2010 – Page 43 of 78

Ann Arbor-based Domino’s cashes in on new pizza forumla

By Newsroom

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May 12, 2010

Domino's is making waves again, but this time it for its new pizza and its new profits that are rolling into the company based out of Domino's Farms.Excerpt:In the first three months of this year, Ann Arbor-based Domino's Pizza posted its largest quarterly same-store U.S. sales growth since 2004, thanks to its revamped line of pizzas."Our 'New and Inspired Pizza' has been a home run," CEO J. Patrick Doyle told analysts Tuesday. "We have revitalized the pizza category."Read the rest of the story here.

Forbes names Ann Arbor one of the most livable cities

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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May 12, 2010

People who live in Ann Arbor will often sings its praises for its high quality of life and overall livability. Now the rest of the world knows about these things, too, after Forbes listed Tree Town as one of the most livable cities in the country. Read more about it here.

EMU sets competitive tone with tuition freeze

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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May 12, 2010

Keeping the cost of higher education frozen in place has done more than grab headlines. It has made the rest of Michigan's universities take notice and start to find new ways to compete for the state's best students.Excerpt:Billboards, radio, TV and Internet ads are blaring news about Eastern Michigan University's freeze on tuition, fees and dorm rates for the fall.The $320,000 paid media blitz and a coordinated publicity campaign are part of the school's effort to make the gamble pay off, that increased enrollment can cover the cost of its "0-0-0" program.Other schools are watching the Ypsilanti school's effort with a mix of admiration and anxiety. Squeezed between rising operating costs and falling state aid, the state's 15 public universities and 28 community colleges are fighting to attract and keep students whose own families are feeling the same economic pains."We watch what happens at our sister institutions," said Western Michigan University spokeswoman Cheryl Roland. She said Eastern Michigan's campaign was hard to miss when she recently visited the Detroit area."I did see Eastern's billboards in several locations," Roland said. "They're pretty plentiful — zero-zero-zero."Read the rest of the story here.

U-M, Ann Arbor team up on geothermal study

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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May 12, 2010

Geothermal is one of those terms environmentally conscious people are aware of but not necessarily familiar with, even in these sustainability-oriented times. Normal responses to, 'What is geothermal?' include the likes of, 'It's good for the environment but how does it work?' 'It's something I would consider doing but isn't expensive?'The city of Ann Arbor is now trying to overcome some of that unfamiliarity with a study it has commissioned from a University of Michigan Urban Planning student. Ethan Miller recently received his masters from U-M and conducted the study, which examines the costs of geothermal in many different metrics.The costs can range from initial installation costs (usually high) to energy costs to use (normally very low). There are also costs of how much pollution does it prevent? How much energy is saved? How does it stack up against other heating-and-cooling options? What does it mean for local land-use policy since geothermal fields can be land consuming?"It is more focused on what a large-scale project would look like and what tracts of land could be used for such a purspose," Miller says. "How much square footage does a parking lot of geothermal heat?"The city's Energy Commission will examine the study this week. Source: Ethan Miller, urban planning graduate from the University of MichiganWriter: Jon Zemke

U-M students begin bike exchange in Ann Arbor

By Newsroom

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Development News

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May 12, 2010

A small group of students at the University of Michigan are trying to roll a bike exchange program into Ann Arbor.The students at the Ross School of Business originally saw it as a money-making opportunity, but after trying to juggle the numbers they decided it made more sense as an example of civic pride and sustainability. "A project like this would act as a symbol of Ann Arbor's and the University of Michigan's green commitment," says David Spiro, who is helping quarterback the effort and is about to become a junior at the Ross School of Business. "Then outsiders would be able to see more of our local green projects."Bike sharing programs are popular in Europe where users swipe a card and have access to a number of bicycles around an area similar to a Zipcar program. The same idea would be implemented in Ann Arbor with students living at the outer edge of campus, say Oxford Housing, so they can more easily achieve a convenient and sustainable commute.The group checked out one of the world's most successful bike exchanges in Montreal and believe such an idea would be successful here. Finding a funding source to cover start-up costs and who would run it are still being determined. However, Spiro and his fellow business students are still hopeful they will be able to get the program off the ground this year.Source: David Spiro, student at the University of MichiganWriter: Jon Zemke

Dexter finishes downtown streetscape work along Mill Creek

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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May 12, 2010

