Village Green project
The council is being asked to approve changes to an agreement with Village Green Residential Properties LLC, effectively lowering the purchase price of city-owned land the developer wants to buy to build downtown apartments at the corner of First and Washington.
The city entered into an option-to-purchase agreement with Village Green in February 2007 and it was last amended in August 2010 to extend the term of the option to June 1, 2011. The city administrator later exercised authority to extend the timeline to Aug. 30, 2011.
City officials say they and representatives of the Downtown Development Authority have been meeting with Village Green on a regular basis since last August and significant progress has been made. The council has authorized general obligation bonds in connection with the project, which includes a 244-space parking garage in addition to 156 apartments.
Village Green also has provided the city with construction financing documents. Negotiation of the condominium documents and completion of the design/development plans for the 11-story project (8 above grade) also has taken place.
A key issue for agreement, according to city officials, was a mutual acceptance of the foundation design, specifically how it would handle the below-ground water table.
"Since this project is in the Allen's Creek area the water table and flooding issues are of great importance to the city and the developer," reads a memo prepared by Mary Fales, senior assistant city attorney, and Tom Crawford, interim city administrator.
"The city, working with the DDA, desired a 'bathtub' design for areas where the water table could rise to meet the deck's foundation. This design in essence prevents water from entering the structure and is similar to how the DDA designed the Fifth Avenue structure," the memo says.
Fales and Crawford say in the memo that it's in the city's best interest to avoid the risk of ongoing pumping by extending the "bathtub" design to encompass the entire foundation. The added cost of the design change is estimated to be about $250,000.
Since a portion of the foundation would have required the "bathtub" anyway, city staff is recommending the City Council agree to contribute $100,000 toward the design change. The developer would be required to fund the remaining $150,000.
City staff is recommending the contribution be achieved by reducing the sales price for the city-owned land from $3.3 million to $3.2 million in the option-to-purchase agreement.
Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at
ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's e-mail newsletters.
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