Ann Arbor Construction updates

[animatedmartian]

The downtown Marriott hotel is officially topped off.


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

[animatedmartian]

Photos by Ryan Stanton of MLive.

413 Huron St. aka Foundry Lofts





Marriott Downtown Hotel



ArborBLU

[JonathanGRR]

I think they were just using that lot for staging for the building next door.

[the urban politician]

^ Ahh, I got it. Based on the renderings, these projects are going to dramatically change the feel of the area.

I probably haven't set foot in Ann Arbor in about 8 years. How different should I expect it to feel if I visit again? I hear about a lot of development for sure, but I can't tell how much it has transformed the city (you can't really tell these things until you see it in person, I guess).

[animatedmartian]

Yea, I haven't been in Ann Arbor myself for about a year or so, and even then it was just through the college. Overall, I'd say the downtown area feels pretty dense, but really compact. Walk a few blocks in any direction from downtown and it still more or less feels like a small town or suburban area, though obviously with ever increasing traffic.

Edit: And actually, I just though about this a few days later, but Ann Arbor doesn't really have many urban townhomes. At least not in the city center. Everything seems to be a several story high rise or single-family home. There's very little in-between density.

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

Yea, I haven't been in Ann Arbor myself for about a year or so, and even then it was just through the college. Overall, I'd say the downtown area feels pretty dense, but really compact. Walk a few blocks in any direction from downtown and it still more or less feels like a small town or suburban area, though obviously with ever increasing traffic.

Edit: And actually, I just though about this a few days later, but Ann Arbor doesn't really have many urban townhomes. At least not in the city center. Everything seems to be a several story high rise or single-family home. There's very little in-between density.

Ashley Mews. It's in a transition zone between SFRs and downtown. There's others around the area too. At least traditional urban rowhomes never existed in Ann arbor because it was a small farming town with very limited industry and therefore very little dense worker housing, though there may have been some in old lower downtown much of that is gone nowadays.

[uaarkson]

Nice! Ann Arbor is really heating up now. Does anyone here know how many developable plots remain in the downtown core?

[Rizzo]

Exciting stuff. I think all of the proposals for the library lot are attractive. And Glen-Ann Place...wow. Last time we heard anything on this was a decade ago.

The NIMBYs had a fit then. This plan looks almost taller and that's better IMO.

The past decade has been a boom for Ann Arbor and the University. Never has the city built so much medium to high density residential, and never before has the university spent this many billions of dollars on construction

[animatedmartian]

Hundreds of new apartments in downtown Ann Arbor getting ready to welcome tenants
By Ryan Stanton. July 23, 2015. MLive.

In the race to bring new luxury apartments to market in downtown Ann Arbor, and fill them with tenants by this fall, not all will be champions.

While three new rental housing developments are getting ready to welcome residents in August and September, the Foundry Lofts high-rise at 413 E. Huron St. is months behind schedule, has struggled with leasing, and now has canceled fall leases.

Billed as luxury student housing, the 14-story building was expected to begin welcoming tenants in late August in time for the start of the University of Michigan's fall semester, but those who signed leases for the fall are being forced to make other accommodations now, and the developer is citing construction delays as the reason.

The leasing website now indicates finished apartments will be available starting in January 2016 in time for U-M's spring semester.

A representative for the Cardinal Group, the management firm handling leasing for Foundry Lofts, said about 25 percent of the units are pre-leased.

....

Counting the Foundry Lofts and ArborBLU student apartment high-rises, as well as 618 South Main and the Munger Graduate Residences, nearly 1,600 new beds are being added to the rental housing market in downtown Ann Arbor.

That follows a wave of housing development, including other apartment high-rises built in recent years that have increased the downtown population.

By the Downtown Development Authority's count, more than 1,400 new bedrooms were constructed downtown between 2010 and 2014.

Based on occupancy reports, the DDA estimates the downtown population is now about 5,500, up from 4,067 in the 2010 census.

In addition to luxury apartments, dozens of high-end condos are being built in the downtown and selling faster than developers can build them.

Foundry Lofts - Delayed opening to January 2016


ArborBLU - Move-in ready by August 25th


618 South Main - Move-in ready August 1st






Munger Graduate Residences at the University of Michigan - Opening August 1st


Bonus peek inside the U-M new dorms. They look pretty fancy.
• Video Link

[Rizzo]

Rather impressive for totally modular built construction. Munger graduate residences were built in a factory, and then delivered on site. The rooms were dropped into place like puzzle pieces and the structure of the building was assembled like legos. The finished product totally looks custom...especially with all that ornate masonry. Nicely done, we've come a long way in construction technology

[animatedmartian]

5-story condo building proposed next to fish sculpture park on Kingsley
By Ryan Stanton. July 29, 2015. MLive.

