Ann Arbor Construction updates

[DetroitMan]

$18.5M project to reconstruct Ann Arbor’s Nixon Road with 3 roundabouts

That includes full reconstruction from Huron Parkway to Dhu Varren and Green roads with three new roundabouts at Sandalwood Circle, Meade Court/Bluett Drive and Traver Boulevard, City Engineer Nick Hutchinson said.

The project also includes additional pedestrian crossings, raised crosswalks, buffered bike lanes, shared-use paths and new connecting sidewalks to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists while reducing vehicle speeds, as well as water main, storm sewer and lighting work, Hutchinson said. City Council voted unanimously Monday night, April 7, to approve a cost-sharing agreement with the Michigan Department of Transportation for the project.

Construction will be done in three phases in 2025 and 2026, with full road closures limited to the months of May to August to limit impacts to schools, Hutchinson said.

The first phase from May to August this year includes full closure of Nixon from Huron Parkway to Bluett/Meade.

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

[DetroitSky]

They should find a site in downtown Detroit instead.

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by DetroitSky

They should find a site in downtown Detroit instead.

Agree. Plus, Detroit hotels fill up.

But did anyone not see this coming? It’s a city owned parcel. Anytime there’s a land swap or public subsidies, it invites increased public scrutiny. While I hoped it would’ve been improved, the design needed some work

[DetroitSky]

High-rise developer to pay Ann Arbor $262K to remove Library Lane parking spots

ANN ARBOR, MI — Ann Arbor officials have finalized a development agreement to allow a new high-rise apartment building next to the downtown library.

City Council unanimously approved the agreement Tuesday night, Feb. 20, stipulating the terms Chicago-based developer Core Spaces must follow for its project to replace the University of Michigan Credit Union at 333 E. William St. with a new 16-story tower with 202 apartments.

Among the terms: The developer must pay the city over $262,000 in parking meter removal fees, as invoiced by the Downtown Development Authority, to remove four on-street parking spaces along Library Lane on the building’s north side.

[deja vu]

^ nice renderings. That's a lot of dough though - $65,500 per parking space? Geez.

Vic(tors) Village South, heading for the finish line -


Source: LinkedIn | Lee Ressler

[DetroitMan]

Great shot of Vic Village South!

Ypsi may be getting a new six story building downtown.

6-story development proposed next to historic Centennial building in downtown Ypsilanti

A historic brick building in downtown Ypsilanti dating back more than century could be getting a new neighbor.

A planning and real estate development company that is also working to restore the Centennial Plaza building at 124 Pearl St. proposes to build a new six-story building in a parking lot immediately to the north, off Washington Street.

For developers with J29:7 Planning and Development Corp., the project got its start as they were looking to launch their headquarters in Ypsilanti, said its CEO Derric Scott. They learned the Centennial building, originally built in 1922 as the Huron Hotel, was up for sale but there weren’t any potential buyers interested in preserving it as office space for more than two-dozen local businesses and community groups, including the Ypsi Alehouse on the ground floor, he said. “Our No. 1 priority was, consistent with our philosophy as a development group, how do we ensure that existing businesses and residents are not being displaced?” Scott said.

As J29:7 looked at the costs of purchasing and restoring Centennial Plaza, which includes a parking lot and an adjacent carriage house home to a jewelry store, it became difficult to justify the investment, Scott said. So the developers turned their attention next door.

“We saw the vacant lot as an opportunity to say, could we increase density on the site because the city’s master plan calls for it and there once was a building there, so could we potentially put something back here and address this affordable housing issue that we continue to hear,” Scott said.

That’s led to the proposal being developed now, for a new building at 136 N. Washington St. that would house 60 studio and one-bedroom apartments in its upper five floors, one level of underground parking and a ground floor with building amenities and retail space, according to plans submitted to the city.

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

[DetroitMan]

Ann Arbor weighing 7 developer proposals for downtown lot

Seven development teams are competing to become the Ann Arbor Housing Commission’s co-developer of a prime piece of downtown real estate.

The commission on Friday, Feb. 23, released the names of developers from around the country that responded to a request for proposals by a Feb. 8 deadline.

“We are excited to receive great proposals from leaders of affordable housing in Michigan and nationally,” Housing Commission Executive Director Jennifer Hall said, indicating the commission is in the process of reviewing the proposals with the goal of selecting a co-developer in March. The commission has had plans to build roughly 300 mixed-income housing units, including at least 100 affordable units, on the former YMCA property next to the Blake Transit Center. The site runs along the north side of William Street between Fourth and Fifth avenues.

The seven teams that have submitted co-developer proposals are Gorman and Co., The Habitat Company, Lincoln Avenue Communities, The Michaels Organization, Related Midwest, Renovare Development and a combined team that includes The Roxbury Group and Ethos Development Partners.

