Ann Arbor Construction updates

[DetroitMan]

Originally Posted by deja vu

^ That's pretty generic-looking, but not bad I guess.

I just discovered that there is a construction camera for Vic Village South. And it has really taken off! The stair and elevator cores are topped out and the 3rd-floor bearing walls, framing, and long-span composite decking is going up.

Here is the camera link (select the project from the top drop-down): https://webcams.christmanco.com/

And here is a still shot from earlier today -

It's amazing how fast this building is going up. Another 4-story, 79-unit apartment building on Ann Arbor's north side has been approved. Not to crazy about the design, but at least it furthers the densification of the city.

79-unit Ann Arbor apartment development gets council’s initial OK

A 79-unit, all-electric, solar-powered apartment development on Ann Arbor’s North Maple Road now awaits final city approval.

City Council voted this week to give the initial OK to zoning for 3.13 acres annexed into the city from Scio Township for a project applauded by officials for adhering to city goals.

“It is rare to see projects that hit all of the city’s major priority initiatives and this one does: sustainability, affordability and greater density where there is infrastructure to support it,” said Council Member Lisa Disch, D-1st Ward. The project is now due for final approval April 3.

The proposal from A2 Collaborative LLC, led by founding partner Jeff Wilkerson, combines four parcels along the west side of Maple Road just south of the M-14 highway.

It includes a four-story apartment building with 95 bedrooms, a one-story clubhouse with bike repair and bike storage space and e-bike charging, and 65 car parking spaces.

It includes rooftop solar panels to help power what’s planned to be an all-electric building without gas appliances, reduced car parking and features to encourage walking and cycling.

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

[DetroitMan]

135 more apartments proposed in northeast Ann Arbor

A new five-story apartment building is planned in northeast Ann Arbor.

The owner of Owl Creek Apartments is proposing an expansion of the complex off Nixon Road south of M-14.

The new building would contain about 135 more apartments — a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units, according to a public notice for a meeting the owner is hosting to discuss the project.

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

[DetroitMan]

Renderings have been released for the proposed 6-story AC Hotel in downtown Ann Arbor. Honestly, I'm not impressed and it looks like something you would see off an interstate ramp imo.
Take a look at what this proposed hotel in downtown Ann Arbor may look like

The franchisee of a proposed hotel in downtown Ann Arbor recently shared what the six-story structure may look like.

First Martin Corp. is planning to bring the development to an existing parking lot at 300 and 312 E. Huron St., across from Ann Arbor City Hall. Now, the group has put some drawings to the design, but some members of Ann Arbor’s Design Review Board feel like the proposed hotel design could use a little more pizzazz. The proposed hotel plans to become a nearly 80,000 square-foot building with six stories and 139 guest rooms as part of AC Hotels by Marriott. First Martin will act as the franchisee that will own and operate the AC Hotel within the Marriott brand.

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

[DetroitMan]

A few Ann Arbor development updates. Two builders were named today for the riverfront development in Ann Arbor. The city also rezoned property downtown across from the YMCA for a potential 157-unit residential development and finally the city has restarted the process to build a new AMTRAK Station downtown.

Ann Arbor riverfront development names builders for condos

Two metro Detroit-based residential development companies are teaming up to build the housing component of a proposed mixed-use development in Ann Arbor near a new 7-acre riverfront public park.

Hunter Pasteur Homes of Farmington Hills and Southfield-based The Forbes Co. have been tapped up to develop more than 90 condominium units at the proposed Broadway Park West in Ann Arbor's Lower Town community along the Huron River and north of the city's downtown, according to a Tuesday news release.

The residential component, which is expected to break ground early next year, accompanies a broader mixed-use project that started in January. The overall development consists of 14 acres of former DTE Energy Co. property around Broadway and Depot streets near train tracks. It has been in the works since well before the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020 and is ultimately envisioned to include condominiums, hotel and commercial space.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-e...-arbor-project

Ann Arbor advancing plan to redevelop blighted site across from YMCA

Ann Arbor officials are advancing a plan to deal with a polluted site on the west edge of downtown and build potentially 157 new housing units.

City Council voted unanimously Monday night, March 20, to give the initial OK to rezone the blighted, city-owned property at 415 W. Washington St. across from the YMCA.

The new planned unit development (PUD) zoning for 2.5 acres would allow the city to partner with a developer to build new housing on the site, where there have been concerns about plumes of toxic pollution spreading underground.

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

‘Back to the drawing board.’ After 18 years, Ann Arbor still wants a new train station

The city is now seeking federal funds through Congress to try to get the engine running again on a stalled project to build a new Amtrak train station and city officials are open to exploring alternative locations after hitting a snag with previous plans on Fuller Road.Raymond Hess, city transportation manager, gave the city’s Transportation Commission an update last week, while Deputy City Administrator John Fournier gave City Council’s policy agenda committee a briefing, noting it’s one of several projects for which the city is seeking congressional earmarks.

