Half of Lansing City Council calls for new city hall bidding process

LANSING — Four city council members have come out in opposition to Mayor Andy Schor's plan to move city hall to the former Masonic Temple, asking for a new bidding process.

"We have listened to our constituents and have heard a great deal of opposition," read a letter from the council members that was emailed late Monday afternoon, less than an hour before a city council committee of the whole meeting.

The letter was signed by council members Jeffrey Brown, Trini Lopez-Pehlivanoglu, Tamera Carter and Ryan Kost.

With four of eight council members signing the letter, Schor does not have the majority of the council needed to advance the plan that is funded in part with a $40 million state grant.

"The people of Lansing have stated they do not feel the process of biding (sic) and open transparency was delivered in deciding where the "New Home" of Lansing would be located nor the community engagement to learn and hear the desired amenities such as access, parking, and proper accommodations for the elderly and people with disabilities," the council members wrote.

Scott Bean, a spokesperson for Schor, said Monday evening Schor had yet not reviewed the letter.

“That letter came very late in the day and the mayor was in meetings with State Senator Sarah Anthony then had to go to another event before Council," Bean said. "He has not reviewed the letter yet.”

The council members said in the letter that they are concerned about the age of the Masonic Temple, which is older than the current city hall, as well as the need to make the city a landlord by renting out the top floors, potentially to the Lansing School District. They argued the city only has needs for 60,000 square feet of the 100,000 square foot building.

The city was given $40 million by the state legislature last year for a better city hall. It has been a priority of mayors for decades but there was never enough money. A combination of the state money and a voter-approved police and lockup center, which had been housed in city hall, made previous unworkable plans newly conceivable last year.

The state money comes with a few strings: It has to be used for a municipal building and should give consideration to historic preservation, as well as helping other governmental entities. The state also expects the money to be spent by the end of September 2027.

The council members wrote in the letter that they will be withholding their support until the city runs a new bidding process for the city hall.

The process needs to be handed by a "credible outsourced entity to provide an unbiased scoring to select a winner," according to the letter.

Anyone who puts in a bid should be able to provide answers to the public and to council, the council members said.

The city solicited bids for city hall in 2021, three bids were put in, by the Boji Group, The Granger Group and Beitler Real Estate. All were too expensive.

One of the bidders, Boji Group, continued to work on getting funding from state legislators. City officials, including Schor and City Council President Jeremy Garza, have credited the lobbying work from Boji as being key in the city getting the $40 million that could make the city hall possible.

Granger Group, of Wyoming, Michigan, wants to raze a blighted building at Grand Avenue and Allegan Street to build a new $40 million, 80,000-square-foot city hall. Owner Gary Granger recently asked Schor to reconsider the Masonic Temple plans, but Schor said no.

Granger said city administrators never invited his company to a formal review of his proposal for a new four-story structure and that he plans to use the next weeks to convince city leaders, including council members, that his proposal is better for the city than Boji’s.

Council accepted the state’s $40 million appropriation for a new city hall on March 11, but said no, in a 4-4 vote, to the $3.65 million purchase of the historic building.

Contact Mike Ellis at mellis@lsj.com or 517-267-0415

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Half of Lansing City Council calls for new city hall bidding process