For decades, Lansing’s residential real estate companies have followed the march of homebuyers to the suburbs. Following similar national trends, the last of the real estate offices left
Downtown Lansing more than a decade ago in search of—literally—greener pastures in Dewitt, Meridian Township and beyond.
But the trends—social, demographic, and financial—are shifting back. From national experts like
Chris Leinberger to local leaders like
Gene Townsend and
Pat Gillespie, the word on the street is "urban."
"Pent-up demand for urban living is evident in housing prices," Leinberger wrote in a recent
Atlantic Monthly article. "Twenty years ago, urban housing was a bargain in most central cities. Today, it carries an enormous price premium."
And if you needed more proof of that fact—beyond a walk through Lansing's booming downtown—you need look no further than the
residential Realtors® themselves here in Lansing: when one opens an office in central Lansing, it’s news. When two do it, it’s
Capital Gains news.
Huggler & BashoreAlthough affiliated with
Coldwell Banker Hubbell Briarwood, Brian Huggler and Martha Bashore were the driving force behind the recent move to a storefront location at 208 Grand River in
Old Town.
“Twenty-five years ago,” says Huggler, everyone in the real estate business “was moving to the suburbs and going to the mall. A suburban location was cheap and easy to get to. In a large office you’re in a prepackaged environment, with a lot of realtors.”
“But we don’t sell houses to realtors,” he says. “We sell to people. So we thought, let’s just have an office with the people.”
“And the coolness factor of Old Town appeals to us,” he adds. “We wanted to be where it’s happening. We wanted to be where we can see people going by; bringing real estate back to Main Street.”
The duo grabbed newly vacated space in an Old Town building that Huggler has owned for more than 10 years. Moving his office this year was a project of opportunity, when his previous commercial tenant moved out.
“We’d been thinking about this for some time, but there just wasn’t any space in Old Town to rent or buy,” he says.
Huggler has acquired five buildings in Old Town since his initial investment there in 1995. “I thought this area is so cool, someday it will happen up here. I had visions of living upstairs in this building. Maybe I still will, someday.”
Stadium SeatingThe new Huggler & Bashore location may turn out to be only the first wave, an advance guard for a wholesale re-population of Lansing’s core with both real estate offices and residents.
A second storefront real estate office in the urban core is almost up and running. Coldwell Banker Hubbell Briarwood is in the process of setting up a new company office in the
Stadium District in Downtown Lansing as well, and expects to be up and running within the next few weeks.
Bill MacLeod, president of Coldwell Banker Hubbell Briarwood, agrees that trends are good for downtown living.
“It definitely is the bright spot in the local market,” says company president, Bill MacLeod, while taking a break from moving furniture into the company’s new Stadium District office. “In the first month that they were available for purchase, the Stadium District condos are already nearly 50 percent sold.”
MacLeod says a new breed of urban pioneer developers and support from the city have driven the movement.
“A new culture of developers is ready to look at downtown,” he says. “They’re ready to invest in Lansing and they believe in Lansing. And this is the first time in 30 years that I’ve seen government encouraging a development community that’s been out there for some time but they never saw any opportunities. Under the leadership of Virg Bernero, we’re opening our arms and encouraging development to come into the area with some dynamic and exciting plans.”
MacLeod notes that the pending Marketplace, Kalamazoo Gateway and
Capital Club Tower developments complement each other and are changing the Lansing market.
“Each of their projects is totally different than anything mid-Michigan has seen before, and it’s all very progressive, well thought-out and well-planned” says MacLoed. “We are fortunate to have a community of downtown developers who are forward-thinking, and who have traveled and researched all over the United States. . . . . Every one of these new downtown projects creates an entire living environment.”
Transformation TownIt’s no secret that the real estate market in Lansing, as in many areas around the nation, is struggling in the wake of the sub-prime mortgage mess. But in an otherwise stagnant market, Huggler sees continuing interest in Lansing’s new downtown living options.
“Lansing is becoming less an auto town and more a capital city and a university and cultural center,” Huggler says. “MSU, health care, insurance and state government are driving our market now, and these folks are looking for downtown. And I think they are less affected [than the manufacturing sector] by the economic downturn.”
“Now we have the vibrancy of new and growing companies like Liquid Web,” he says. “A lot of these alternative forms of business are what’s going to pull us out of this.”
Huggler notes that buyer preferences are changing, too. “If they have kids, our buyers are probably looking at the suburbs, but if they’re single or empty-nesters, they’re looking at the city.”
The pair, who have been working together since the 1990’s, also point out that the market has hung on better, and is poised to recover faster, in more centralized neighborhoods like the Westside, Old Town and Moores River Drive. And since downtown living options have never been offered in Lansing, they suggest no one really knows how deep this pent-up market might be.
From their base in Old Town, Huggler and Bashore are also focused on their piece of the Downtown action—the planned 18-story Capitol Club Tower, for which their Old Town location will be the sales office.
When asked about the overall slow market, Bashore laments, “A big enemy of progress is the media. If you pick up the paper, all you read is how bad it is. And that has a drag-down effect. The market will take off long before the media ever figures it out.”
“It’s happening already,” Huggler agrees. “Foreclosures have been dropping since October.” He glances over his shoulder at Nancy Brooks, their assistant, who has been working the phone since our interview began. “I can tell that we’ve gotten two offers in the time that we’ve been talking.”
“Old Town and Capital Club Tower are on the backs of a hundred people like Brian who believe in downtown Lansing—that there are opportunities to live there, work there, eat there, and play there,” says Bashore.
“I went downtown last week to go out to eat and couldn’t find a place to park,” says Huggler. “I thought . . . this is great!”
Rick Ballard, a regular contributor to Capital Gains, works for the State of Michigan’s housing development authority.
Dave Trumpie is the managing photographer for Capital Gains. He is a freelance photographer and owner of Trumpie Photography.
Photos:
Brian Huggler and Martha Bashore
Martha Bashore outside their new Old Town office
Bill MacLeod and Bob Hubbell in their Stadium District office during construction
Brian Huggler in Old Town
All Photographs © Dave Trumpie