2010 – Page 39 of 78

Ann Arbor’s response to Pfizer’s exit provides lessons for others

By Newsroom

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May 26, 2010

A lot of other Pfizer towns are sweating the possibility of becoming ex-Pfizer towns, and they're looking to Ann Arbor for answers on what to do if the worst happens.Excerpt:Pfizer, the pharmaceutical giant that slugged Ann Arbor's economy in 2007 by announcing that it would shutter its 174-acre campus here, is still slashing jobs.Pfizer said Tuesday that it would cut another 6,000 workers, part of a continuous restructuring initiative attributable to changes in the drug industry and to Pfizer's January 2009 acquisition of fellow giant Wyeth.Read the rest of the story here.

Ann Arbor scores most of Mich 21st Century Jobs Fund capital

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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May 26, 2010

Millions of dollars from the Michigan 21st Century Jobs Fund were intended to be spread across the state but Ann Arbor-based start-ups have brought home the lion's share of that capital.Excerpt:Though Michigan's 21st Century Jobs Fund is supposed to benefit the entire state, most of the dollars have gone to recipients in Ann Arbor. Of the 27 companies that took advantage of loans they were awarded in the fund's first business competition in 2006, two-thirds are based in the college town.Read the rest of the story here and more about state-sponsored investment funds here.

Ypsilanti to begin work on Textile Road Trail

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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May 26, 2010

Ypsilanti Township is getting ready to finish off another section of the Border to Border Trail this summer when it extends the Textile Road Trail."This is basically infill," says Joe Lawson, planning and development coordinator for Ypsilanti Township, explaining that the township already has an extensive trail network for alternative means of transportation.The township is making plans to build a 10-foot wide asphalt path along Textile Road in two phases over the next two summers. The 5,300-foot long trail will connect a pair of township parks, local neighborhoods and a high-rise for senior-citizen.This year it plans to build about 4,000 feet of the trail between Rawsonville and Bridge roads. The $200,000 project, partly paid for with a $100,000 grant from Washtenaw County's Connecting Communities program, will begin in August and finish in time for the fall.The second phase, set for next summer, will go from Bridge Road to Lakeview Park, which connect to an existing trail at Huron River Drive. North Hydro Park will also be connected to the trail system thanks to the project. The trail will provide a serene way to travel for pedestrians, bicyclists and rollerbladers.The Connecting Communities program will focus on helping finish the Border to Border Trail. So far 17 of the proposed 35 miles are operational. The trail runs east/west through Washtenaw County connecting Livingston and Wayne counties. The program is also looking for bike lane, crosswalk and other non-motorized projects that can help connect local communities.Source: Joe Lawson, planning and development coordinator for Ypsilanti Township?Writer: Jon Zemke

Ashley Promenade wants to turn downtown parking lots into mixed-use development

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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May 26, 2010

Whenever a developer proposes that a smaller, older building be knocked down for a newer, larger building in downtown Ann Arbor the opposition argues, "Why don't you build on the empty parking lots instead of knocking down our neighborhood?" Well, someone it seems like someone was listening. Two downtown surface lots could soon be gone if the plans for Ashley Promenade come to fruition in downtown Ann Arbor.Developers Ron Jona of Southfield-based Ron Jona & Associates and Ann Arbor real-estate broker William Eddy plan to turn a depressing section of Ashley Street dominated by surface parking lots near the intersection of William Street into a dense urban development with retail shops, hotel rooms and a conference center."We need to create a critical mass," Jona says. "This section of Ashley is just underutilized."The developers plan to build on the surface parking lot at the corner of Ashley and William, known as the Kline Lot, and the surface parking lot at the corner of First and William. Other private parcels and buildings in one of downtown's practically dead sections are also planned.Replacing these spaces would be a 500,000-square-feet of mixed-use buildings, including a 12-story hotel and 80,000 square feet of conference center space. Retail space and underground parking (more than what is currently on the surface lots) would also be mixed in to the plans. The idea is to breathe life into this section of downtown and help increase the level of retail activity in the city's center by bringing multiple uses to one space."It's very ambitious," Jona says. "It's very comprehensive. We felt a lot of projects we had seen in Ann Arbor, which we believe can become a world-class city, have been a myopic."But this isn't a development that can be done as simply as turning over plans (which have been two years in the making) for review and approval by local officials. Because the city owns the parking lots it would have to put out a request for proposals, similar to what is being done for the Library Lot and 415 W Washington parcels.Jona hopes to reveal the plans at a public meeting within the next 30 days and have a RFP to submit the plans for before the end of this year.Source: Ron Jona, co-developer of Ashley Promenade?Writer: Jon Zemke

U-M Regents approve ER expansion at hospital

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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May 26, 2010

The emergency room is about to get bigger at the University of Michigan Hospital. The university's Board of Regents have approved a $17.7 million renovation project.The project will renovate just under 29,000 square feet of space in the hospital, in both the Medical Inn Building and level B1 of the hospital. Hobbs and Black Associates will design the project, which will consist of a phased construction set to finish by the winter of 2012.To make room for the newly-expanded emergency room, the hospital's Dentistry Dept is moving into 6,400 square feet in the Medical Inn Building. That space will be renovated before the move. The emergency room will then expand into the Denistry Dept's former space on level B1 of the hospital, creating 26 treatment bays, 6 enclosed triage rooms, 2 family consultation rooms, as well as expanded and improved patient reception areas.The Emergency Department at University Hospital has experienced steady and significant growth, with over 77,000 patient visits in fiscal year 2009. The combination of increased patient volume, increased case complexity and treatment has resulted in crowded conditions. This project is meant to help reduce that congestion. Source: University of Michigan?Writer: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor Skatepark designs unveiled

