
Main Street Vibrancy Grants Enhance Communities across Michigan
Downtown Lansing Inc.
1,300 sq. feet of vacant space was activated in a building that had been vacant for 10+ years. Public Funding to produce and support this micro-market shared space includes:
- $20,000 market manager funding from DLI & City of Lansing
Private Funding to produce and support this micro-market shared space includes:
- $50,000 commitment each year for 5 years from local bank
- $20,000 in private rent support

Middle Village Micro-Market
The Middle Village Micro-Market in Downtown Lansing opened with five merchants’ spaces selling their local products in October 2021 as a test holiday market. Hours of operation included Wednesday-Saturday, 11:00 am – 6:00 pm.
While housed at Middle Village, merchants received accounting and small business development training/professional development.
Following the end of the test Holiday Market, three Middle Village merchants moved into their own private brick & mortar spaces downtown, helping to meet DLI’s Strategic Action Plan.
Those three merchants are:
- A Novel Concept Book Store purchased their own building in the 200 block of S. Washington Sq. at $190,000 to open their permanent home
- Sweet Encounters Bakery & Café opened in the Knapp’s Centre February 2022
- Capital Hippie signed a lease to move their store into a vacant building in the 100 block of S. Washington Sq
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