Ann Arbor Construction updates

[animatedmartian]

My guess is that since the city wasn't as founded on manufacturing like the other mentioned cities, it wasn't really expected to see high growth. That "smalltown charm" is definitely because it was built like one that would've been in the middle of a rural area. Even a lot of Michigan cities that are smaller in population seem more gridded and planned out than Ann Arbor.

The freeways don't help either. If you notice, A2 doesn't have a spur or loop that goes into Downtown Ann Arbor like in most other cities in Michigan. M-14 looks like it could have almost kept going down Main and then turn right at Huron and connect to 94 from there, but it doesn't. Ann Arbor just seems like an odd-ball city.

[Rizzo]

For the better though. A spur downtown would have been destructive. Heck, I94 BR or Huron/washtenaw is undesirable, which is why it was left for institutional buildings, service stations and frat houses. M-14 cannot be upgraded so it will remain as is for a very long time unless it is ever removed and relocated.

Ann Arbor was always a farming town, and interestingly never intended to be a university town until the original 40 acres were acquired.

[LMich]

That's the one thing I'm glad never happened to Ann Arbor. I can't even imagine how much of the inner-city would have been taken out had a freeway been rammed through. We only have one freeway driven through Lansing that actually didn't do as much damage as quite a few other inner-city highways. But, like you said, Hayward, even the business routes can be destructive. In fact, it's the business routes and surface state highways (BR 96, BR 69/MI-43 and MI-99) which made downtown Lansing into an island by destroying and fraying the edges of the district.

Yes, the cities I mentioned and Ann Arbor is definitely their purpose. We're talking industrial centers versus a college town that never expected to get as big as it did.

[LMich]

Didn't enjoy seeing this in the paper this morning. Just a few miles northwest of this site, a developer is in the really early stages of trying to put up a massive development of low-density homes along Whitmore Lake Road in Northfield Township:

Company targets 460 acres north of Ann Arbor for residential development

By Lizzy Alfs | MLive.com

August 5, 2014

A Birmingham-based real estate firm has targeted 460 acres of land in Northfield Township for a residential development.

Biltmore Development is exploring the possibility of assembling nine properties and building housing along Whitmore Lake Road just west of US-23 and north of Joy Road. Biltmore has an option to purchase the properties from the seven different owners.

But because the Northfield Township master plan designates the land as agriculture, Biltmore is asking for a master plan map amendment to zone the land for medium density residential. Northfield Township’s current master plan was adopted in 2012.

Biltmore’s plans are in very preliminary stages, and the company has not determined the type of housing or how many units would be constructed on the site. A medium density residential zoning would allow Biltmore to develop housing on quarter-acre lot sizes.

The first step, said Biltmore’s David Stollman, is to see whether Northfield Township officials want the land developed for housing.

...

The nine properties Biltmore wants to develop consist of vacant land and very low density single-family residential. There are extensive wetland systems on the site. The current agricultural zoning allows for single-family dwellings on five-acre parcels.

...

Northfield needs to tell them to take a hike. This is pure, unapologetic sprawl. It's not even on the right side of the freeway (i.e. where the planned commuter rail service will eventually come through). The very last thing suburban Ann Arbor needs is anything that helps is sprawl up towards the sprawl of Livingston County, and quarter-acre lots, no less. This is crazy. US-23 is already a nightmare enough as it is.

[animatedmartian]

Unfortunately as the economy picks up, the sprawl machine will pick up as well. Washtenaw is going to become the next Oakland County but with triple the inadequate roads.

[animatedmartian]

http://www.mlive.com/business/ann-ar...ing_rents.html

Rents in Ann Arbor are skyrocketing. Quite a few landlords reporting apartments with 100% occupancy. Others are also reporting 10% rate increases over the last year. There's no sign of demand letting off as Ann Arbor/Washtenaw County is expected to grow in employment during the next few years.

[Rizzo]

I'm paying less for a gut rehab condo rental in chicago than my worn out vintage apartment in Ann Arbor. I paid about $1000 / month for a small 1BR near kerrytown in 2009. It's typical in college towns to be expensive and also a reason why new college grads don't blink an eye when they see rents as they move off to the big city

[LMich]

Romain Blanquart | The Detroit Free Press

Ann Arbor experiencing a boom in high-end apartments and condos

By JC Reindl | Detroit Free Press

September 14, 2014

An unprecedented building boom of apartment high-rises and condos has made construction cranes a lingering fixture of the Ann Arbor skyline.

