City Council Approves Large Expansion to The Graduate’s Rooftop Bar

The Graduate hotel’s popular rooftop “Rock Bar” will be allowed to expand to more than double its occupancy, after plans were approved by the East Lansing City Council Tuesday night. 

The bar will be allowed to host 199 people, up from its current occupancy of 96. The expansion will allow The Graduate to add a private dining area and host more events. 

Representatives for the hotel first pitched expanding the space last year, saying they get multiple requests many weeks from people wishing to host weddings and other events on the rooftop bar. However, the current occupancy limit does not allow for the bar to serve regular customers and host large groups simultaneously. 

The hotel will convert a portion of the rooftop to a rooftop deck to make the expansion possible, Senior Planner Alycia Reiten said Tuesday. At a meeting last year, a hotel representative said the building was constructed to allow for future expansion of the rooftop bar. 

Under the new layout, there will be room for 78 people at the interior restaurant, 16 in a new private dining room and 90 in the outdoor area. This leaves room for 15 staff members. 

The council unanimously approved the expansion after previous concerns, like every visitor not having seating and traffic concerns, were addressed by the developer. 

ELPD Capt. Adrian Ojerio said there were issues with parking enforcement near the hotel years ago, but through a partnership with The Graduate, concerns have dissipated. 

While speaking to the City Council, The Graduate General Manager Lee Cote said there are times where people staying in the hotel’s 194 rooms are unable to visit the Rock Bar because it is at capacity. 

“It’s a crown jewel,” Councilmember Kerry Ebersole Singh said. “People want to be at The Graduate, they want, not only the accommodations, they want to be close to campus, and they want to be able to go to that rooftop [bar] to view out.”