Lansing Community College (LCC) is spending $300,000 to renovate the campus gym.

LCC is repairing the floor, replacing the bleachers, painting the gym and improving the audio visual capabilities, says Chris Strugar-Fritsch with LCC.

“It should look pretty nice when it’s all done in August,” Strugar-Fritsch says.

Strugar-Fritsch says the gym hasn’t had an update since 1976. The 7,000 to 8,000 square foot gym hosts LCC’s sports teams and community groups.

LCC is one of the largest community colleges in the country. LCC has a large presence in Downtown Lansing and recently completed an $11 million development project that connects the Old Carnegie Library with a modern University Center.

The new, 40,478 square foot University Center, which includes the Carnegie Library, will act as a home base for universities from all over the state that want offer LCC students bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Source: Chris Strugar-Fritsch, LCC

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.

After three years of trying to pull together enough resources to renovate the 1712 building on Michigan Ave., the Women’s Center of Greater Lansing can finally mark the project complete.

The Women’s Center hosted the grand opening of its new facility last week, which includes 12 computers for a women’s computer class, space for nutritional cooking classes, a professional clothing closet and additional space for women to engage in job searches.

The women who work at and utilize the Women’s Center are grateful to have nearly triple the space, but the road getting there was long and hard. They started raising money for the expansion more than three years ago. The renovation started with an overhaul of the upstairs apartment, which is now occupied by a Women’s Center employee. Then, construction stopped and started in tandem with funding success.

“First we had to demo the entire building and that left us with basically studs and nothing else except for siding,” Alwood says. Once the Center convinced several businesses, including Liquid Web and developer Scott Gillespie to get involved in the project last winter, it took off.

“Now we’re doing the finishing touch type of work,” she says.

The renovated building is right next to the Women’s Center current 1710 Michigan Ave. building. The two buildings together give the organization about 3,000 square feet of space. Though the addition will help the Center, they’ll have to expand again in a few years.

“We knew we were going to grow out of this space very quickly, but we knew it was what we could afford,” Alwood says.

Source: Cindie Alwood, Women’s Center of Greater Lansing

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.

Habitat for Humanity Lansing has a lot on its agenda, including the launch of its new Building Up Youth program.

The program, which was initially funded with a $5,000 grant from the Jackson National Community Foundation, allows Habitat for Humanity Lansing to approach youth groups who may be interested in “building up” Lansing.

“There are a lot of things we work with kids on and it’s really exciting to bring kids on-site because it teaches them the value of community service,” says Julie Burtch, development director for Habitat for Humanity Lansing.

Habitat for Humanity Lansing is also working with the Ingham County Land Bank to purchase, rehab and resell foreclosed homes in Mid-Michigan.

“We’re going to take these homes and turn them into owner occupancy,” Burtch says. Burtch expects the rehabbed homes to cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $40,000 to $50,000. The Land Bank and Habitat for Humanity Lansing want to complete six homes this year. The first should be finished at the end of July.

“We have looked at a number of homes through the Land Bank partnership, and now we have our families and we’re starting to work together,” she says.

Burtch says the partnership allows Habitat for Humanity Lansing to get families into foreclosed houses much faster than the nonprofit would be able to do on its own.

“Owner-occupancy in a home increases the safety of a neighborhood because the residents are more permanent and they’re more invested in their home,” she says. “They’ll be taking care of it and hopefully be better neighbors because of it. This is going to be a huge improvement for some of the neighborhoods.”

Source: Julie Burtch, development director for Habitat for Humanity Lansing

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.

After working in furniture sales and the state legislature, former Senator Bill Hardiman (R-Kentwood) staffer, Kim Gregory, opened her own event consulting business in East Lansing.

Gregory’s company, Posh Events, specializes in planning special events for Lansing area companies and trade and professional associations.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and I’ve been talking about it for years,” Gregory says. “I thought ,if this works and I like it, I’m going to do it.”

Gregory got her start at the Detroit Chamber of Commerce's popular Mackinac Policy Conference. She represented Lansing-area organizations, including the Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP), the Greater Lansing Convention & Visitors Bureau, Lansing Board of Water & Light, Lansing Entertainment & Public Facilities Authority and the Lansing Capital Regional International Airport.