The two-unit building is planned just to the east of the city's fish sculpture park at the corner of First and Kingsley, hence the project's name: Kingsley Parkside. It also would back up to a 25-unit condo development planned at 410 First St.

Ann Arbor-based James & Werner LLC is behind the Kingsley Parkside project, which still needs to go through the city's approval process.

The new building, replacing a single-family home on the 3,168-square-foot lot, would include two units each with three bedrooms and two enclosed parking spaces.

Savarino Properties is handling marketing and sales for the units, describing them as having an urban loft feel but with a traditional townhouse footprint.

A 2,601-square-foot unit is listed at $1.145 million, and a 2,926-square-foot unit is listed at $1.195 million.

The building is expected to rise 49 feet tall, which is shorter than the 60 feet permitted under the D2 zoning.

....

Currently:

[animatedmartian]

Scaled-back version of Madison on Main headed to City Council for approval
By Ryan Stanton. Mlive. August 6, 2015.

Ann Arbor developer Dan Ketelaar has reduced the scope of his proposed Madison on Main luxury apartment development on the edge of the Old West Side.

As presented to the city's Planning Commission Wednesday night, it's now 60 feet tall, five stories and 26 units.

It was proposed earlier this year as a 78-foot-tall, seven-story, 33-unit apartment building at the southwest corner of Main and Madison streets, the vacant corner lot where Happy's Pizza burned down in a fire in January 2014.

The Planning Commission voted 7-0 in favor of the scale-back version of the project, forwarding it to the City Council for final approval.

Now measuring 32,616 square feet, the Madison on Main is estimated to cost $6 million to construct.

The new apartment building would rise immediately next to the six-story, 164-unit apartment building known as 618 South Main, another one of Ketelaar's projects that's being finished right now and already about 75 percent leased.

Ketelaar, president of Urban Group Development in Ann Arbor, believes the Madison on Main will complement 618 South Main and serve as an attractive entrance to the Old West Side neighborhood, with apartments rising above a ground-floor retail space that's shown in drawings as the "Madison Cafe."

...

Scaled-back design







Original design







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

[animatedmartian]

Ann Arbor city council down to two proposals for the Library Lot. After community input and some more meetings with the developers by October, the developers will be able to finalize their designs, financing, and uses for the building (most likely residential and hotel by the looks of it).





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

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

Ann Arbor city council down to two proposals for the Library Lot. After community input and some more meetings with the developers by October, the developers will be able to finalize their designs, financing, and uses for the building (most likely residential and hotel by the looks of it).



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

Updated rendering:





There's also considerations for the building massing.

Project architect John Myefski of Myefski Architects presented the team's concept, emphasizing they welcomed all feedback.
"Positive, negative — we'll take it all, so that we know going forward what we might do to the design to actually twist it, turn it, and bend it to kind of make it really work for this community," said Myefski, a University of Michigan graduate.

"We're all focused here today on a plaza, and that's important," Myefski said. "But I think what we're kind of missing is there's a real opportunity to connect Liberty Plaza to this plaza, and everything else in between."

....

Myefski presented three different site and building configurations labeled Option A, Option B and Option C, with a mix of public and semi-private green spaces.

Option A is the current massing proposal, and Option B and Option C are alternatives under consideration.

As described in the original proposal from Core Spaces, the southwest corner of the building would be set back to accommodate a 3,500-square-foot corner plaza, with a 4,000-square-foot patio and public area on the second floor extending toward Fifth Avenue, plus a 2,500-square-foot courtyard deck looking out over Library Lane with a pool for the hotel and private amenity space for residents.

Myefski said Core Spaces already changed the design from the original proposal and the ground-level plaza space is larger now.

...

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

[the urban politician]

^ I'm favoring the top one, although I'm not sure if that's because it's a more quality rendering

[animatedmartian]

Wowzers. Mighty fine improvement over the initial design.

Ann Arbor is reviewing plans for 9-story hotel called The Glen
By Matt Durr. MLive. September 9, 2015.

The site plans for a nine-story mixed use hotel and retail development on Glen Avenue between Catherine and Ann are under review by the City of Ann Arbor Historic District Commission.

Known as The Glen, a review of the plans by the city raised no major concerns about the project and said it would be a welcomed addition to the neighborhood. The plans are expected to be discussed by the HDC at its Oct. 8 meeting.

