First Martin plans for hotel, mixed-use on Huron and Ashley

The intersection of W. Huron and N. Ashley has long been a sleepy one, but plans for a new mixed-used hotel development aim to change all that. Local developer First Martin has proposed a 85,000-square-foot, six-story hotel for the site that would include 110 rooms and about 6,000 square feet of first-floor commercial space for a retail or restaurant tenant. 

 

"There aren't a ton of vacant or nearly vacant parcels downtown," says Mike Martin, vice president of First Martin. "This site has just two single story buildings, and is certainly not improved to its full potential."

 

While the project has the potential to bring temporary and permanent jobs to the site, as well as a new option for Ann Arbor visitors, Martin says one of the most visible impacts of the hotel would be creating new pedestrian activity on the relatively quiet intersection. 

 

"We think there is a strong benefit for this type of use to activate the corner," he says. "A lot of the positive feedback we've heard is that this will help energize and add a pedestrian experience to a corner that is anything but that now."

 

First Martin will partner with a national chain to manage the all-suite style hotel, though the developer is not yet ready to release the name of their partner. The total amount of investment the project will bring to downtown is also yet to be determined. Martin is hoping the project will receive final approval in July and the approximately one-year long construction will begin in the fall.