I live in the Bailey neighborhood, and I can safely say that having the Bailey

school renovation done in our neighborhood has been a really wonderful addition.

We love it. We love the neighbors who live in there.

And I think if the Walter French project is on par with that, everyone's

going to be very happy.

Welcome to CADL Cast with Capital Area District

Libraries Executive Director, Scott Duimstra.

Welcome to an exciting episode of CADL Cast.

A historic hallmark of the capital city is getting a new life,

all while creating more housing for locals.

With us today is Rawley

Van Fossen, executive director of Capital Area Housing Partnership.

To talk about the Walter French Building Project and its impact.

Rawley, welcome to the show. Thanks.

Because of its rich history of the Walter French building,

we're also invited CADL’s local history librarian, Heidi Butler, to the podcast.

Welcome, Heidi. Hello.

We're going to start at the beginning and work our way toward the future.

Heidi, can you share some background on the Walter French building?

Sure.

The school was named for Walter H.

French, an educational leader who had served as head of the Agricultural

Education Department at Michigan Agricultural College, or MSU,

as well as the superintendent of Public Education in Lansing.

He died in 1924

following French's death, the school district purchased a six

acre parcel of land at Cedar and Mount Hope Streets for $50,000.

The school was built in a novel.

V-shape, unlike the two existing junior houses in Lansing,

which was east, later known as Peyton, Gil and West Junior High's.

Those were both in the shape of a letter E.

Walter French Junior High

opened in September 1925, and it included seventh through ninth grades,

as well as elementary grades that remained in the building until 1950.

A 14 room addition was built in 1957, following continued population

growth in Lansing, as well as the annexation

of the Everett School District into Lansing's.

By 1981, the school closed due to falling enrollment.

But in 1996, it was reopened as a charter school, which lasted until 2004.

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places, places in 2014.

I think anyone who drives through

that corner is familiar with the building as well too.

And it's kind of taking some

some changes as far as local artists on the side of the building as well, too.

And Rawley.

When we first reached out to you for this interview, we learned that Capital Area

Housing Partnership used resources from local history in your design process.

What were you looking for and what did you learn?

Absolutely.

When the property was first donated to us and our organization.

We knew that we wanted to transform the building into affordable housing.

That's first and foremost to our mission.

But we also knew that that building, as Heidi mentioned, was already

put on the National Registry of Historic Places by this community.

So we knew whatever we were going to do.

There likely be some input sessions with National Park Service

as well as our State Historic Preservation Office.

And so we're fortunate, as you both know, and in our local community,

to have resources like Heidi.

And one of our first calls and outreach was to say, hey,

is it by chance, do you have anything on this building?

And the quick reply was, not only do we have a couple of things,

we've got a lot.

This was one of the few facilities when the school district built

this building that the commission

photography during its construction and for the year after which.

So for an agency like us,

when we're trying to not only transform that building into something new,

but to also pay homage to the historic integrity

that it's offered this community, a resource that the library's

been able to offer is huge to our design work.

We're able to pull on original photography

and see what places within the building and in its in its exterior.

We're like when it first opened

so that when we began our efforts, we could do our best to get back to that.

There's some more technical components to why

we've got historic federal tax credits involved in this deal.

So we're fortunate.

The federal government is offering us funding,

but by doing so it means we have to adhere to certain standards

and really try to bring much of the space back to its original character.

And so, again, being able to pull in resources and seeing exactly

what it looks like through photography makes our lives a lot easier.

And so we've been appreciative to have that resource available to us.

Thank you so much for the kind words about our local history department.

And Heidi, back to you.

Have you seen other homeowners,

renters and organizations looking for this type of information?

Mm hmm.

Local history is property research is probably one of our strongest areas.

And so people come to us all the time for

even just they want to restore a porch on their home.

But we have records of small businesses and again, of course, the schools.

Everything from aerial photography to fire insurance maps to

directories of ownership and stuff like that that people use

to piece together the history of property.

So sure, it's one thing we do really well at.

We always kind of call it house genealogy or property genealogy.

Raleigh, back to you.

Homelessness in Lansing

has been increasing over the past few years, as we've seen in the media.

Can you tell us about the Capital Area Housing Partnership and how your work

brings relief to some of our communities?

Sure. So we're we're a nonprofit.

We just celebrated our 30th anniversary and we were really formed back in 1992

by a group of concerned neighbors who saw housing in their neighborhood

on the decline.

There wasn't enough preservation of homeownership.

This was actually the historic Bailey neighborhood in downtown East Lansing,

if you're familiar.

