East Lansing moves on from City Center II

East Lansing city leaders are trying to decide what to do now that the city has decided to drop plans for a $105 million development project downtown. 

The City Center II project has been in development for seven years. But this week, East Lansing officials decided the financing was just not in place to transform the rundown 5.5 acre section of downtown into a new mixed-use development.

Nathan Triplett is East Lansing’s mayor pro-tem. He says they will now start working on a new plan.

“The blight that is currently there is unacceptable. It has to go,” says Triplett. “We need to find a plan that will replace it with a vital and viable alternative that’s befitting the gateway to East Lansing.”

Triplett says it’s unlikely the city will be able to come up with a coordinated plan, similar to the one that ultimately was rejected this week.

Triplett says demolition of one of the blighted buildings will continue. He also says the developer of the now-canceled City Center II project will remain in the mix, since he owns several of the buildings.