That is the whitest dorm renderings I've ever seen.

Word. East Asians should have outnumbered whites 2 to 1. Then again, this isn't quite north campus.

So yeah there was my hinted critique. It's a diverse dorm, but renderings don't suggest that.

Oh, I thought you were referring to the chick on the couch playing with herself in the first rendering.

So with Borders out of business now, what do you all think should be done with the soon to be shuttered downtown store?

If some of you can remember way back, it used to be a Jacobsons. When viewed from above, you can see it was several different buildings at one time. I'd say this place is at the end of its useful life. To upgrade a wood framed structure into anything seems nightmarish.

Knock it down and build a 2-3 story building in its place.

University of Michigan plans $116 million renovation to East Quad dormitory
http://www.annarbor.com/news/univers...st-quadrangle/

Ann Arbor CFO warns that 60-day purchase delay possible for Village Green deal
http://www.annarbor.com/news/ann-arb...tment-project/

Here's a PDF presentation I found of the Varsity in Ann Arbor. I have to say that I'm really not impressed with it. Why does everything new in Ann Arbor have to be so damn ugly.
http://annarborchronicle.com/wp-cont...011%200601.pdf

Not only is the building itself bad but that .pdf is too. The layouts are all over the place, there's all kinds of crazy fonts going on (the drawings actually use one of those horrible fake hand lettering "blueprint" fonts), the photography is bad. On one of the photography pages the photos don't even line up on the haphazard grid they tried to use for that page, it's off a few pixels. According to their design narrative section, they followed the design guideline rules to the minimum. They also explain their flat brick facade and silly metal thing (err, "iconic vertical element"). And they even criticize the surrounding buildings!

At least some positive news:

http://annarbor.com/business-review/...us-government/


They mention U of M's construction boom, but not mentioned is despite adding millions of square feet, energy and maintenance costs have not gone up all that much since much of the renovations to older buildings and new structures have focused on energy efficiency.

"Financial prudence", aka continuously raising tuition rates.

I usually get to Ann Arbor once every week and I noticed that the Zaragon West (Zaragon 2) construction is now proceeding at a rapid pace:

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6081/...69fbe53c_b.jpg
Photo Credit: Me on flickr

This picture was taken 6 weeks after my previous one of this project.

Thanks Jim for the update. This one will really add some nice substance to that area.

High-rise rush continues: Another apartment development proposed for downtown Ann Arbor
AnnArbor.com September 2, 2011

http://www.annarbor.com/business-rev...own-ann-arbor/

This is good news. Increasing the concentration of students closer to business districts will guarantee these areas will continue to grow.

It will also help boost rental vacancies in neighborhoods that were originally single family homes.

More empty homes in student neighborhoods will guarantee renovations to dilapidated properties and possibly a reversal of the exodus of families from the city to the suburbs as rentals return to single family. It will also cause rents to fall to more reasonable levels and force certain landlords out of the business who shouldn't be in it in the first place.

I agree with the first half of your statement, but working in housing and community development the last 5 years doesn't give me any such hope for rentals returning to single family owner occupied units. That occurrence is extremely rare in my experience.

Generally, rentals are bare bones, and the landlords rip out or paint over architectural details that make a home unique and desirable. This is more often out of necessity to keep up with the turnover of destructive renters/students.

Second, landlords generally don't sell these properties because they're so lucrative...unless the landlords downright fail (which is hard to do in a college town). And if they do sell, they usually revert right back to rentals for the aforementioned reasons. The landlords could probably still turn a profit in Ann Arbor if the rents fell by 50%.

A third reason is that college towns are transient places, with many people coming and going, buying and selling. Couple this with many houses being upside down on their mortgages, even in nice places like Ann Arbor. If my SO and I move out of very well located house between MSU and downtown, we'd almost certainly turn it into a rental for this reason. It's probably going to take a decade before homes regain their lost equity. Why sell and take a loss when you can keep it and turn a profit from well off grad students?

So I'm not very hopeful that these homes would revert to owner occupancy, but I guess anything could happen. I would predict that this would have little more affect than drawing more kids to these rental houses from outlying areas, particularly those who would rather live nearer to downtown but previously couldn't afford it.

Zaragon West Update
 

Construction is up to 9th floor on Zaragon West.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6178/...55b19f9b_b.jpg
Photo Credit: Me on Flickr

View showing Ann Arbor's tallest building, Tower Plaza, in the background.
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6073/...3287ed08_b.jpg
Me on Flickr

13-story downtown high-rise draws criticism at Ann Arbor Planning Commission meeting

http://www.annarbor.com/assets_c/201...x303-88818.jpg
An aerial view of the project known as The Varsity, shown in yellow, as viewed from the southeast on Washington Street in downtown Ann Arbor. Shown in the background is Sloan Plaza condominiums on Huron Street. To the left is 411 Lofts, and to the right is the First Baptist Church.

