Less than 60 Days After Council Approval, Glencairn Lot Split Now for Sale

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Tuesday, March 26, 2019, 8:19 am
By: 
Brad Minor

Above: a photo of the house at 846 Touraine Avenue (right), with the section of property to the left that has now been split off and listed for sale.

Both halves of a recently split lot on Glencairn’s Touraine Avenue are now for sale. Antonio Mastromonaco, the buyer of the newly-created lot had struggled to get approval from East Lansing City Council and faced opposition from neighbors in his plans to build a home on his newly-acquired property.

Mastromonaco was initially denied his request to split the lot at Council’s January 22 meeting. Council Member Ruth Beier was absent from that meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Erik Altmann indicated he did not support the split for 846 Touraine Avenue, and Council Members Shanna Draheim and Aaron Stephens did.

Mayor Mark Meadows voted against the split, but indicated he would be open to approving it if the applicant provided a proposed design plan. At Council’s next meeting Mastromonaco provided some plans and the vote went 4-1, with Altmann still against.

Neighbors unhappy with the outcome were told by two members of Council to consider moving to put in a rental overlay district, to ensure the house cannot be rented.

Less than 60 days later, both parcels, one at 854 Touraine Ave. and the other for 846 Touraine Ave., have been listed for $102,000 and $324,900, respectively, on the websites for Zillow and Re/Max of Michigan. The listing for the new lot at 854 Touraine Avenue was created less than two weeks ago while the 846 Touraine Avenue listing went online Monday. (The lot at 846 Touraine Avenue includes a one-family home.)

Mastromonaco, who now owns the newly-created lot, had originally intended to build a single-family home for himself there. However, a recent job promotion means that he must relocate out of state.

“Everything was going according to plan,” said Mastromonaco, who was ready to move forward with the build despite concern from some nearby homeowners who feel new construction might not fit in with the historical features of existing properties. “I was looking forward to mending those relationships by building a home that would match the aesthetics of Glencairn, and then work called.”

According to Mastromonaco, an agreement to purchase the 854 Touraine Avenue lot from Jeremy Nordquist – the homeowner whose property at 846 Touraine Avenue formerly included both his own 1929 home and the newly created lot – was in place before he accepted the job promotion.

“We had a deal in place from the beginning,” Mastromonaco said. “The deal was that I was going to purchase the lot after the split. I was offered the promotion on paper and had 60 days to accept it. I went through with the lot purchase because I was unsure of what I wanted to do.”

Nordquist, in turn, listed his property for sale with Re/Max of Michigan earlier this week. 

Mastromonaco said his preference would be to sell the 854 Touraine Avenue lot to someone who wants to do exactly what he wanted to do: build a single-family home that would match the aesthetics of the neighborhood. If he is unable to find a buyer for the open lot, he said he would build a single-family home and sell it himself.

“If I were to build a house, the idea is not to go against the grain, the idea is to make sure that it fits well into the neighborhood,” Mastromonaco said. “We’re not trying to do something that’s disruptive, were trying to do something that people will enjoy. The worst that can happen is you will have another gorgeous single family home.”

Jeanne Meier of 822 Touraine Avenue voiced concerns at Council meetings in January and February in opposition to the lot split. Meier noted that aesthetics are important because they set the “perceived” value of a neighborhood, which translates into actual value. She said she thought the proposed home would bring down the value of the neighborhood's historic homes.

“I wasn't trying to build student housing or put up an apartment complex. I was just trying to have a nice place to live,” Mastromonaco said.

 

Note: This article was corrected to clarify that the votes at Council were on the lot split, not on any proposed construction.

 

 

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