Longtime hometown Gentilozzi Real Estate is embarking on one of its most ambitious projects to date \u2014 a partial transformation of Michigan\u2019s state capital, Lansing.<\/p>\n
The $320 million project encompasses five buildings, some new and others retrofitted in and around the legislature itself, and a neighborhood to the near north.<\/p>\n
Teaming with Metro Detroit realtor JFK Investment, it\u2019s called New Vision Lansing. The moniker says it all: \u201cRedefining living and working downtown.\u201d <\/p>\n
It\u2019s a visionary project to breathe new life into the city\u2019s core by changing the makeup of the type of buildings that occupy it.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019re seeking to do is to transform the central business district from its reliance on state employees to a place for people to live,\u201d managing partner Paul Gentilozzi said. <\/p>\n The essential change is residential.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are a lot of multiple family projects around our CBD but there were few in the middle of it,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n The largest and centerpiece will be Tower on Grand at 28 storeys and 330,000 square feet, then Washington Square at 10 storeys and 65,000 square feet \u2014 a retrofit of a 100-year-old building that formerly housed the Michigan Court of Appeals, under construction since March. <\/p>\n The third, diagonally southwest of the Capitol, is a six-storey 125,000-square-foot build, topped with 25,000 square feet of offices. The next is a smaller 26,000 square foot project, which is another retrofit of an old office building directly adjacent to the Michigan House of Representatives with 26 furnished apartments and meeting spaces for legislators to live. The fifth is in Old Town, an arts district half a mile north, and is new construction with seven storeys including parking and 90 apartments.<\/p>\n Announcing the composite project at this time takes advantage of the fact Gentilozzi has owned some of the properties for decades, market studies showing a need for residential occupancy, investment climate and both state and city co-called transformational brownfield incentives.<\/p>\n The developments are also a direct response to the post-COVID work-from-home phenomenon which has left office buildings underutilized. An example is the demolition of a state building where the Tower on Grand will be built, beginning this summer.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a significant need,\u201d Gentilozzi said. \u201cOur CBD is short over 1,000 apartments. And these projects take years. So, as we saw COVID subsiding and the world going back to some normalcy we\u2019ve been three-and-a-half years in our planning.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n And while \u201cwe were a little spoiled\u201d by interest rates during COVID, \u201cI don\u2019t know if we\u2019ll ever see numbers below four again, but having been in this business 56 years I\u2019m not unhappy with interest rates in the five to six per cent range at all.\u201d<\/p>\n Moreover, the Tower on Grand will be attached to a 100-year-old office retail building \u201cand we just leased a new men\u2019s clothing store yesterday. They want to be there because of the tower.\u201d<\/p>\n The buildings will also feature ground floor retail \u2014 merchandise, entertainment and eating \u2014 in the hope of being a \u201ccatalyst\u201d to spark both day and night life. <\/p>\n While traditionally there have been 17,000 workers downtown those people weren\u2019t there at night \u201cbecause there was no place to live,\u201d Gentilozzi said. <\/p>\n While this might be rather large-scale it\u2019s not particularly new in scope for Gentilozzi, which has a varied portfolio of office, residential and commercial across the state. The company has been the lead developer in the CBD for almost 50 years.<\/p>\n All buildings will be completed \u201c30 months from today,\u201d Gentilozzi said.<\/p>\n There were no challenges with proximity to the state Capitol. <\/p>\n In fact, \u201cthe state government has been very very helpful.\u201d <\/p>\n The Capitol Tower building is literally 200 feet from the legislature.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"Tower](\"https:\/\/cc-production-uploads-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2025\/05\/PG-2-RS-1-TowerOnGrand-1web.png\")
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