A New Live Concert Venue is Coming to Lansing
Lansing Mayor Andy Schor has unveiled plans for a new state-of-the-art live music and arts venue in downtown Lansing. The planned center will be built at the southwest corner of South Washington Square and Lenawee Street.
“For decades, Lansing has needed a concert and performing arts venue. I am tremendously excited and proud that my team has been able to make this a reality for our citizens here in Lansing and for the entire region. This is an incredibly exciting opportunity to bring concerts, community events, educational opportunities, speeches, comedy, and so many other live performances together in a new, state-of-the-art venue. I am thrilled that we have been able to come together and start the process to make this happen for Lansing,” Mayor Schor stated. “Bringing thousands of people to downtown Lansing for concerts and other events throughout the year will have such an incredible impact on our small businesses here. This amazing venue will truly be transformational for Lansing.”
Current plans call for a flexible performance space that can be transformed depending on the needs of who is using the space. The main features of this venue include:
Two-story main stage and balcony with a total capacity of 2,025 for a single performance
A main floor that will hold 1,200 seated or 1,500 standing alone
A second-story balcony overlooking the main stage featuring 250 seated or 400 standing
A private party room with a balcony overlooking the main stage that can hold 80 seated or 125 standing
A second, smaller performance area located in the lobby
Multi-purpose community rooms used by local nonprofits, school groups, community event rentals, and more
Office and studio space for the Lansing Public Media Center and project partners
Retail spaces available along South Washington Square
Forty artist lofts (live-work spaces) on the third and fourth floors
The total cost for the project, if fully built out with all 40 live-work space studios, would be an estimated maximum cost of $21 million. The City of Lansing has already secured $2 million from the State of Michigan and another $8 million in dedicated public access fees. The additional $10 million in needed funding would come through a combination of private donors, sponsorships, grants, and, if needed, a bank loan on the housing and workspace lofts component.
The performing arts center comes after a professional, comprehensive community feasibility study performed by AMS Research & Planning, conducted in 2019. AMS specializes in defining, refining, and developing ventures in the arts and culture sector. They conducted local surveys, stakeholder interviews, and a competitive analysis that shows a great need for a space like this in Lansing. 87% of Lansing residents polled support the creation of a new music venue. Studies also show that this would attract audiences across 302 zip codes, covering more than 2.7 million people.
Studies also show that this will have an effect and boost the downtown Lansing economy. The venue is expected to have a transformative return on investment, increase tourism, amplify local businesses, and attract young people to live and work in the surrounding area. It also has the potential to spark spin-off development and raise real estate values downtown.
Furthermore, these studies show that the venue would see total attendance at 190,000 per year with total estimated audience spending at $5.3 million. That is in addition to construction jobs and spending and resident and worker spending from the studio lofts.
Capitol Fundraising Associates, founded by Rebecca Bahar-Cook, has been retained to plan and finalize fundraising for the remaining balance. Several organizations, community groups, and corporations have shown interest in being involved at various levels of sponsorship. The City hopes to make major announcements in the future on additional investments into this project. The construction project is being managed by Dymaxion Development.
The City is now moving into the final fundraising and planning stages of the process. We expect to receive additional valuable input from the public during the City Council process as we move toward a groundbreaking later in 2022.
