The skyline for Downtown East Lansing is changing faster than ever.
As cranes rise above the streets, two new projects are in development.
One, at the corner of Abbot and Grand River and the other nearby on Albert Avenue.
FOX 47s Cryss Walker spoke to people about how they're handling all the construction.
Road closures, orange cones and construction sites are slowing down the corner of Grand River Avenue and Abbot Road in East Lansing.
“That's our Park District project”, said Tim Dempsey, director of planning, building & development for the city of East Lansing.
“Developers recently came in with a proposal for an eleven story building with first floor retail and ten stories of apartments.”
In addition to the housing and retail space, developers say they're building a hotel to keep us with the tourism demand.
“We have a lot of visitors to our community and having another downtown hotel will you know give us the ability to host more visitors”, Dempsey explained.
But some people who live in the area say although they're excited about the new development, some say the construction and road blocks are creating problems.
“The traffic is pretty dangerous”, said East Lansing resident Chelsea Ferrell.
“I don't walk or park here very often but I drive through and there's not enough space, like it seems very crammed all the time.”
The busy traffic also flows on Albert Avenue to Grand River to make way for another development, the Center City project.
“An urban Target store on Grand River and then 11 stories of apartments above that and then on the albert side we have a senior housing, 55 plus”, Dempsey told FOX 47.
Developers say the Center City project will wrap up in September 2019, but construction for the Park District project is expected to be complete in two years.
Developers say although the new projects have taken up many street parking spaces and lots, a new parking garage is being built to replace all of those lost spaces.