No fewer than six cranes hovered over downtown last week as private developers raced to erect more luxury student and post-collegiate housing within walking distance to University of Michigan classrooms.

The half-dozen residential projects that are under construction or slated to begin are the latest round in a boom that has been under way for at least three years and is permanently altering the city’s housing situation.

Many of the current and earlier developments specifically cater to U-M students, offering additional near-campus living options aside from blocks of grubby old houses. Other projects have targeted high-earning professionals and empty-nesters and are filling up faster than local observers anticipated.

Fueling the boom has been an eagerness among lenders to finance high-end student housing projects, the willingness of parents to pay upwards of $1,400 a month for a child’s college bedroom, and what appears to be pent-up demand in general for amenity-filled Ann Arbor apartments.

http://www.freep.com/article/2014091...ty-of-Michigan

[subterranean]

Gangbusters. Can't help but feel a little bit cheated up here in the capital city, but glad to see so much positive Michigan development news lately. Now if they could just get a handle on the affordability issues.

[animatedmartian]

25-unit condo building proposed in downtown Ann Arbor
By Lizzy Alfs. November 03, 2014.

Longtime Ann Arbor developer Tom Fitzsimmons has plans for another low-rise condo building downtown.

Fitzsimmons, of Huron Contracting LLC, submitted plans to Ann Arbor’s Design Review Board to construct a four-story, 25-unit condominium building at 408-412 N. First St., between West Kingsley Street and Miller Avenue.

There are two existing structures on the site: a residence at 412 N. First and Huron Contracting’s offices at 408 N. First.

Fitzsimmons said he has an option to purchase the site at 412 N. First St. from registered owner Karl Lopata. The property has a 2014 assessed value of $135,700.

“We see a strong demand for downtown condos, and we’re attempting to fill that demand,” Fitzsimmons said. “If we have the ability to bring a project online once a year and be able to deliver 15 to 20 condos, we see that we’ll be able to increase supply and meet that demand.”

Fitzsimmons is in the midst of building two low-rise condominium projects in the downtown area: an 18-unit project at 414 N. Main and 401 N. Fourth that is nearing completion, and a 22-unit project at 121 Kingsley that Fitzsimmons expects will get underway this fall.

The majority of the site at 408-412 N. First St. is located in the Allen Creek flood plain or flood way. It’s in the city’s D2 zoning, which has a maximum allowable building height of 60 feet.

Four stories of residential units would be constructed atop lower level parking with 37 spaces. Five additional parking spaces would be located nearby in an easement held with the property owner to the south. Parking is hidden from view from public streets by metal screening and landscaping, the plans say.

....

[animatedmartian]

Hopefully this doesn't become a trend.

New height limits approved for future development site in downtown Ann Arbor
By Ryan Stanton. January 06, 2015.



The Ann Arbor City Council voted unanimously Monday night to set new height limits for future development on a prime piece of downtown real estate.

The property at 425 S. Main St., at the southeast corner of Main and William streets, is being downzoned from D1 to D2, allowing less density.

The property's 180-foot height limit is being replaced with new restrictions that would allow a future building to rise as high as 120 feet at the north end of the site, but the remaining southern portion now has a 60-foot limit.

The unanimous agreement on that compromise, which came out of many months of discussion, was reached only after an unsuccessful attempt Monday night by Council Member Jack Eaton, D-4th Ward, to impose even stricter limits.

....



The city began looking more closely at the zoning along the edges of downtown two years ago when the controversial 413 E. Huron high-rise was proposed.

The 14-story apartment tower at the northeast corner of Division and Huron streets, which some argue is out of scale with the adjacent neighborhood, was approved because it fit the zoning, according to a majority of council members.

The city launched a review of the downtown zoning in 2013 in hopes of avoiding another controversy like 413 E. Huron. One of the recommendations that came out of that public process was downzoning the 425 S. Main property.