A proposal for a new 13-story student high-rise in the heart of downtown Ann Arbor was met with some resistance at Tuesday night's Planning Commission meeting.

The general concept of The Varsity — a dense housing development catering to University of Michigan students — appears to have support, but a few details remain to be worked out.

http://www.annarbor.com/news/13-stor...ssion-meeting/

I like this project, but I have to agree with the 4th Ward president, the Huron facade really does need some work. While it's not exactly a pedestrian street, it doesn't mean we shouldn't try to improve it. Having the new city hall entrance facing Huron was a huge first step.

In other news, seems the brand new North quad building has become a popular place

http://annarbor.com/news/students-si...ity-overflows/

Another article on Ann Arbor's future transit plans.

http://annarbor.com/news/ann-arbor-o...nd-streetcars/


Really? 20 years to get a system like this in place? What is it with modern planning today? We should know better by now that forecasts made decades down the road are pretty much useless. Heck, forecasts made in the 90's probably would have shown growth on the city periphery miles out more than it is in these present times of zero growth. Even then funding for ambitious plans that may be available now, can evaporate in the future.

So as long as the University maintains a relatively dense footprint, a corridor's beginning, end and points in between should be relatively static for half a century. Not to mention, North Campus has plenty of room to grow.

Just get whatever system is chosen planned in 1-2 years and built in another 2-3 years. Even a system operating by 2016 is too late to address the current problems of overcrowded buses.


Well at least it's a source of work for planners who will study, revise, study, and revise for many years to come.

these are some quality developments. good going, a2!

University of Michigan to close 571-student North Campus dormitory

http://www.annarbor.com/news/u-m-to-...pus-dormitory/

U of M is really trying to make all their buildings state of the art for Wow factor. There is really nothing wrong with Baits housing. A decent upgrade could certainly make these buildings last for decades to come, but with all the luxury student housing and renovated dorms on central campus, they just can't compete with that living experience.

It will be interesting to see if they go with a replace or renovate option. I'm guessing they will be replaced. As some of the comments mention, it's extremely isolating for some students and I knew a lot of people who hated the seclusion.

When I was a student, I lived in the nearby Bursley dorm for a year and while it might not have been as bad as Bates since it was larger and full of more lively undergraduates, it was still a pain to have to get down to main campus for any social activities (at least the UofM bus was free).
In general it does seem that UofM is going much more upscale than it was in the 1980s.

Zaragon West Update
 

The shell of Zaragon West is complete and about half of the facade brickwork has been laid.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6091/...69a8cb66_b.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6111/...e8347b8b_b.jpg

Photo credits: Me on Flickr

It makes a surprising impact on the skyline.

Nice building.

One day I hope Lansing will fill in downtown and along Michigan Avenue as much as Ann Arbor has.

PS, there's a nice photo of the building over at Ann Arbor Real Estate:

http://www.annarborrealestatewatch.c...-in-ann-arbor/

Good updates on projects, and in the link I saw the Varsity was recently approved. Ann Arbor is growing up! I just hope this will motivate rental property owners in the neighborhoods to fix up there properties.

Maybe I'm used to the very strict enforcement on property appearance in Chicago, but I was disappointed on a return trip to Ann Arbor to see how ragged and run-down the student neighborhoods looked....more so than I remember. Weedy grass, pealing paint, garbage on front lawns. The city needs to start handing out citations to those property owners charging $800+ rent /month. But downtown, State Street, South U all looked great.


Oh and here's some photos of the recent dorm renovations.
http://ww.annarbor.com/news/u-m-residence-hall/

I believe the last renovation was sometime in the mid 90's. After 15 years, CZ was due for an update.

I had a hard time placing where the new rooms were. The grand stair appears to begin at the top (ground level) where the administrative offices were, and end (basement) where you once entered the serving line to go into the cafeteria.

601 Forest Construction Update
 

While 601 Forest was scaled back from its original 23 story plan, it is nevertheless beginning to loom over nearby structures (except for University Towers of course). Even with its smaller design, it will house more students that Zaragon and Zaragon West combined. A real estate office for the building is open in the Michigan Theater Building.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6102/...6f0fbbc1_b.jpg
Photo credit: DecoJim, flickr

Plans, rendering revealed for 6-story apartment building proposed for downtown Ann Arbor
http://www.annarbor.com/assets_c/201...x399-96057.jpg
http://www.annarbor.com/business-rev...s-suggestions/

For a poor economy, A2 just keeps going and going...

