LANSING – After a year of construction, 21 new apartments are open to tenants on Allen Place – and they are rented out quickly.
As of Wednesday, 17 people had signed leases for the Eastside complex, which is equipped with equipment and floor plans designed to save energy costs. The apartments are part of a $ 11 million project to revitalize the Allen Neighborhood Center and promote resources in the area, according to Joan Nelson, the centre’s executive director.
The move-in begins this weekend.
“The Allen Place development is the first time we have actually built apartments,” said Nelson of the development, which also includes retail and office space and an accelerator kitchen on the first floor. “We describe it as a project at the interface of health, nutrition, living and energy innovation.”
Nelson expects the Eastside Lansing Food Co-Op and Ingham County Health Department to move to the first floor sometime in 2022.
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The apartments on the second and third floors include four studios, nine one-room apartments and eight two-room apartments. All 21 units are connected to a solar-powered micro-grid from Board of Water & Light.
For business administration, the Allen Place project is a test run for future solar networks, said Brandie Ekren, Executive Director of Strategic Planning and Development at the energy supplier.
“They have their own unique attributes for their own generator, control system and design techniques for energy efficiency and test technologies like storage,” she said. “We use renewable energies.”
The apartments also have energy efficient hot tub units and windows designed to maximize natural light and warmth. BWL maintains its own energy storage system that can produce four hours of electricity for the 21 units. The utility company is looking for suggestions for batteries for the storage unit.
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“We are evaluating another property (in the city) to explore our networks,” said Ekren. “They can be configured per property. This will be another opportunity to test renewable energy, electric vehicle chargers and others.”
Allen Place pays the bills for water, sewage, and garbage disposal, but the tenants are responsible for the electricity.
Nelson said the Allen Neighborhood Center aimed to have 30% of all units – about seven apartments – owned by tenants with limited income. According to the complex’s website, the income limits for the restricted units are $ 44,350 for one person, $ 50,650 for two, $ 57,000 for three, and $ 63,300 for four.
The apartments “have eight feet-high ceilings, tall windows, stackable washers and dryers, quartz countertops, luxurious vinyl floorboards – I mean some really nice details,” said Nelson. “They are very comfortable, very spacious and very energy efficient.”
In the studio units
All four studios on Allen Place are limited-income and cost around $ 740 a month.
They are also fully rented.
Allen Place’s real estate management company, Michigan Asset Group, has considered a handful of applications for the studios, property manager Kim Fehrenbach said.
Tenants with limited incomes have access to the amenities of the adjacent center and outreach programs for rent, health and other social assistance.
In the one bedroom units
To maintain a 30% income-restricted occupancy at Allen Place, a handful of one-bedroom units are earmarked for lower-income residents. The off-the-shelf units are priced at $ 975 per month and the income-restricted one-bedroom units are priced at $ 842 per month.
All nine one-room apartments are rented.
Taiwo Adeleye is looking forward to moving into his one-room apartment soon. He is a Nigerian chef and runs an up-and-coming restaurant, Tatse, from the incubator kitchen next door. Moving from College Towne Apartments to the south of Lansing will make it easier to run your business.
The new devices are also an attraction, he said. “Know that it doesn’t just break down on you.”
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Nelson’s favorite advantage of the one-bedroom units is independent heating and cooling mechanisms that allow a person to set different temperatures in the bedroom and living room.
One-bedroom units also have a stacked washer and dryer, walk-in shower, and two-foot-high windows. The kitchen counters have a 12-inch overhang to accommodate bar stools in place of a dining room table.
In the two-room units
Four out of eight two-bedroom units on Allen Place are still available. All eight are off-market and cost $ 1,425 per month.
Nelson envisions a group of friends or a retired couple as the perfect tenants for the vacant units that have two full bathrooms.
Like the one-bedroom units, the two-bedroom units have mini-split heating and cooling mechanisms that regulate the temperature for the bedroom and living room independently.
Nelson hopes tenants will dig into what the center and east side have to offer in general. A reception is planned for December to celebrate everyone who “live, work and play” at Allen Place.
“When we started this project, we said we wanted the people who live in Allen Place to reflect the demographics of the East Side, and they really do,” said Nelson. “It’s the full life cycle for all ages, races, races, and incomes.”
Contact reporter Krystal Nurse at (517) 267-1344 or [email protected] Follow her on Twitter @KrystalRNurse.
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