New renderings of the redesigned Lansing Shuffleboard Club coming to the City Market site this summer. Photo Credit: Lansing Shuffle

By Elena Durnbaugh | Lansing State Journal | Published January 11, 2022

After a trip back to the drawing board, the developers behind the Lansing Shuffleboard and Social Club are ready to break ground at the former Lansing City Market.

Construction for the food and entertainment venue is set to begin Feb. 1 after years of planning, redesign and delays due to the pandemic, price increases and supply chain issues.

New renderings for the project show the planned indoor-outdoor shuffleboard pavilion, which will connect to the existing riverfront patio and stage area along the Grand River.

A rendering of the inside of Lansing Shuffleboard and Social Club’s shuffle pavilion. Construction is scheduled to begin next month, and the venue is slated to open in summer 2022. Photo Credit: Lansing Shuffle

“I’m looking for the pavilion there that becomes four seasons, open for as long as we can throughout the year,” said Jonathan Hartzell, director of development for Detroit Rising, the Livonia-based firm behind the project. “You do connect to the river while you’re shuffling, and you’re part of the riverwalk, and you’re outside getting as much fresh air as possible, but also having the ability when it gets too cold to close it up.”

Earlier plans for the venue included a mezzanine level containing the shuffleboard courts, but now, everything will be on one floor.

“It’s all these zero-threshold access points,” Hartzell said. “All the activations are on the first floor.”

The entire space, including the shuffleboard courts, will be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and will have clear pathways for accessibility.According to the new floor plans, the space will contain seven restaurants, two bars, a main food hall, a private lounge and an ice cream bar. Originally, the venue was to have eight restaurants but no ice cream counter.

A rendering of the planned bars at Lansing Shuffleboard and Social Club. Construction is scheduled to begin next month, and the venue is slated to open in summer 2022. Photo Credit: Lansing Shuffle

Developers aren’t ready to announce the restaurants yet, but Hartzell said they’ve been able to bring people in from all over Michigan who are excited to open for business in Lansing.

“We’re bringing some people from at least an hour-plus away that are looking at Lansing as a great place to open a business,” he said. “[They’re] just fans of what we’re bringing to the area, and we’re excited for summer.”

The project has been a long time coming. Developers first learned about the space in 2019, and city council approved the redevelopment project in 2020.

“It’s been a long road for us and a lot of work in the background,” Hartzell said. “A lot of conversations, a lot of work done by the city, a lot of different departments in the area have been really supportive of us.”

A rendering of the shuffleboard pavilion at the Lansing Shuffleboard and Social Club, which is slated to open in summer 2022. Construction is set to begin next month. Photo Credit: Lansing Shuffle

Developers were hosting a small groundbreaking event at the venue Friday, which Hartzell said he hoped would reflect the atmosphere of the venue once it’s completed.

“We just wanted to get together before anything starts getting really torn up and bring some people together from the area and thank them,” Hartzell said. “You have random people from communities sitting down and hanging out at tables…this is really what our concept represents: that all people can come together, different food types, different demographics and you just break bread and have a nice evening out.”

Lansing Shuffleboard and Social Club is slated to open in summer 2022.