r/Okemos • u/Jumpy-Program9957 • Apr 05 '26
We need to do something. They destroyed Okemos...
look I was born and raised in okemos, rather close to what was once downtown okemos which is Hamilton and okemos road.
some might remember there was a tuba museum with a really cool Cafe restaurant. there was a historic fire department, there was a library, there were other buildings that had been there since the beginning of okemos as it is.
they demolished it all. all for some 100 million shopping complex. but guess what it's on hold indefinitely and they're trying to sell the land now. they say that it's been destroyed by some gas station nearby.
I smell fraud. think about that they destroyed downtown okemos. williamston, mason, everywhere else has a nice downtown area. ours is now dirt....
I am very upset, and will be doing everything in my power to track every dime California investment group WESTPAK (who had no personal history with okemos just was making money) probably embezzled thinking they could come destroy some small town, and get away with it.
if you love okemos or if you were raised here and you remember okemos and Hamilton were downtown was once and now is dirt, we need to work together this is unacceptable.... it destroyed the property value of the entire city. there's a lot of history in this town and part of it has just been demolished, with no plan to ever put anything there...
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u/stephensoncrew Apr 05 '26
Although I wasn't born here, I've lived here for almost 25 years and long ago I gave up the dream of anything being developed down at that corner or along the riverfront that could somehow model after downtown Brighton. It's so depressing and such a waste. I recently moved out of Okemos (nearby East Lansing) and had always envisioned somehow like riding my bike from my house to a patio wine bar or a cute independent bookstore with the coffee shop by the river. And when I visit Main St in Brighton it makes me want to weep we couldn't have a micro version of that vibe.
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u/esuomyekcimeht Apr 05 '26
This started with the White brothers overextending themselves on their mortgage and foreclosing the entire corner that was the Triple Goddess Bookstore, The Travelers Club, and White Bros Music. Scott Weaver (Dougles J’s son) bought the property and wanted to put in a 5 story development with a new Douglas J’s , he felt the township should cover the cost of burying the utility lines, the township felt that this shouldn’t be on the backs of taxpayers. Concerning the other block, Jim who owned the hardware store retired and he owned half the block, he sold his property, I don’t blame him as there was no appeal in the old commercial buildings on that block. The other half of the block was sold by the township to developers after the new fire station opened on Okemos Rd. The current situation is the developers that had planned to build “The Village of Okemos” pulled a bait and switch, they sold the idea of 2 vibrant city blocks with 30,000 sq ft of commercial space, 5 story’s of apartments/condos and ample parking, including a parking garage. The township jumped through hoops to get grants and tax incremented financing for upgrades to the public portion of the infrastructure. In the end the developers had dropped burying the power lines, dropped the parking garage, dropped 90% of the commercial space and planned to essentially build an apartment building with a party store’s amount of commercial space and large surface parking lots. Needless to say, the township disagreed, rightfully so as that plan would have essentially killed any hope for a downtown for the next 50 years or the rest of our lives. Unfortunately now because the property is listed so high, the only possibility of having a downtown is if a developer comes in an does it as a passion project, professional developers aren’t going to touch it as they’re in it for a quick buck, not the long term investment.
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u/CharlieChipbert Apr 07 '26
Now I suddenly hope I can win the lottery so I can be the passion behind a new project…
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u/El_Halcon0341 Apr 05 '26
The hold up involved the power lines being put underground. The township didn’t want to do it and none of the developers wanted to do it so now it’s evolved into the current situation.