Ann Arbor City Council approves 'SouthTown' development near Michigan Stadium
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - Ann Arbor City Council unanimously approved the development of an eight-story housing development called SouthTown on Tuesday.
Local developer Prentice 4M will replace 10 buildings on the block with a 216-unit development.
The developers said it will be the first mass timber construction in Southeast Michigan.
"Mass timber is amazing because it sequesters carbon," said CEO of Prentice 4M Margaret Poscher. "And I think the most important thing about this development is we are striving for net zero in terms of carbon footprint."
Other eco-friendly features of the development will include an all-electric building, limited car parking, plentiful bicycle parking, EV vehicles, a green roof and solar panels designed to keep the development fully powered in the event of an outage.
Poscher and her partner have developed several properties in the Lower Burns Park area, including co-working and event space Venue, to create what's known as a 15-minute neighborhood.
"The 15-minute neighborhood concept, developed originally in Europe, is you should be able to live, work, shop, eat within a 15-minute walk, bike ride, or drive of your home," said Poscher.
Not everyone is in favor of the project. Ann Arbor resident Tom Stulberg said it should have been approved as a planned housing development, or PUD, to accommodate affordable housing – a hot-button issue in Ann Arbor.
"The exact same site plan would be fine if it was approved differently," said Stulberg. "It's being approved as a campus business district zoning with conditions, which creates problems for other properties. Had it been approved as a PUD, it wouldn't cause those problems, and it would also have 33 units of affordable housing, which would be pretty nice."
"While this particular project does not have affordable housing in it, it does leverage tax dollars so that we can have our own projects," said Ann Arbor City Councilmember Linh Song (D-Ward 2).
Song said the 216 apartments at SouthTown will be an improvement from its existing 38 units within 10 buildings.
"Considering that we have 80,000 daily commuters coming in and out of Ann Arbor, the university is still hiring, building up their hospital, we're the economic engine of the county, schools are still very popular," said Song. "Demand is high in Ann Arbor, and I always appreciate when there's additional supply to housing because, over time, it helps with the availability of all types of housing."
This comes as construction of new apartments is set to reach a 50-year high soon nationwide. Faced with high interest rates and a housing shortage, would-be first-time home buyers are continuing to rent.
So, who are SouthTown's target residents?
"Graduate students, young professionals, so people who are either going to school or working in the community, doctors, residents at the hospital, nurses, there are a whole slew of people who are in need of housing and working in Ann Arbor," said Poscher.
SouthTown will be located at 1601 S. State St.