REO Town Commercial Association is the dynamic entity behind many of the area’s events and festivals. Dylan Rogers, the VP and owner of Robin Theater, described RTCA as “a unique all-volunteer force of residents, visitors and people generally enthusiastic about this weird little neighborhood.” The group promotes businesses and business start-ups (e.g., REO Town Marketplace) and celebrates that this is a neighborhood “where people make things.”  New on the horizon is the opening this year of the REO Town Clubhouse, 1314 S. Washington Ave., a locally owned, family style, Italian restaurant and bar. He said there will be “a pool hall element” — totally appropriate for this quirky, fun neighborhood.

I am inspired by the energetic folks who work to improve Lansing’s neighborhoods. Every side of town is building — housing, businesses, improved corridors, services and a spirted base of support among people who live and work in our unique, transforming neighborhoods.

Happy New Year!

(Joan Nelson was the founding executive director the Allen Neighborhood Center. Her column appears in the first issue of the month.)