And at that time,

they began to see the creek over Grand River from the student population

moving out of dormitories and starting to eat up some of the single family homes.

Since then,

it wasn't just the Bailey neighborhood that have had that concern

about housing in their community.

It's really a community effort all across the country in which

allowed the Housing Partnership to expand its mission to be serving mid-Michigan.

And within that, we really tried to develop strong and diverse neighborhoods,

and that looks different for everyone, not only in the housing option

that may be available for you, but who we're targeting those services to.

So you mentioned

homelessness and that we've been seeing an increase of it in our community.

And it's happening in our community.

It's happening in almost all large

urban centers across our country and even across the world.

I first asked myself, why?

Why do we see homelessness on the rise?

And it's generally because there's we're lacking affordable,

quality and attainable options for folks in our area to move into

whether that's homeownership, whether that's rental, you name it.

And so we know through a variety of data, whether it's the recent statewide

housing plan that the state of Michigan issued, the Tri-County Regional Planning

Commission has just published a housing drive study.

We know our community and some aspects lack almost nearly

20,000 affordable housing units in our community.

So that's a big task for an agency

like ourselves, let alone the community as a whole to figure out how to address.

So when we look and see how homelessness on the rise,

we have to consider, not only is it the housing options or the lack thereof

that may be driving homelessness, increasing, it's also economic pressures.

Mm hmm.

You both know that we just went through and in many aspects are still

dealing with the repercussions of a global pandemic.

First and foremost, when we saw as an agency,

it's the pocketbook issues, it's the kitchen table issues

that a pandemic starts to hit at home, whether you're forced

to have to work from home or in some cases you were laid off

because you worked at a restaurant job or a hotel job or a service oriented job.

When you lose that income, some of the first bills

that start to hit home are your mortgage or your rent, etc.

We see that as a driver in homelessness because if you can't afford those bills,

unfortunately, at some point you may be asked to leave.

Whether that's through foreclosure or, God forbid, the eviction process.

And so we know homelessness is on the rise.

We were fortunate to deliver pandemic assistance to renters and homeowners

who are struggling to maintain those bills.

We assisted over 15,000 neighbors in Ingham County over a two year

period with $45 million in rent or mortgage and utility assistance.

Those are folks, if they weren't able to get assistance

through those efforts, we're on the brink of losing their home.

All of that's a driver of homelessness.

I didn't think about what's a solution.

And coming back to the Walter French project.

It's exactly what we're trying to do.

We're trying to create those housing opportunities, not just for neighbors

looking for a safe place and an affordable place to call home,

but we're also taking a step forward and setting aside units that the neighbors

who are even more vulnerable, and those are folks

who are currently experiencing homelessness.

So while we're creating 76 apartments at Walter French,

at least 19 of them will be reserved to folks

literally experiencing homelessness at the time of move in.

That's the step forward to trying to flip the question

and see a decrease in homelessness is to create solutions like that.

Sure.

And staying on the topic of the Walter French building,

and we've heard about the history.

We heard about it being a very busy intersection

and a lot of people driving by that building.

And it's a beautiful building.

But of all the buildings in mid-Michigan.

And why the Walter French building?

Sure. And it it is a busy intersection.

And Heidi would know this from original photos.

Cedar Street in 1925 was not four lanes or five lanes like it is now.

It was a two lane road. You know, this was a school.

And those were the days where you would walk to school

and you'd be able to cross Cedar Street and not have to be concerned

about the traffic.

But to answer your question, why Walter French?

There are many reasons why Walter French fits the narrative

of our mission in the work our organization tries to undertake.

But the first and foremost was that this was a critical opportunity to provide

economic development and housing options for the Lansing community.

As you mentioned, if you've lived in this community

for the last ten, 15, 20 years and you've been driving by that corner,

you've seen a vacant, empty building degrading over time.

Yet we also know the community takes pride in its architecture,

which is why it's on the National Register of Historic Places.

We were approached by the city in December of 2017 as the former owner

at that time was not successful in renovating the facility.

They actually wanted to tear it down and the city of Lansing was opposed to that.

We had just finished as an organization

the renovation of the former Bailey School in downtown East Lansing.

And so they had known that our agency

not only is a successful, affordable housing developer,

but we've had a couple of schools under our belt.

And so at that time, we were fortunate to work with the former

owner and accept Walter French as a donation.

And so it's one because of the historic nature of the facility

that it stuck out as a great opportunity for our organization to undertake.

But then I also look at where it's at in this community.

It's really I consider Mt.