That's the thing. Ann Arbor isn't experiencing a poor economy.;)

This is actually the type of property a poor economy generates. Rental. And luxury rentals are in very high demand as less people become homeowners but demand a higher level of service and amenities.

My only question is Ann Arbor's rental occupancy percentage. I'm very curious as to what it is with all the new construction. Nationwide it's something like 92% with major US downtown and core areas reporting numbers in the 94-98% range. That's not alot of available inventory. And the shortage may even be more severe when you take into account condos going rental. We can't build these fast enough.

This is what I keep telling my employer. We keep building and rehabbing houses and I'm trying to get small scale rental (under 12 units, townhouses and such) back into our portfolio. There's so much potential to densify our corridors in Michigan right now.

Yeah, I think Detroit has the potential for a big windfall of new rentals. You have the prospect of light rail on Woodward, new business openings, and living incentives that have stimulated demand for more apartments. While many cities in Michigan have some empty inventory, it's not necessarily modern inventory....exactly the reason well off students or young professionals are snatching up these rental lofts and apartments in new buildings all over A2.

Completely missed this. Appears the Varsity was approved and will begin construction soon
All images from Annarbor.com
http://annarbor.com/news/13-story-do...ssion-meeting/

http://www.annarbor.com/assets_c/201...x303-88818.jpg

http://www.annarbor.com/assets_c/201...x179-88820.jpg

http://www.annarbor.com/assets_c/201...x181-88824.jpg

Developer proposes new 224-unit student housing project for Grace Bible Church site in Ann Arbor

http://www.annarbor.com/business-rev...-in-ann-arbor/

I have nothing to say about the project other than this would be a lame place to live due to the location.

618 South Main apartment project approved by Ann Arbor Planning Commission

http://www.annarbor.com/neighborhood...ng-commission/

^ Excellent news!

I need a site plan to understand this project better though. I can't find it on VOA's website.

illage Green breaking ground on new downtown Ann Arbor apartments catering to young professionals
http://www.annarbor.com/news/ann-arb...roundbreaking/

This is great news, but dang does new development sometimes move at a snails pace in Ann Arbor. Some of these projects were proposed back when I was still in college lol.

Was with a friend in A2 a couple weeks ago. They've already removed and relocated the parking fixtures from that lot. The site is ready to go.

I don't check this thread often enough. Am I correct in saying that Ann Arbor is running face-first into a huge building boom?

It's interesting you mention that because a coworker and I had this very discussion a moment ago whether we can really consider all this rental development "a boom" As far as larger notable buildings which we focus on here, it's been constant actually. U of M has wrapped up their decade of construction which added millions of square feet. Here's the full list:

http://www.plantext.bf.umich.edu/projects.html

Private projects have kind of come one after the other. As far back as I knew much about Ann Arbor, it started with Ashley Mews in the (late 90's?). When I arrived at U of M in 2003, I recall the midrise above Buffalo Wild Wings wrapping up construction. Then there was Ashley Terrace, then 411 lofts, then that Courtyards development on North Campus, followed by the Zaragon Projects.

Basically since the early 2000's there's always been at least two larger buildings under construction.

I've visited nearly all the big Ten University Cities in recent years, and the pace of construction seems to be the same. University towns are doing well because of their unique micro-economies and increased enrollment which drives up demand for better student housing.

Going back to the original question, here in Chicago we've had at least a half dozen skyscraper starts every year since the start of the recession. That's slightly less than skyscraper starts during the mid 2000's when developers were building like crazy, but most of the boom consisted of midrise, lowrise, and single family homes. Seems like rental towers are all we are getting. Definitely skyline changers, but not really a "boom." But back in Michigan it's the same story.....I think Ann Arbor is getting by on a few of these nice projects, but I think construction still needs to pick up.

I'm just glad the developments here have been smart. Replacing all these parking lots with midrise residential is a home run in my book. Ann Arbor really is the premiere urban city in Michigan.

Totally agree. Now if only the city can get some taller buildings.

I wish A2 developers would share the love!

Aren't most "A2 developers" Chicago developers? I'm sure there's plenty to spread, just follow the money lol.

I took a couple pictures of the "Landmark" student apartments development this evening. Looks like they're up to 11 stories with 3 more to go.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7001/6...70be500113.jpg
IMG_0172 by SpartanTom, on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7142/6...34770ed4d7.jpg
IMG_0173 by SpartanTom, on Flickr

It's pretty weird standing at that corner now, very closed-in feeling.