Allen Place
The Opportunity
A long-standing commercial complex on East Kalamazoo Street already housed Allen Neighborhood Center and its farmers market. When the nonprofit had the chance to acquire the property, the site could become a much broader platform for neighborhood health, housing, food and economic opportunity.
The Challenge
The project had to combine several uses and missions — mixed-income housing, a federally qualified health center and pharmacy, food businesses, a co-op, neighborhood programming and energy innovation — in one redevelopment, while keeping the community organization at the center.
The Approach
Treat the real estate as community infrastructure. Housing was integrated with health services, the farmers market, food entrepreneurship, community programming, transit access and a microgrid, rather than developed as a stand-alone residential project.
The Result
Allen Place combines mixed-income apartments with health and pharmacy services, the Allen Farmers Market, food-related businesses and neighborhood programming in a walkable Eastside Lansing location.
Why It Matters
Allen Place may be one of the clearest expressions of the Urban Apex philosophy: real estate is most powerful when it connects housing to the institutions, services, businesses and relationships that make a community work.