Temple is the transformation of Lansing, Michigan’s iconic First Methodist Church, built in 1917. Through adaptive re-use, the project reimagined a two-story building that has been vacant for over a decade, into a 5-story, 37,000 square foot, mixed-use property. Temple is now the location of non-profit office space, a commercial suite targeting a small, local business, 31 mixed-income apartments, an outdoor patio, and integrated parking deck. This $10.5 million dollar project revitalized a key entryway into Lansing’s historic arts and culture district while increasing safety, walkability, housing, and commercial activity of the corridor. The project maintains the historic fabric of the neighborhood by preserving the original brick structure, 30-foot columns and arched window pattern. Once blighted and contaminated, the building now houses 44 residents and 7 daily office workers that contribute to the vibrancy and commerce of the district. The apartments are modern and energy efficient, offering high-quality housing to a range of incomes. 42% of residents earn under 80% of the area median income (AMI), 45% of residents earn between 80-120% AMI and 13% of residents earn above 120% AMI. The project utilized public-private partnerships to fill the financing gap including a low-interest loan from the Lansing Economic Area Partnership, an equity investment from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and Brownfield Tax Increment Financing from the Lansing Brownfield Redevelopment Authority.  The project has been celebrated by the Old Town Commercial Association and even received the Celebration of Regional Growth Award from the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce.

The Bethlehem Temple congregation originally constructed the building in 1917 and occupied it until the 1990s. From 2001-2006, the building operated as a nightclub. The building then became vacant and began deteriorating while several developers attempted redevelopments that never occurred. The property is located on a major corridor that marks an entry point to Lansing’s most vibrant arts and culture district, Old Town. As the property remained vacant, historic stained-glass windows continued to be broken and boarded up, the roof began to cave in, and a smell of mold and decay permeated onto the sidewalk. This property marked the end of the walkable district and the beginning of disinvestment along the commercial corridor that penetrated into the neighborhoods. The developer, Michigan Community Capital (MCC) purchased the property in 2019 and determined a historic tax-credit project was not viable. The project would have had to maintain the 5,500 square foot gathering room with 28-foot ceilings and a mezzanine to utilize the credit. MCC pursued a vision of an adaptive re-use that would preserve the structure, while allowing flexibility to repurpose the interior. The project had a future as-built appraised value of $3,700,000, just 35% of the total project cost of $10.7 million. Creative private and public dollars were stacked to allow for the vibrant redevelopment of the project into office and commercial space on the first floor and four floors with 31 mixed-income apartments.