The final touches are going into the downtown Dexter's streetscape project along Mill Creek. And by final touches, we mean the flowers will be in the planters this weekend.The village spent $831,000 over the last two years rebuilding one square block between Main, Broad, Jeffords and Forrest streets on the west side of downtown, overlooking Mill Creek. The upgrades include new streets, sewers, landscaping, sidewalks, lighting and other amenities.But the most visible changes are the pedestrian-friendly features, such as new landscaping and sidewalks overlooking the new Mill Creek greenway. It represents the first time the downtown had embraced its waterfront, an asset it has turned its back on for years. Now its capitalizing on it with this project and the still-in-development Mill Creek Park project."It's going to get even better when we finish that up," says Donna Dettling, village manager for Dexter. "It will really bring people to the creek."The current space features the new streetscape infrastructure overlooking a small green slope to the new rapidly running creek. The space was previously a bog area because of a century-old dam underneath the Dexter-Pinckney Road Bridge. That has now grown into a lush green space.Village leaders plan to cultivate it into a low-impact park area that connects the downtown, creek and new bridge. Construction on that will begin next fall when village workers regrade the area and then build out the park next year.The bulk of the work will be done next summer," says Allison Bishop, community development director of the village of DexterSource: Donna Dettling, village manager for Dexter and Allison Bishop, community development director of the village of DexterWriter: Jon Zemke

Construction to begin this summer on Barker Road Trail in Whitmore Lake

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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May 12, 2010

Northfield Township officials are finalizing plans for a trail along Barker Road and expect construction to begin with the start of summer.The township received a $120,000 grant from the Washtenaw County Parks & Recreation Dept. to build the first of three phases of the 8-foot-wide trail between Whitmore Lake Elementary School and downtown Whitmore Lake."We've had really widespread community support for this," says Deb Mozurkowich, supervisor of Northfield Township. "It has had a really positive reception here."The three-phase project will be put into place over the next three years. The first phase calls for building the westernmost third of the trail, that connects to Whitmore Lake Elementary. The second phase will be third between downtown and U.S. 23. The third phase will fill in the space between those two trail sections.The idea is to connect nearby neighborhoods, downtown and the school so pedestrians, bicyclists and other users of alternative transportation methods can safely travel, apart from automobile traffic. There will also be 260 feet of boardwalk over some local wetlands. Local officials hope to extend the trail to downtown, the township hall and the library. They also see connecting it to the Lakelands Trail and one day to a trail network that expects to connect both the eastern and western borders of Michigan.Source: Deb Mozurkowich, supervisor of Northfield TownshipWriter: Jon Zemke

New Thompson Block plan includes bar, microbrewery

By Newsroom

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Arts and Culture

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May 12, 2010

Developer Stewart Beal has two businesses lined up, consuming a lot of space in the Thompson Block project. He hopes to initiate a three-phase plan for the redevelopment of the historic structure in Ypsilanti.The 3-story building at the eastern edge of Depot Town suffered heavy fire damage last fall and is now supported with elaborate scaffolding that extends into the street in some places. Beal wants to retreat from the street by November as the first phase. The second would include building out the undamaged section of the building and then the burnt part for the third phase.Andy Garris of Elbow Room fame plans to open a bar/small music venue in the undamaged part. Beal says a prominent local microbrewer with operations both in downtown Ann Arbor and Metro Detroit (he declined to give a name) has verbally committed to build out the other half of the ground floor area into restaurant and microbrewery."By committed I mean they're spending money to investigate designing the space," Beal says.He plans to build luxury lofts on the upper floors of the Civil War-era building. The residential portion would be the last section of the project to be completed.But the lawsuits need to be settled before any work can begin. The city is suing Beal to remove the scaffolding supports and demolish the structure. Beal is suing the city to grant his building permit application so he can move forward with construction. The two sides are set to meet in court today.The Thompson Block has become a controversial building in Depot Town in recent years. For the later half of the 20th Century it was neglected and allowed to become a blight while the rest of Depot Town revitalized itself into a destination. Beal acquired the building in recent years and promised to redevelop it into a combination of ground floor retail space and luxury loft apartments.That plan hit a snag when the real-estate and financial markets collapsed two years ago, forcing Beal to scramble to find financing in a market where traditional lenders avoided real-estate deals. Beal started to redevelop the project out of his own pocket and the help of local investors last fall when a fire badly damaged half of the building.Source: Stewart Beal, developer of the Thompson BlockWriter: Jon Zemke

Sign up for Model D’s May Speaker Event: Higher Ed’s Role in City Building

By Model D

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Community Development

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May 12, 2010

"Creative Class" researcher and professor Kevin Stolarick will speak at Model D's Speaker Series on May 12 at the Book Cadillac in Detroit. The topic will be how higher education institutions play a role in transforming cities. It is free to attend, but you must register in advance.

Could Film Be Michigan’s Gold Rush? A Q&A with Harvey Ovshinsky

By Jon Zemke

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Arts and Culture

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May 12, 2010

"It's in our DNA to do amazing things," says Harvey Ovshinsky. Metromode's Jon Zemke sits down with the veteran video producer and screenwriter to talk about Michigan's Film Incentives and their potential impact on the state's investment opportunities, job growth, and brain drain.