Hope and Cedar the start of South Lansing.

It's the gateway into South Lansing.

And as a resident who lives in this community

and somebody who works in this community, I think that that gateway deserves

a better looking building than what we see now.

And our organization wants to be a part of that transformational change.

And hearing you talk, it's clear that a capital area housing

partnership really believes in this project.

As far as making space in the Walter French building for your new headquarters.

We've heard so much positive feedback from other members

in the community, businesses and organizations,

but there are some who are a bit more skeptical.

What would you want people to know who are feeling pessimistic about this project?

You know, first, I'm incredibly proud to have the support that we've received

thus far from not only the public, the neighbors directly adjacent,

both residential and commercial,

but also the key partners who've made a role in making this project successful.

But the top three questions we generally receive about this project

our first is, are our rents going to truly be affordable?

And the answer is yes.

The way in which we structure rents are governed by the state of Michigan,

the Michigan State Housing Development Authority,

they're the key funder in making this project successful.

So we base rents in partnership with them on your household size

and total household income.

You'll see rents ranging from anywhere from a one bedroom rent of 550

to a three bedroom rent of 1200 dollars a month.

And that's assuming you aren't bringing any sort of subsidy support your own self,

whether that's a voucher or some other type of rent support.

And when I look at that and see a 1200

dollar monthly, monthly rent payment for a three bedroom apartment.

To me, that's affordable because I think you can find one bedroom

apartments in this community that are going for that rate.

The second is, will the building in the property be maintained?

That's an obvious and a great question

because you could argue for the last 15, 20 years it hasn't been.

And so we pride ourselves in not only being successful

in starting this project, but we hope it's here for another hundred years.

You know, we're going to be wrapping up this project

and hopefully inviting its first new neighbors to move in in late 2024,

which is on the cusp of the building 100 year anniversary.

Our goal is to ensure that this building is here for another 100 years.

And so by having us move in and have our new headquarters,

we're going to be able to ensure that the property's cared for.

And then lastly is will we be able to ensure safety

and stability for the residents who live in the surrounding neighborhoods?

We're obviously creating new space and we're going to be inviting 76

new neighbors to that area.

And so the folks who've lived there,

whether for a year, if not 20 years, are rightfully concerned

to want to know who's coming and who's going to be moving here.

I look at our track record.

As I mentioned, we celebrated 30 years last year.

We were successful in over ten multifamily developments over that time.

That's 500

rental units that we currently own and maintain right now in Ingham County.

And I would ask folks in the community

if they have that concern, to go check out those properties.

Talk to the neighbors who call those places home.

And I'd like to think you'd hear that they have great success in the stewardship

in which the Capital Area Housing Partnership has been able to offer.

But I can just tell you that I drive by the building every day

and my commute, seeing the the actual start and the fence around

the property, has got me excited about it.

And and you talked about the next hundred years of the building.

What do you hope are the long term effects of this project?

You know, I drove by yesterday and we just started the demolition

and they should be done today of the 1970s, Jim.

That's the one piece of the building that's not considered historic by

by the National Park Service. And so that came down.

And I see that as an immediate effect

and transforming that corner, because we're beginning the project

and we're starting to see what it will become.

It's opening the facade of the original gymnasium,

an old former natatorium, where we'll be bringing windows back.

But a restoration and reactivation project like this will first and foremost

remove the blight that that corner has seen for the last 1520 years.

I hope that the folks who get to move in there, both us

as a commercial entity and the folks who are going to be moving into

the apartments will be able to take pride and joy in calling Walter French home,

as well as the neighbors.

I hope that they can look at Walter French and no longer consider it an eyesore

or calling us to say, Hey, somebody broke in or broke out a window

or there's weeds or trash. You name the issue.

And instead I hope they can, if they do call it a celebratory show

about how it's so great it is to see kids playing on the playground

where once stood a home or how great it is to see folks

coming in and out every day and reactivating the space.

So that's the long an immediate effect,

I hope, for the folks who call that place home.

But for the businesses along Cedar Street, I hope that they see this and consider

this as an investment.

There's some really great businesses that have maintained operation

on South Cedar but have not seen any new investment in a long time.

We hope Walter French can be a catalyst not only for their current businesses

and whether they're making facade upgrades, but potentially new businesses.

There's plenty of awesome available space on South Cedar,

and we hope that Walter French can ignite that excitement for New projects.

I can just tell you, just from hearing the community

talk about it, there are several who are very excited about it

and can't wait for you to succeed with the project as well too.

And Raleigh, along with housing.