“We’ve been doing nothing but eating and sleeping earmarks for the last couple of weeks to try and dislodge some of this money,” Fournier said Thursday, March 16.

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

[DetroitMan]

Controversial 12-story Ann Arbor high-rise proposal advances to council

A controversial proposal for a 12-story high-rise outside of downtown Ann Arbor is headed to City Council.

Going against the recommendation of the city’s planning staff, the Planning Commission voted 6-2 Tuesday night, March 21, to recommend approval of the Verve Ann Arbor, a planned unit development (PUD) proposal for 721 S. Forest Ave.

The project would cater to University of Michigan students with 228 apartments and 733 bedrooms, and up to 5,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

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

[DetroitMan]

Affordable housing development in Kerrytown has been approved.
Ann Arbor OKs affordable housing with cultural space honoring historically Black district

Revised plans for a six-story, 63-unit affordable housing development in downtown Ann Arbor’s Kerrytown district are now approved.

The city’s Planning Commission this week enthusiastically OK’d the project planned for the city-owned parking lot at the northwest corner of Catherine Street and Fourth Avenue.

The Ann Arbor Housing Commission has chosen nonprofit Avalon Housing to be the developer for the project, which in part aims to honor the Kerrytown area’s Black history.

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

[DetroitMan]

New drawings show boutique condo building coming to downtown Ann Arbor

Local builder Tom Fitzsimmons of Huron Contracting LLC is moving forward with plans for a seven-unit condo building described as boutique at 212 Miller Ave.

“We’re just starting to launch,” Fitzsimmons said. Savarino Properties launched a marketing website for the condos last week, including new drawings by Hobbs and Black Architects showing what the building will look like. The condos will have nine-foot-high ceilings, private terraces and electric vehicle charging stations. “They all have private elevators and two-car attached garages,” said broker Stephanie Savarino, adding the two penthouse units will be particularly gorgeous.

Marketed as luxury, the development will replace an old brick house next to the five-story, 17-unit condo building Fitzsimmons completed last year at the corner of Miller and Ashley Street. A courtyard is planned between the two buildings.

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

[subterranean]

It's basically a requirement at this point for any headline about development in Ann Arbor to start with "Controversial", isn't it?

[Velvet_Highground]

No doubt most of Washtenaw county now really. From the lowliest rifle range to largest new urban service districts nothing can escape the Ann Arbor NIMBY.

I’m actually very sympathetic to the horse ranch’s that are fighting against the gun ranch & manufacturing center. That does negatively affect their business and land values. I can sympathize with Superior twp not wanting a water & sewer hookup traversing their rural area the same as I can with renters in Ann Arbor worried about being priced out & the character of the city changing.

Unfortunately at the law of diminishing returns starts kicking in a lack of additional housing will bring about the very changes that residents don’t want to see. The city is going to have to become more dense & if it’s extremely hard to build up then only projects for the wealthy will come to fruition. A2 should worry about neighborhood what scale of project is built where but that includes allowing taller building in the city center.


Mlive is covering this spat between Salem twp, Superior twp, Ypsilanti & developers looking to build at M-14 & Gotfredson rd. I think it gives a good window on the quality of living culture that is at the so important to how the Ann Arbor area defines itself.

WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI – The process of bringing utilities to a planned 558-unit housing development in Washtenaw County, buoyed by some $35 million in controversial state grants, is still tied up in court after two and a half years of legal maneuvering and a trip to the Michigan Court of Appeals.

The case centers on a plan to run an almost 10-mile sewer line south from the area of the proposed development near M-14 and Gotfredson Road in Salem Township, through Superior Township to the Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority wastewater plant.

Superior officials have thrown up a roadblock to that plan, arguing to do so would put large swaths of undeveloped farmland in jeopardy of urbanization and formally denying an application for the project in 2021.

On the other side are developers, which sued Superior Township in 2020, and Salem Township, both litigating to build the line in the public right-of-way in order to serve the area that stands as one of the only undeveloped M-14 exits on the corridor between Ann Arbor and Detroit.

https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor...outputType=amp

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by subterranean

It's basically a requirement at this point for any headline about development in Ann Arbor to start with "Controversial", isn't it?

LOL. I remember how “controversial” the 5 story Glen-Ann project was. The design was released in like 2005 and it took 17 years to break ground and the new design is 8 stories tall. So the NIMBYism delayed a project only for it to end up taller…which that part is great.

[deja vu]

Demolition progress of the old CCRB at U of M, from last week -






Source: LinkedIn | Alumni Association of the University of Michigan

[DetroitMan]

New drawings show plan for 16-story Ann Arbor high-rise with rooftop pool
[IMG]333 E William St by Brandon Dolley, on Flickr[/IMG]

New drawings show a Chicago-based developer’s plan for a 16-story apartment high-rise next to the downtown Ann Arbor library.

Core Spaces has submitted plans to the city for a 206-unit residential development with 704 beds, with a goal of having the project complete by summer 2026.

