East Lansing Approves Massive 12-Story Development Downtown

There's about to be a big change in Downtown East Lansing.

High Rise Development Approved by East Lansing City Council

On July 21, the East Lansing City Council voted to approve one of the housing development proposals that was put forward. Specifically, the proposal involving the former Michigan State University Bookstore.

Student Book Store in Downtown East Lansing, the future site of The Howard mixed-use development

For several months now, there have been debates about whether Downtown East Lansing could support this project—specifically looking at city "density, parking, and the future of the city's core." Now, with the debate over, the city has approved the project known as "The Howard."

What Will "The Howard" Include?

"The Howard" is going to be a 12-story mixed-use development that will be taking over the space at the former Michigan State University Bookstore. The ground floor will be for commercial space, and the upper floors will feature multi-bedroom apartments.

However, one thing that "The Howard" is missing that is like gold in East Lansing is parking. There will be no new parking with this project.

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Parking has always been a point of contention in Downtown East Lansing near campus. If you ask residents, business owners, and patrons, you'll often hear that parking can be hard to find, far away from where you want to go, and expensive. With the addition of new businesses and no new parking, those parking issues may get worse before they get better.

When Could Construction Begin?

While the project has been approved, there's no official word on a timeline or when construction will begin.