There's been discussion

about daycare and other support services provided in the Walter French building.

Can you talk about those?

Absolutely.

And exciting thing is when we create place or when we create housing opportunities,

certainly first and foremost

at the front of our mission is the affordability component.

What does it take for for you to be able to rent affordably or own affordably?

But we know that there's bigger

and other items that, you know, funnel into that conversation.

And child care and daycare is key

right now for families across Michigan, let alone across the country.

It's astronomical

the amount it costs right now to send your childcare or your child

to to a daycare, let alone if there's even an option available to you.

So when we undertook this project, we looked at the entire footprint

of the building.

First, we mapped out where we would want and could

place apartments in the services that would need to go with that.

And that left us with about 30,000 square feet of additional space.

The original auditorium, the original gymnasium,

as well as the locker rooms and natatorium.

For a multitude of reasons, it didn't work to put apartments there,

both where it was at in the building and cost and so forth.

And so we went to

to ourselves to say what in our community, what is the market want and commercial.

And we knew that child care and daycare was top of that list.

I mentioned the Bailey Project in East Lansing that we had done in 2018.

We have a first floor child care provider as well in that facility,

so we've already had success implementing housing alongside daycare.

So we're proud to partner with Capital City Childcare and youth organization

that's owned by two women of color

here in the Lansing community who both call Lansing home.

They replied to an RFP.

We put out last fall asking for providers who would be interested

in about 12,000 square feet of commercial space.

They've since signed on to this project and are going through the design process

alongside our new headquarters, where we'll create a housing resource center.

So when you're thinking through the building,

if you're if you've been in the inside of it

or you'll see some of the tours will be offering these next two years,

our headquarters will be taking

over the original Boys and Girls gym on the second floor,

similar style to the the Armory Building, if you're familiar with that,

and Lansing's east side and then the daycare is going to take over.

The former natatorium will turn into nine classrooms

and they'll be licensed for up to 110 kids

to come and have child care and daycare services.

And then they're going to be retrofitting the auditorium

to be kind of a community space for them to do before

and after school programing in partnership with the Lansing School District.

So those services will be on site both for residents to take advantage of,

but also anybody in the community, whether you're coming in off of 496,

going into work downtown and you're able to stop by Walter French

to drop your kid off for daycare, to be able to pick them up on your way out.

That opportunity will be there and then we'll be providing a plethora

of supportive services for folks who will call Walter French home.

Whether that's financial literacy, we'll have activities like a gym, a gym

onsite with other types of social services and programing available to residents.

Because there's proof in the pudding that if we bring the service to you,

you're a lot more successful

in not only utilizing the service, but benefiting from it as well.

This being a library podcast, we always like to end on a library note.

So, Heidi, I'm going to ask you first

a recommendation for something that you're reading

or you're

watching or you're listening to that you would recommend to our listeners.

Does it have to be related to this project?

Doesn't have to be related to your work, although it can be.

Well, I have to just stop before I answer that and say that I live

in the Bailey neighborhood and I can safely say that

having the Baylee

school renovation done in our neighborhood has been a really wonderful addition.

We love it. We love the neighbors who live in there.

And I think if the Walter French project is on par with that, everyone's

going to be very.

Happy, very kind of, I think, very good.

I am currently reading my friend Samantha Irving's new book,

which is called Quietly Hostile.

Nice, nice, good recommendation.

Raleigh, I'll turn it over to you.

Something you're reading, watching or listening to

doesn't even have to be related to work.

It could be even something you unwind with it.

So I've got I've got two things

that I unwind with and usually on my nightstand

I try to have a nonfiction and a fiction book

because it depends on the mood I'm sure I write.

And usually the fiction is to keep, to take away

and create a mindless environment, knowing you just came from a

ten or 12 hour workday.

So on the nonfiction side,

I actually just finished this about two weeks ago is Ari SHAPIRO,

if you're familiar with National Public Radio,

he wrote a book, Best Strangers in the World.

It was tough to read it because his voice is so great on the radio.

So it's a great audio book pairing as well.

If you're a fan of National Public Radio and then my fiction,

I'm a sucker for for a good love story.

And it's also becoming a movie.

And it's a queer love story called Red, White and Royal Blue.

By Casey Mcquiston.

And there's the movie's coming out in August,

and so I'm just a sucker for something mindless, and that offers me that

every night.

I love it.

Both of you, very good recommendations and we'll have links to those

in the show notes as well, too, for having two guests, Raleigh and Heidi,

I want to thank you so much for joining us today on Shadow Cast

and we're talking about this special project. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

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