New Vision Lansing project, including 28-story skyscraper, breaks ground in Lansing
LANSING — The dirt was carefully prepared, hidden from the fledgling snowfall by a giant white tent as officials picked up ceremonial shovels and marked the start of work on the city's largest construction project in a generation.
The New Vision Lansing projects, roughly $315 million in investments, will start with a 28-story skyscraper, the Tower on Grand, that will take about two years to fully build. The centerpiece of the New Vision Lansing projects, it is expected to become the city's tallest building, a title that has been held for a century by a building now known as the Boji Tower.
The 300,000-square-foot Tower on Grand is planned for a lot between the Grand Tower at 235 S. Grand Ave., where West Washtenaw Street dead-ends into Grand Avenue, and a parking garage to the north.
The project will also include more than 560 apartments along with commercial, retail or office space in every building. Additionally, an existing building in the 100 block of S. Washington Square will be repurposed into mixed use, the Capitol Tower at 201 N. Walnut will be a new building with 105 residential units with mixed-use and office space, as will an existing five-story building at 116 W. Ottawa, the Ingham Building. And in Old Town, the project will include a new building with about 90 residential units and mixed-use space
The project has already gone through the ringer and there's plenty of other challenges to come, said John Gentilozzi, vice president of Gentilozzi Real Estate and a project leader.
There were times when the financing was in question, including skepticism by city council members, and the designs have changed from three to four to five buildings while the price tag of the projects has grown by around $100 million.
One small hiccup was avoided Monday. The giant tent? The mayor's office called on Monday morning to say there was no permit for the tent.
So New Vision employees paid the tent permit fee quickly and $300 later the official ceremony was legit, said Paul Gentilozzi, head of the family firm.
The New Vision Lansing project is financed in significant part by public dollars including around $200 million in various tax and other incentives. The state Legislature committed $40 million in tax dollars for it.
The Gentilozzis are putting up millions of their own money in the project, said Pat Gillespie, founder and CEO of Gillespie Group, a competing development firm in Lansing.
Gillespie spoke on behalf of the project, acknowledging the upcoming competition for his own rental units, but said he was one of the first people to be excited for the Gentilozzi projects.
"With 600 to 700 new units, that will help our bars and restaurants. We're going to see more bars and restaurants and entertainment coming," he said. "We feel bullish about Lansing."
The public funds were key to the projects, said Karl Dorshimer, president and CEO of the Lansing Economic Development Corporation.
"Without the public sector, there's no way for this to be done," he said.
Brownfield and other funding mechanisms are necessary for large projects today, given the high cost of housing and Lansing's need for significantly more units, Dorshimer said.
"There was a time years ago when the private sector went and did it on their own," Dorshimer said. "But for too long developers have said 'I don't want to clean that up, I'll go elsewhere.'"
He said the groundbreaking helps to mark a transformation in Lansing, a city that he expects will be transformed in the next five years.
Joseph Kosik Jr., an investor and partner with JFK Investments, is a key financier of the project.
Kosik said Gentilozzi's passion for Lansing helped make him a believer.
"He made us want to be part of this with his passion and love for the city, it's a city that is ready to take off," Kosik said.
Lansing was showing great promise before COVID, Kosik said, and he believes these projects will help bring more people and momentum to the city.
Contact Mike Ellis at mellis@lsj.com or 517-267-0415.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: $315M, 5-building New Vision Lansing project breaks ground
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