[DetroitMan]

As Briarwood Mall turns 50, redevelopment plans await Ann Arbor’s OK
briarwoodmall1 by Brandon Dolley, on Flickr

The development team plans to tear down the vacant Sears building — one of the mall’s four anchor spaces — and replace it with new two-story commercial spaces, including a grocery store and another large retail space, plus 354 apartments in a four-story building covering part of the mall’s vast parking lot.

There would be a half-acre outdoor plaza and 360 car parking spaces for the commercial portion of the project, and 406 car parking spaces for the apartments, including a four-level garage with 301 spaces embedded in the apartment building. Those plans are now headed to City Council for final approval after planning commissioners voted 6-0 to give the project their blessing, including rezoning over eight acres of parking on the northeastern portion of the mall site closest to the intersection of State Street and Eisenhower Parkway.
briarwoodmall2 by Brandon Dolley, on Flickr
“This is great to see,” Commissioner Lisa Sauve said, calling it progress.

Simon Property Group, while its the largest owner at Briarwood, doesn’t own the entire mall site, Phipps noted, pointing out Macy’s, JCPenny and Von Maur all own their own sections. Simon is teaming up with Hines, another real estate group, on the housing aspect, which is proposed to be an all-electric building except for an emergency backup generator. However, the developer is still working through issues with DTE Energy on trying to make that happen.

The existing Sears building is over 166,000 square feet. The new grocery store would be about 58,000 square feet, while the larger retail space — described in a city memo as a sporting goods store — would be about 100,000 square feet. The housing portion totals nearly 389,000 square feet.
briarwoodmall3 by Brandon Dolley, on Flickr
There would be an increase in green space, along with pedestrian and biking improvements, including new sidewalks and crosswalks to adjacent properties and a bike path on Briarwood Circle, Phipps said, showing a series of drawings. The development plans also include about 56 bicycle parking spaces for the commercial portion and an enclosed bicycle storage area with room for 36 bikes on the residential garage.

The development team also has been working with TheRide to come up with a plan for bus service, Phipps said.

Phipps said he can’t yet announce the grocer, but it’s something “new to the market” and “they pride themselves in generating their produce locally and they’re big on farm-to-table so that will be a nice addition,” he said.

https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor...arbors-ok.html