Developments

For over four decades, Great Harvest has stood out in the bakery-café world by doing things the old-fashioned way. From its humble beginnings in Montana in 1976, the company has grown into a national chain of independently-owned bakery cafés, each committed to milling their own whole wheat flour daily and baking breads using simple, high-quality ingredients. Their mission is expressed succinctly: “Be loose and have fun. Bake phenomenal bread. Run fast to help customers. Create strong & exciting bakeries. And give generously to others.” 

(via WITL)

Lansing foodies didn’t have to wait too long for the latest restaurant to open its doors.

There is, undoubtedly, a restaurant boom happening in the greater Lansing area this year. We’re only partway through 2025, and we’ve already seen over 35 restaurants, cafés, bakeries, and more open their doors. Now, we can add another one to the list.

By Ed Coury (via WKAR Public Media)

Downtown Lansing’s retail revival may be picking up steam, as new businesses move into long-vacant storefronts and a major development reshapes the city’s core.

At the start of 2025, downtown’s retail vacancy rate stood at about 25%, according to Downtown Lansing Inc. By midyear, that number had dropped to roughly 18%, based on data from Martin Commercial Properties.

By Leo V. Kaplan (via Lansing City Pulse)

In July, a single word was changed on the Richard and Deborah Glaister House’s Wikipedia page: “is” was replaced with “was.”

The building had been listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017, but it had no local historic designation. That meant there was nothing to prevent its demolition. It was demolished by its final owner, the City Rescue Mission of Lansing, to make room for a rainwater retention pond.

By Ed Coury (via WKAR Public Media)

Plans for the long-awaited $28 million Ovation Center in downtown Lansing are moving ahead — but with fewer architectural flourishes than originally proposed.

By Jay Krammes

Lansing’s fall festival season is stacked with back-to-back excitement!  

517 Hispanic Heritage Weekend (Sept. 18–21) adds a cultural celebration with Latin dance nights, a “Taste of Hispanic Heritage” street festival with 70+ vendors, a Kidz Zone, and even a Latin jazz performance under the stars. 

by: Daylyn Huff

Source: WLNS

LANSING, MI — The City Rescue Mission opens a new Single Adult Shelter (SAS) in Lansing.

The new facility is located at 415 W. Kalamazoo St. The shelter will now house the Mission’s men’s shelter services, previously located on Michigan Avenue, and the Outreach Drop-in Center.

Source: Rachel Greco via Lansing State Journal

LANSING - Pat Gillespie remembers feeling a giant pit in his stomach. It was 2012, and he had just finished a phone call with Tom Dickson, then-owner of the Lansing Lugnuts.

“Hey, just FYI,” Dickson told him. “You might want to cool your jets developing around the stadium district.”

Source: Rachel Greco via Lansing State Journal 

LANSING — Z!Eats, formerly Zoup!, has closed its downtown location after nearly 15 years in a storefront off South Washington Square.

Source: Rachel Greco via Lansing State Journal 

LANSING - Sweet Encounter Bakery & Cafe will close its downtown Lansing storefront inside the historic Knapp’s Centre next month.