The 194-room hotel would include a number of suites and extended stay rooms for guests, along with meeting spaces for conferences and receptions, according to documents submitted to the city. The extended stay rooms would be a key part of the development because of its proximity to the University of Michigan Hospital.

Four stories of underground parking would also be built as part of the plans. The mixed-use site would be approximately 152,000-square-feet.

...

[uaarkson]

Looks great, if a little dated. Functionally it's awesome. I hope the large window feature at the top is a part of some public space.

[animatedmartian]

6-story apartment building proposed for South Main Street in Ann Arbor
By Matt Durr. MLive. October 26, 2015.

Design plans for a mixed-use development housing project in Ann Arbor are being reviewed as a St. Louis-based developer proposes a six-story high rise on South Main Street.

Collegiate Development Group has submitted plans to Ann Arbor Design Review Board for a project that would include micro-studio, studio and townhouses along with three-, four- and five-bedroom apartments.

The project would span over a trio of parcels at 615, 633 and 637 S. Main, which are occupied by businesses in the South Main Market, a hookah lounge and The Ann Arbor School for the Performing Arts.

A 5,000-square-foot commercial retail space would be built as part of the ground floor of the project.

Architect Brad Moore of J Bradley Moore & Associates said the retail space could be occupied by one or a couple of the tenants in the current shopping areas if a deal can be worked out with the developer.

The ground floor will also feature townhouses with slightly elevated porches and a entrances that open right off of Main Street. Commons areas and community rooms will also be located on the ground floor and overlook Main Street.

....

Known as "The Residences at 615 S Main," the property would include 199 parking spaces and total 86,162 square feet. A courtyard and pool would be in the center of the complex.

City records show the three properties that would be combined to form the housing project have not been sold.

....

Quite a number of businesses occupy the current properties so I'd imagine this would have an uphill battle ahead.

[animatedmartian]

Plans submitted for 12-story student high-rise in downtown Ann Arbor
By Matt Durr. MLive. October 25, 2015.

Two years after a highly controversial 14-story high-rise was approved on East Huron in downtown Ann Arbor, the city will soon be discussing a similar project on the same block.

Core Spaces, an Illinois-based real estate firm specializing in residential, hospitality and student housing projects, bought slightly more than a half-acre of land from developer Dennis Dahlmann and is seeking to build a 12-story student housing building on the site.

Two years after a highly controversial 14-story high-rise was approved on East Huron in downtown Ann Arbor, the city will soon be discussing a similar project on the same block.

Core Spaces, an Illinois-based real estate firm specializing in residential, hospitality and student housing projects, bought slightly more than a half-acre of land from developer Dennis Dahlmann and is seeking to build a 12-story student housing building on the site.

The project would be on the same block as the still-under-construction Foundry Lofts, which won City Council approval in a contentious 6-5 vote in 2013.

Plans for the property have been submitted to the Ann Arbor Design Review Board for site plan approval by City Council that call for 129 units to be built on the property directly next to The Dahlmann Campus Inn.

The building would be located on the properties of 513 and 603 E. Huron between the hotel and the Sloan Plaza.

....

The project is likely to spur similar discussions to when Foundry Lofts made its plans known to the city. Concerns about proximity to residential areas, how it fit visually in the neighborhood and traffic congestion led to a narrow 6-5 council vote in favor of the project.

At the time of the approval, many residents expressed outrage over the decision to move forward with project.

AJ Capital Partners, the Chicago-based hospitality firm that bought The Dahlmann Campus Inn last month, has already announced plans to renovate the hotel, meaning that stretch of East Huron could see major construction continue over the course of the next few years.

Work on Foundry Lofts began in October 2013 and remains unfinished. Earlier this year, the management group for the project announced it was canceling fall leases for the student-housing project as the building was not ready.

The Foundry Lofts website is now advertising the apartments will be ready in August 2016.

Core Spaces is one of the two finalists for the city-owned library lot project. The company proposed a 17-story mixed-use building with retail, hotel, residential and office spaces included.

....





Current space:

http://www.mlive.com/business/ann-ar...d_for_12-.html

[Docta_Love]

Ann Arbor isn't a large city and 500-700 million is a lot of money however i'm sure there would be plenty of support for a cross town light rail line and A2 is exactly the kind of city that is made for transit. So while i'm always a lil skeptical about any mass transit announcements in Michigan i would think A2 has a decent chance of making this happen.

The general idea for the Ann Arbor Connector has been around for years and has been the subject of much discussion and study, but now the vision is taking shape, and there's momentum around the idea of light rail.