In late 2022, the Housing Commission unveiled a conceptual plan showing two connected towers rising 17 and 18 stories with housing above ground-floor commercial space. It’s planned as an all-electric building designed to be “net-zero ready.”

City Council voted in August to sell the property to the commission for $6.2 million after over two decades of discussion and debate about the site’s future.

The city purchased the property in 2003 and in 2008 tore down the old YMCA, including 100 affordable housing units associated with it. The site has been a public parking lot ever since. The city’s attempts to facilitate private redevelopment of the lot over the years left the city embroiled in legal battles with multiple developers. After the last failed attempt, the city settled a lawsuit with developer Dennis Dahlmann and repurchased the property from Dahlmann for $5.2 million in 2018. City officials have spent the last several years forming a new plan for mixed-income housing, while carving out space for a new mid-block bus lane on the north side of the site.

The Downtown Development Authority also is planning a Fourth Avenue streetscape project in 2026 in conjunction with the development, including enhanced transit shelters, a new mid-block crosswalk and other improvements.

https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor...ntown-lot.html

[subterranean]

Oh hey, it’s a shorter version of The Yard in Portland.

[Velvet_Highground]

Every time a Ann Arbor high rise advances an Angel gets its wings.

… It’s actually not that bad Ann Arbor is always changing, but I try not to get attached to any projects I like in Ann Arbor before they break ground. lol.

[DetroitMan]

This new Ann Arbor development may be city’s first ‘TC1 guinea pig’

When Ann Arbor officials established the city’s TC1 high-density zoning for transit corridors nearly three years ago, they envisioned downtown-style developments taking shape in 250-foot-wide square blocks.

But a 250-foot maximum width may be too limiting, some developers contend, and it may be one reason the city hasn’t seen any TC1 developments happen yet.

The 20-acre Arbor South development proposed by Ohio-based developer Crawford Hoying in partnership with Ann Arbor’s Oxford Companies is now testing those limits. The development team appeared before the city’s Planning Commission for an initial review of the proposal Tuesday, March 12. “Thank you so much for bringing this project to us, for being our TC1 guinea pig,” Commissioner Sara Hammerschmidt said, expressing excitement about the proposal for new housing and commercial spaces on the land around Oxford’s 777 E. Eisenhower Parkway office building at the northeast corner of State Street and Eisenhower Parkway. Matt Cherry, a landscape architect with Lord Aeck Sargent, said the site is nearly 1,200 feet wide, so the design team looked at how to break it down into human-scale blocks.

“But we’re not starting from scratch,” he said. “We’re keeping some of the existing streets and we have two office towers.” The team looked at dozens of ways to retrofit a grid and came up with the current plan, which includes a new dynamic public space acting as the heart of a new neighborhood lined with exciting retail spaces, Cherry said. But the blocks formed by the new streets would be bigger than the city’s TC1 zoning envisions and bigger than some downtown blocks.

“Downtown Ann Arbor block sizes are somewhere in the 300 to 320 range — ours as proposed are in the 350 to 380 range,” Cherry said.

https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor...uinea-pig.html

[Velvet_Highground]

Hmm interesting not a restriction I knew about. I doubt that it’s a deal killer but when developers tend to have cities bending over backwards for them Ann Arbor is at a disadvantage and it shows. At least Ann Arbor is showing some flexibility and I do like what I’m seeing. A significant portion of the street grid preserved, one parking garage nearly completely hidden by functional structures fore and af along the parkway. The wetland space is a nice touch as well, these are early renderings so I’ll have to reserve some judgement but I’m liking what I’m seeing so far.

I had no idea about the 250ft restriction I suppose if you’re shooting for the best development possible it’s about finding that sweet spot between what’s ideas and feasible. Anyway considering downtown blocks apparently average between 300-320ft range, 350-380ft range for the project seems reasonable.

[deja vu]

Originally Posted by Velvet_Highground

Hmm interesting not a restriction I knew about. I doubt that it’s a deal killer but when developers tend to have cities bending over backwards for them Ann Arbor is at a disadvantage and it shows. At least Ann Arbor is showing some flexibility and I do like what I’m seeing. A significant portion of the street grid preserved, one parking garage nearly completely hidden by functional structures fore and af along the parkway. The wetland space is a nice touch as well, these are early renderings so I’ll have to reserve some judgement but I’m liking what I’m seeing so far.

I had no idea about the 250ft restriction I suppose if you’re shooting for the best development possible it’s about finding that sweet spot between what’s ideas and feasible. Anyway considering downtown blocks apparently average between 300-320ft range, 350-380ft range for the project seems reasonable.