"We've been looking at this a long time obviously," Lumm said, noting the city doesn't want to "repeat the mistakes of 413 E. Huron."

....

[Rizzo]

The height limits will ultimately make things look worse. You'll have these oppressive canyons of fat and squat buildings rather than slender tall ones that allow light to permeate to streets, add character to the skyline and facilitate better preservation of existing structures since density would be more concentrated.

I know besides typical zoning setbacks Ann arbor probably enforces some design guidelines in regard to terracing and stepping higher floor levels that could add some interest. But creating height ceilings doesn't stop Ann arbor from continuing to grow and replace existing buildings with what will become a plateau of boxy midrises

[subterranean]

I understand that a tall building can look awkward next to a house, but in the long wrong taller buildings will probably save more of the character of traditional neighborhoods if they aren't taking up more acreage. That is, if their main concern is development affecting the small town character of the neighborhoods.

[Rizzo]

A couple updates on the UMAEC page.

1. Biological Sciences Building.
This would replace North Hall, or the old ROTC building which is probably one of the oldest buildings on campus. Despite its age, I never felt the building was all that attractive so I think this is a substantially better replacement:



More Renderings Available here:
http://www.umaec.umich.edu/projects/...ence-building/

2. David Dennison Building
The elevators that made me late for Calculus in freshman year. Not my fault. This bunker is getting a makeover with some glassed in atrium spaces


http://www.umaec.umich.edu/projects/...ng-renovation/


Also, Check out the webcams of the munger graduate residence which is a large neogothic structure
http://www.umaec.umich.edu/projects/...es/web-camera/

[sentinel]

^Ahhh, sometimes I miss my alma mater. Sometimes. Go Blue!

(Thanks Hayward).

[animatedmartian]

7-story apartment building planned on site where Happy's Pizza burned down
By Ryan Stanton. February 24, 2015.

Now more than a year after a fire destroyed Happy's Pizza at the southwest corner of Main and Madison streets, an Ann Arbor developer has submitted plans to the city for a new mixed-use development on the site.

"The Madison on Main" is the name of the apartment building being proposed at 600 S. Main St. by Dan Ketelaar, president of Urban Group Development.

The plans show a 37,764-square-foot building that would include six stories plus a single penthouse unit on top.

In all, there would be 28 to 32 luxury rental units rising above a ground-floor retail space, which is envisioned as a deli or cafe with outdoor seating.

The units would range in size from 600 square feet to more than 1,800 square feet, including a mix of one- and two-bedroom units, some with a study.

The project would take shape immediately north of Ketelaar's 618 South Main apartment building, which is under construction.

What remained of Happy's Pizza was demolished last year, and the site is now being used as a staging area for construction on 618 South Main.

The design for The Madison on Main is said to be inspired by the types of buildings found in cities such as Seville, Spain; Vienna, Austria; and Chicago, Illinois.

The design team includes Saroki Architecture, InSite Design Studio, Washtenaw Engineering, Robert Darvas Associates and Zimmerman/Volk Associates.

...

Lots of detailed renderings in the article. Here's a few.







The most recently couple of images on Streetview of this block give a good sense of how much density is being added to this area.

2012


2013

[the urban politician]

^ Wait, by that last pic I take it that it's already under construction?

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ Wait, by that last pic I take it that it's already under construction?

The building next door in the rendering (618 South Main) is already under construction and the lot the proposed building is on (600 South Main) is currently used as the staging area. From a picture of 618 South Main in January, it's relatively close to being finished and the lot for 600 South Main will likely be ready to use by the time it gets approval.


http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/...inate_cit.html

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ Wait, by that last pic I take it that it's already under construction?

It's really far along actually. I have a crappy photo I took in December. I'll try and find it.

Looks like the U of M architecture school is expanding



There's more images here, but they are pdfs
http://www.umaec.umich.edu/projects/...roject/design/

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by Hayward

It's really far along actually. I have a crappy photo I took in December. I'll try and find it.

Looks like the U of M architecture school is expanding



There's more images here, but they are pdfs
http://www.umaec.umich.edu/projects/...roject/design/

Wow, go Blue indeed. It's about time - the piecemeal, mini renovations they've been doing for so long may be dated by now, but I haven't visited there in a while, so who knows...