Business View Civil and Municipal | Volume 2, Issue 6

140 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 2, ISSUE 6 properties, including housing opportunities for those 55 years of age and older and low-to- moderate-income earners. These developments offer several amenities, including new restaurants, service providers, a new hotel, and the region’s first urban Target with a small- format grocery store. The city’s strong network of neighborhoods features what Fehrenbach calls “interesting architecture,” some historic districts, multi-family medium-density communities, and a high-density downtown. These areas will include several new housing developments for seniors, which are currently underway. For example, Burcham Hills Senior Housing Community has a major addition to the property in the works, while Provision Living, a three-phase project, will add around 220 units to the city. Like any thriving housing market, East Lansing’s comes with its own downsides, particularly that the city has a limited inventory, with a lot of demand, but not enough supply. Fehrenbach notes, “Those are some of the things we will be grappling with, as we’re just kicking off a housing study for the future planning effort around housing.” Additional city developments include large projects such as mixed-use apartments, retail establishments, and restaurants. Meanwhile, East Lansing is boosting its hotel offerings. Spring Hill Suites redeveloped an old Howard Johnson, which has about 88 units, and a new 4-star Graduate Hotel with about 194 units is set to open downtown. In the areas surrounding these new developments, many improvements are being made as part of East Lansing City Council’s commitment to infrastructure renewal. The city has worked closely with developers to service their facilities and provide safe and reliable access to sewers and water. The city invested $80 million in the past five years to upgrade the Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF), the Woodingham Pump Station, major sewer