On June 16-17 I had an opportunity to meet with city administrators and police chiefs from Big Ten University Communities at a gathering in West Lafayette, Indiana. I traveled to and from the meeting with City Administrator Roger Fraser, my counterpart in the City of Ann Arbor. Since both of us serve large university communities, we had much in common to discuss, not the least of which is downtown development and he informed me that the City Council of the City of Ann Arbor is considering approval of a 26-story, mixed-use development that would include student housing. The proposed structure, called “601 Forest,” has been approved by the Planning Commission and would be the second tallest in the city. The 26-story structure would be flanked by two, 22-story buildings.

Many of the issues being raised in Ann Arbor are similar to those raised during our deliberations over the City Center II project, including building height and traffic impact. In both cases modifications to the original plans have been made in order to respond to some of these concerns. For example, the developer of 601 Forest revised the design from a U-shape to an L-shaped footprint to avoid encroachment on adjacent properties. They are also working to create a buffer between the project and the surrounding neighborhood by transferring development rights. Like proposed CCII, 601 Forest is seeking Brownfield funding and LEED Certification.

And there are differences too. 601 Forest is intended to serve solely as student housing, City Center II is not. Of course, there is a significant difference in height between the two proposed projects. The 601 Forest developer explains the building height by stating that “If you are going to limit the growth of the city on the parameters, there is only one place it can go, and that is up. If you want density, you have to go up." Regardless of whether one agrees with this philosophy, it certainly gives us something to ponder and continue to discuss. For more information about this project please visit:

http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2008/06/plans_for_south_university_ave.html

http://www.concentratemedia.com/devnews/601forestannarbor0012.aspx