Well-said. I'm guessing the same, that they will approve the proposed street / block layout with little or no modification. This being the "guinea pig" project, there's going to have to be some compromise and learning along the way, on both sides. If the city has been waiting years for a developer to test out this zoning, they are likely going to be more than willing to play ball to entice development. So what if the blocks are a few feet longer than those downtown. This isn't downtown, and would be a massive step towards denser, transit-oriented urbanization in a major commercial node outside the city center. I'd call that a win.

[DetroitMan]

17-story high-rise outside downtown Ann Arbor gets council’s initial OK

A 17-story apartment high-rise proposed outside downtown Ann Arbor appears headed for approval after an initial 8-0 vote of support Monday night, April 1.

City Council members said they know the project isn’t perfect and the city’s planning staff and Planning Commission both recommended voting it down, but the city has a housing shortage driven by the University of Michigan’s growth and they couldn’t pass up the opportunity to add 273 apartments with over 1,000 bedrooms geared toward students near campus. “Especially in the middle of a housing crisis ... we do not have the luxury of taking our foot off the gas,” Mayor Pro Tem Travis Radina said.

The development planned for 711 Church St. is now due for final council approval after a public hearing May 6.

The proposal from Texas-based developer LV Collective LLC involves rezoning residential properties south of the South University Avenue high-rise area to establish special planned unit development zoning.

Having a beneficial effect for the city that could not be achieved under another zoning category is a requirement for PUD approval, along with making 15% of the housing affordable or making a payment to the city’s affordable housing fund.

As initially put forward, the project was to include a $6.4 million payment for affordable housing based on the 15% standard, but planning commissioners convinced the developer in February to up it to 17% for an even bigger payment while eliminating workforce housing from the plans.

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

[deja vu]

^ Pretty interesting stuff, especially that comment from the Mayor Pro Tem about not having the luxury of taking their foot off the gas. But the headline seems like a bit of a reach, just to get readers to click on it. I'd hardly consider this site to be "outside downtown". I mean, the 13-story Sterling Arbor Blu development is less than a block away. If anything, this is just a logical extension of that density, despite what some NIMBYs will say.

[DetroitSky]

New Dunbar housing complex in Ann Arbor breaks ground

Avalon Housing and the Ann Arbor Housing Commission broke ground on Sunday for a new affordable housing project in the Kerrytown neighborhood.

The project will be named Dunbar Tower and will sit at what is now a parking lot at 121 Catherine Street. It will include 63 apartments with 15% fully barrier free.

Housing Commission Executive Director Jennifer Hall says it’s one of several affordable and workforce housing projects they are working on, but this one is special.

[DetroitMan]

Ann Arbor considering $1.2M deal to allow development above city parking deck

Ann Arbor officials are considering making a deal to allow a new development in the South University Avenue area to rise above a city parking deck.

City Administrator Milton Dohoney told City Council on Monday night, April 15, he’s in talks with Chicago-based Core Spaces about selling the air rights to allow the high-rise developer to build above the Forest Avenue parking structure.

Core has offered $1.2 million for the air rights at 616 S. Forest Ave. and the city had an appraisal done that also came up with a $1.2 million value, Dohoney said during a budget presentation, telling council that could fund the next phase of study for a potential city takeover of DTE Energy locally. He also mentioned his desire for funding to establish an emergency operations center for the city and suggested some of the funds could go toward that.Details about the possible Core Spaces development are limited at this point. Dohoney described it as a mixed-use development, but said he couldn’t share more at this time.

“I can’t speak for the development team,” he said. Core has already built one apartment high-rise geared toward University of Michigan students in Ann Arbor — the 12-story Hub tower on Huron Street — and has plans for two more: one on William Street and one on Packard Street.

Representatives for Core did not respond to requests for comment about the possible Forest Avenue project, including how tall it could be or how many apartments or beds it could have. It’s also unclear whether the development would touch down on the Church Street side of the parking structure to the west or the Forest Avenue/South U side to the north.

Older commercial and residential structures standing on either side are some of the last low-rise buildings in the South U area yet to be demolished for new high-rises.

https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor...king-deck.html

[deja vu]

Vic Village South -








Source: LinkedIn | Hobbs+Black Architects

[DetroitSky]

Nice to see the South University high rise boom continuing! That area is going to be a real urban canyon in the next 5-10 years at this rate.

[uaarkson]

That’s beyond awful actually. Ridiculous waste of money (par for the course with UofM).

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by uaarkson

That’s beyond awful actually. Ridiculous waste of money (par for the course with UofM).

Seems like this is the lite plan for the Ann Arbor Connector that was considered a few years back.

https://a2docs.org/view/595

I'd rather see that plan revived rather than whatever UofM tries to do by piecemeal.