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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May 26, 2010

The conceptual designs for the proposed Ann Arbor Skatepark have been released and they go well beyond a couple of ramps and a half pipe on concrete, typical of skateparks in Michigan.Trevor Staples, chair of the Friends of the Ann Arbor Skatepark, has previously said organizers behind the effort used the new Riley Skatepark in Farmington Hills as a template. That is evident with the combination of skating apparatus that can facilitate both new and experienced skaters.What sets the proposal apart are the concrete bowls, a staple of West Coast skateparks, and one of the things that makes Riley special. These are for advanced skaters and represent a significant cash investment in infrastructure, which helps explain the skatepark's expected price tag of nearly $1 million.The facility also has the basic small hills, steps, ramps and ledges common in most other skateparks. All of this interspersed with spectator areas and the green space on the north side of Veterans Memorial Park near the intersection of Maple and Miller roads on the city's northwest side.Skatepark design firm extraordinaire Wally Hollyday Design came up with the design after a couple public engagement sessions. Source: Friends of Ann Arbor SkateparkWriter: Jon Zemke

CVS to keep façade on new downtown space

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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May 26, 2010

What promises to be downtown Ann Arbor's first façadectomy doesn't look like it will be an easy process. CVS Pharmacy plans to tear out everything except the facade in its new home next to the University of Michigan's campus.The national pharmacy chain will be moving into 209 S State, which is the 2-story building between the State Theater and Buffalo Wild Wings. The challenge is that the building behind the storefront facade is a former single-family home. "There isn't much historic work worth saving other than masonry facade," says Aaron Vermeulen, principal of Ann Arbor-based O-X Studios, which was redesigning the building a year ago before CVS purchased it. That sale became final last week.Complicating matters more is that the building is surrounded by bigger structures and only accessible from its entrance and a crowded alley. That alley includes the back end of numerous businesses, and also is home to major power lines and transformers.Vermeulen believes it's possible to claw the old building out from behind and send it out the back alley before moving the materials for the new business in the same way. In theory the pharmacy could be in place without much disturbance to street frontage.The building started out as a small Queen Anne house in the late 19th Century with a bay window, wood shingle roof and small addition. By 1902 it had become a two-unit boarding house called the Chubb House named after its owner George Chubb. An eatery also opened around this time. Its current façade was added sometime between 1925 and 1930, a pattern repeated in several downtown homes at the time. By then it was known as the Ritz Dine and Dance and was considered a cabaret. By 1936 it became Chubb's restaurant but within a year had morphed into the Michigan Wolverine Student Cooperative, as a response to the Depression. The cooperative disappeared during World War II. From that point a mix of retail tenants occupied the ground floor, including the Secretary of State, Ann Arbor Cooperative Credit Union, book shops, women's clothing stores and a lighting store. Residential apartments remained in the upper floors. Source: Aaron Vermeulen, principal of Ann Arbor-based O-X StudiosWriter: Jon Zemke

Sun Engineering grows, moves into downtown Saline

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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May 26, 2010

Sun Engineering is moving to downtown Saline to grow its company, now that it has bought and is refurbishing the old R&B building.The nearly 70-year-old building will become the home to the defense contractors engineering and manufacturing operations. That means 15 new employees for right now and probably another dozen by the end of the year."It looks like a new shop," says Andrew Warner, president of Sun Engineering and a University of Michigan graduate. "We'll be doing some remodeling so it looks even better.Sun Engineering designs and makes missile defense systems out of its Pittsfield Township location. When the company was ready to expand and began looking around, Saline officials began aggressively courting the business to move to the long-vacant R&B building.The structure had several attractive features, such as large overhead cranes, large doors and all of the basic infrastructure a niche manufacturer could want in 62,000 square feet. One of the biggest attractions was the large amount of office space that came attached to the shop portion. That should allow enough room for Sun Engineering to grow both sides of its business for the foreseeable future."I hope we have a space problem one day, but that will be a ways off," Warner says.Source: Andrew Warner, president of Sun Engineering?Writer: Jon Zemke

Concentrate Takes A Holiday

By Concentrate Staff

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General

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May 26, 2010

We're taking a break next week. Partly for business and partly for pleasure. It's Memorial Day weekend, so if you're like us you'll be honoring those who've served our country while manning the backyard barbecue. We're also indulging in some site upkeep, tweaking our content and changing some features. Look for a spruced up version of Concentrate when we return on Wednesday, June 9th.

Know Y: Three Things European Cities Do Better

By Kate Rose

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Community Development

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May 26, 2010

Good doesn't mean we can't be better. Kate Rose returns from her European vacation with a trio of suggestions for Michigan's cities. From public art to historic preservation to urban development, she sees an opportunity to learn from our friends across the pond.