“As soon as I book other events, I’ll definitely be hiring a few more employees,” Gregory says.

Gregory also plans to extend her event planning efforts to Florida.

“Our philosophy is simple,” Gregory says. “Life is an event; make it posh. Whether it’s a grand opening in downtown Lansing or corporate retreat in an exotic locale, we can produce a posh event that makes a statement about who you are and where you are heading.”

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.

Okemos-based builder and commercial leasing specialist, TMN Builders, has opened a new commercial division, called TMN Commercial.

"TMN has been working in the commercial building market for more than 25 years," says Jeff Shapiro, vice president of business development. "We felt it was important to put dedicated resources into the commercial building, leasing and management business."

TMN Builders will concentrate on the company’s residential market while TMN Commercial specifically focuses on the commercial side of the business.

"What started as a small component of our business has grown to the point where we need to make the two operations more independent," says TMN's president, Rudy Hirt. "The commercial side of TMN has become a significant entity and we need to provide the focus, the resources and the vision from management that will allow it to continue to grow and prosper."

TMN is close to completing a 12,000 square foot office building in East Lansing. The new building is the seventh building that’s part of the Watertower Place development.

Shapiro says all of the buildings are full. He expects this last building, which should be complete in December, to follow that trend.

“That is amazing in this market,” Shapiro says. “But we feel that the market requires this because everything else is occupied.”

Source: Jeff Shapiro, TMN Commercial

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.

Local plastering contractor, Jim Blackburn, has put a lot of sweat equity into the Impression 5 Science Center. Blackburn’s devoted every free moment he’s had to changing the science center’s fading façade.

Blackburn’s been working on the façade for the last month. He’s putting up a type of blue and red synthetic stucco to match Impression 5’s colors. And he’s doing it for free.

“I thought it was a good cause,” he says. “It’s a nonprofit for kids.”

The Impression 5 Science Center attracts mini-consumers from all over the state. Executive Director Erik Larson says the Center’s been making significant interior investments for years, but the outside of the 1880 building has been neglected for far too long.

“It was an effort for us to make a better first impression for all of our visitors,” he says, adding that Blackburn’s generous support made the change possible.

“It’s important for all of us—all of the businesses down here—to put our best foot forward to keep people coming back,” he says.

Source: Erik Larson, Impression 5 Science Center

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.

After breaking ground on its new space last year, Delta Township Library has finally moved into its $7 million, 30,000 square foot facility at 5130 Davenport Drive.

The 200,000 people who use the Delta Township facility had outgrown the library’s roughly 5,000 square foot space years ago.

“In the old building, we had to get rid of something every time we got something,” says Cherry Hamrick, the library's executive director.

Now, instead of cramming into a small reading space, Delta Township Library members can freely move from wing to wing. The new library has a north wing for middle schoolers and young kids, and a south wing for adults. It also has MP3s, audio books, books on CD, thousands of DVDs and wireless Internet.

“Our circulation has been increasing every year,” Hamrick says. “That’s been true for libraries around the country. We think we could see a 50 percent increase based on need.”

Source: Cherry Hamrick, Delta Township Library

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.

The Capital Area Construction Council is launching a new workforce training initiative as part of a $1 million effort to keep the area’s construction workforce in top condition.

The new program offers Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building implementation training to construction-based employees.

The LEED certification training "is a very important part of the puzzle, but we’re ahead of the curve by asking how workers will be trained to build green,” says Brindley Byrd with the Capital Area Construction Council.

This training is different than other area LEED training. Rather than training companies or individuals on how to become LEED certified, this program trains foreman and supervisors on how to implement these building practices.

“Foreman and supervisors will have a better understanding of the specifications and requirements being handed down to them by architects,” he says.

The Council is working with Lansing Community College (LCC) to develop the “Green Advantage Training” course. Brindley anticipates that the first classes will be offered in the fall. He hopes to get hundreds of foremen and supervisors through the program.

“I am very much a strong supporter of green building, and I see that this Green Advantage will give our regional construction industry a competitive advantage over other regions that don’t have policies being put behind it on a local level,” Brindley says.

Source: Brindley Byrd, Capital Area Construction Council

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.