Plans include a first-floor bicycle storage room and a rooftop terrace with a pool and other indoor amenity spaces.

The proposed development site is the University of Michigan Credit Union property at 333 E. William St.

The developer discussed plans to redevelop the site in January, indicating apartments would be geared toward UM students.

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

[deja vu]

^ I'm sure that'll go over smoothly without any complaints at all from the neighbors... especially after they effectively voted down The Collective on 5th "skyscraper" proposal a few years ago. This one should stand a better shot though, since it is at least on privately-owned property, and should not involve any public sale of development rights, any public votes, and any complicated bond financing. Fingers crossed.

In nearby Ypsi, EMU is working on modernizing all of its student housing by 2025. Multiple facilities are being remodeled, and a new structure, Lakeview Apartments, is well under-construction -

Here's how EMU is working to update all campus housing by 2025
Sarah Rigg | Second Wave Media
March 29, 2023

Lakeside Apartments construction progress -

Source: Doug Coombe | Second Wave Media

[DetroitMan]

Ann Arbor’s north side could get new retail space with mixed-use development

A new mixed-use development is proposed for a corner site on Ann Arbor’s north side.

Plans for the so-called Northside Corners project at the intersection of Dhu Varren Road and Pontiac Trail include 150 dwellings rising in a four-story, L-shaped building with ground-floor retail space and surface parking in front.

It could bring neighborhood retail to an area of the city that has seen significant housing development in recent years but lacks stores within close walking distance.

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

[deja vu]

Time for a construction camera check-in.

The new hospital tower has grown too big for the camera frames now, but you can discern that some exterior finishes are going up -




Source: umaec.umich.edu

Also, some alternative views, from Spence Brothers -



Source: LinkedIn | Spence Brothers

The first four floors are framed in at Vic Village South -

Source: https://webcams.christmanco.com/

[DetroitMan]

The Ann Arbor city council approved a conceptual plan for a 157-unit apartment complex across from the Y.
Ann Arbor OKs conceptual plan for 157 housing units across from YMCA

City Council voted unanimously Monday night, April 17, to OK planned-unit-development zoning and a city-created concept plan for a new housing development on the city-owned site across from the YMCA on the edge of downtown. Despite objections from some neighbors who argue it’s too big and the city shouldn’t build in a flood zone, council voted to approve a plan that shows a building rising six stories with potentially 157 new housing units on five floors elevated above parking at the ground level.The city is hoping to attract a developer to take on the project and finance environmental remediation and other improvements through a brownfield tax-capture plan. That would reimburse the developer for some project costs over time from new property tax revenue from the development.

“I am delighted this is indeed moving forward. The site has been blighted for years,” Mayor Christopher Taylor said, adding the redevelopment plan holds a great deal of promise.

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

[DetroitMan]

UM rolls out plan for $130M EV training and development center

The University of Michigan plans to use a $130 million state appropriation to train workers, develop next-generation electric vehicle batteries and pilot technology alongside automakers, suppliers and startups.

Overseeing the University of Michigan Electric Vehicle Center will be Alan Taub, engineering professor and former auto executive, UM announced Thursday. The university will spend $60 million to build a new training facility on its Ann Arbor campus, $50 million will be used for public-private research and development and $20 million will go toward training workers for future mobility, the new director said.

The center will join the UM Battery Lab with additional technology and piloting capabilities for students, companies and workforce development programs.

"There's a global race to lead in battery electric vehicle technology," Taub said. "The state gave us this money so we can remain the center of excellence."

Details of the center are being rolled out 10 months after state lawmakers approved the appropriation as part of a $77 billion budget that included $1 billion in earmarks. The grant is being administered by the state Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity and active until September 2024, according to a copy of the agreement between LEO and the university's board of regents.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/manufa...130m-ev-center

[MegaLego]

Progress pic of the new Pavilion at Michigan Medicine. Bit of a worm’s eye perspective

[DetroitSky]

See renderings for Marriott hotel proposed for Ann Arbor’s State Street

ANN ARBOR, MI -- Ann Arbor may have yet another hotel development coming to South State Street.

The proposed site plan is hoping to bring a development of a four-story Marriott Springhill Suites hotel to 2295 S. State Street in Ann Arbor. The development plans to demolish the site’s existing building to redevelop a nearly 64,000 square-foot hotel that will feature more than 100 rooms and an indoor pool.

[DetroitMan]

Toyota to build $48M electric vehicle battery lab in Michigan

Toyota Motor North America Inc. will expand its research-and-development headquarters near Ann Arbor by building a nearly $48 million electric vehicle battery lab, the company announced Thursday.

Operations at the new facility are expected to begin in 2025. It will be used to evaluate and test Toyota's batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles in North America, from cells through packs, to ensure their performance, quality and durability. The Japanese automaker does not expect to add to its worker count at the site and will deploy existing employees to the lab, which will cost $47.7 million to construct.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/automo...y-lab-michigan