What Lansing and East Lansing businesses film from the air
Greater Lansing is really two aerial markets. Downtown Lansing runs on state government, offices and the river, so drone photography there shows how a building sits between the Capitol, Washington Square and the Grand River. Old Town and REO Town bring restaurants, venues and small mixed-use projects that read best from 150 to 200 feet, which is also the facility map limit over Old Town, where the Lansing River Trail and the neighborhood blocks stay recognizable. East Lansing is a campus town: apartment and student housing leasing, hotels and retail along Grand River Avenue, where a drone video can show how close a property is to MSU. Around the edges, Frandor, Eastwood Towne Center and Lansing Mall in Delta Township need clean site, parking and access shots for leasing and sale packages, and contractors use repeat flights to document progress for owners and lenders.
Two different airspace pictures
Capital Region International Airport (LAN) sits in DeWitt Township, about 3 nautical miles northwest of the Capitol. According to the FAA’s Class Airspace data, its Class C runs from the surface to 4,900 feet MSL, and our checks put the Capitol, downtown, Old Town, REO Town, Frandor, Eastwood Towne Center and Lansing Mall inside it. Every commercial flight there needs FAA authorization, which we request through LAANC.
The ceiling on that authorization drives the shot list. The FAA’s UAS facility map allows 200 feet over the Capitol, Old Town and Jackson Field, 300 feet over Washington Square, REO Town and Potter Park Zoo, 400 feet at Frandor, and 0 feet on the north side near the airport. A high overview of a downtown tower may not fit a 200 foot grid, so we design lower angles or file a separate FAA request well ahead.
East of Frandor the picture changes. Downtown East Lansing, Spartan Stadium and the heart of campus fall outside the surface Class C, under a shelf that begins at 2,100 feet MSL, far above the 400 foot limit for drones. Aerial photography there usually needs no LAANC, but it runs into MSU’s own rules.
MSU, the Capitol and game days
MSU Board of Trustees Ordinance 9.00, amended in April 2025, bars launching or landing any unmanned aircraft on MSU property without approval from the university’s police chief, and requires flights over MSU property to follow FAA rules. For buildings next to campus, we launch from private land with the owner’s permission. The State Capitol grounds are also treated as off limits: the Capitol Commission voted in 2015 to bar drones over the building without its permission, according to CBS Detroit.
Spartan Stadium seats 74,866, according to MSU Athletics, and the FAA stadium flight restriction closes the airspace within 3 nautical miles of it from one hour before kickoff to one hour after every home football game. By our measurements that reaches Frandor, Old Town, Washington Square and Jackson Field, so home football days rule out East Lansing and most of downtown Lansing. Our stadium TFR guide explains how the rule works.
Light and seasons
Fall color along the Red Cedar and Grand rivers peaks during football season, so we book weekdays and away weekends. Summer gives full, green riverfront and campus-edge views. For facades, the hour after sunrise or before sunset gives the most even light, and Part 107 allows twilight and night flights with anti-collision lighting when a building looks best lit up.
Planning a Lansing shoot from Detroit
We are based in Detroit and travel to Lansing for each project, about 90 miles from our studio. Send the address, date window and what you need to deliver. We check the LAN facility map grid for that block, MSU property lines, the Spartans home schedule and landowner permission before we quote. See our Detroit drone photography services, including campus drone video and commercial real estate drone photography, or contact us to start.