A Rundown East Lansing Gem Revitalized

Built in 1969, Villa Montee Apartment Complex was considered the high-end place to live in East Lansing. Over the decades, the property changed hands multiple times and fell on disrepair, until, finally, individual buildings were “Red Tagged” by the city due to being unsafe.

The property was shopped around to multiple investors over the years, with all of them being reluctant to take on the massive remodel. Enter the Tailwind Group from Mankato, MN in November 2016. Tailwind had done multiple large remodel of apartment complexes around the country, and saw a great opportunity for a property with a great location.

APX Construction Group from Mankato was hired as the Project Manager, and they hired local company RC Contractors as the GC.

“We had been looking at this property for years, and had even done some minor work on it in the past, we could never figure out with its location and large rental units why someone did not renovate it. We were excited to be hired as the GC to bring the old gem back to life.” –Chris Klingler, CEO RC Contractors

The property sits around a swampy area in East Lansing, and looking at the buildings most people thought the buildings were sinking. In reality the ground had started sinking over the years, but the buildings were built on concrete piers sunk 30 feet in the ground.

When it was completed, 16 building exteriors were completely redone, and 156 rental units.