Ann Arbor

More student housing coming in small doses to Ann Arbor

By Newsroom

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February 18, 2009

Another single-family-home-turned-student-rental house is about to bite the dust to make way for a small-yet-denser building in Ann Arbor.A developer plans to raze 930 Church to and replace it with a small apartment building geared toward student rentals. Gone will be the 2,000-square-foot house. Coming soon is a 7,800-square-foot apartment building with four units.This is part of a trend in the student ghetto tenements that surround the University of Michigan. More and more century-old, single-family homes with no chance of returning to their intended use are either being enlarged or torn down to allow for bigger buildings. This is happening just as developers are lining up to build student-rental high-rises adjacent to campus or in downtown. These vertical developments are expected to shrink the reach of the ever-expanding student ghetto and take pressure off traditional single family neighborhoods.The development at 930 Church is located at the northeast corner of the intersection with Oakland Avenue. The house there now has been around since 1913 and used to house up to six tenants. It is now vacant.The new building will have three apartments with six bedrooms and another unit with three bedrooms. It will also have six parking space and another 14 covered places for bicyclists to lock up their wheels on the north side of the property. The building will also have a green roof and is designed with a modern, minimal, square design.Source: City of Ann ArborWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor’s Fry takes lead in e-commerce platform solutions

By Newsroom

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Entrepreneurship

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February 18, 2009

Another Ann Arbor-based company has been recognized as a leader and the best in its field.Forrester Research has recognized Fry as a leading e-commerce solutions provider in its Forrester Wave report for the first quarter of 2009. It points out that Fry’s model allows it to highly customize its software for its clients even though the work is being outsourced.It also earned the highest score in the "catalog, product content, and site content management" and "professional services" evaluation categories. It tied as the top scoring company in "site management," "product focus,"and "financial resources to support strategy."Fry helps online retailers that are replacing or rebuilding their e-commerce platforms. The firm does everything from designing to building to hosting the sites. The list of clients includes a variety of businesses, ranging from The Auto Club Group to Crate & Barrel to Whirlpool. The company, a subsidiary of MICROS Systems, employs 300 people in Ann Arbor and has offices across the U.S. in cities like San Francisco.Source: FryWriter: Jon Zemke

Canter: Ex-Pfizer site promising for University of Michigan

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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February 18, 2009

What plans does the University of Michigan have for the Pfizer campus? David Canter seems to have some ideas.Excerpt:David Canter, former site director of Pfizer's 2-million-square-foot Ann Arbor facility, won't give you a direct answer about whether he's been asked to help the University of Michigan determine how to use the property.But Canter, speaking to Ann Arbor Business Review in a wide-ranging interview, said U-M's $108 million trophy is quite the prize.Despite the economic crisis and the fundraising problems local startup companies are facing, Canter said Michigan could still breed a strong life sciences industry."The Midwest represents something different. It is different from the East Coast, the West Coast. We have a definite set of Midwest values and that's a great environment to be successful. We actually have a very strong history of success," Canter said. "Probably 40 to 50 percent of Pfizer's income comes from products that were invented in the Midwest. We are actually good at what we do. We don't get external praise. It's as though the only sources of great ideas are supposed to come from California or Boston, but the truth is otherwise."Read the rest of the story here.

AAPD: Please Move Your Bicycle

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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February 18, 2009

So many people are riding their bicycles in Ann Arbor, they're starting to get parking tickets.Excerpt:Bright fuchsia cards printed with the Ann Arbor Police Department seal have been threaded through the spokes of the wheels on nine bicycles locked to the hoops at the 4th & Washington parking structure. The cards weren't placed there as decoration, but as a warning: these bicycles face possible impoundment starting Feb. 5.What's the problem with people locking their bikes to the hoops provided for exactly that purpose? As the notices say, "Your bicycle may be impounded as provided by city ordinance when it has remained unattended on public property for a period of more than 48 hours after a written notice has been affixed to the bicycle." The notices reflected that they were written on Feb. 3 and indicated a possible impoundment date of Feb. 5. Read the rest of the story here.

MASTERMIND: Carrie Hensel

By Kimberly Chou

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Economic Development

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February 18, 2009

From chemistry to web development to the co-founder of a growing business women's movement, Carrie Hensel clearly prefers the road less traveled. And the Women's Exchange Of Washtenaw reflects her unconventional approach, creating a unique series of events that encourages professional women to collaborate with and empower one another.

Ann Arbor’s Retail Incubator

By Jon Zemke

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Community Development

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February 11, 2009

From small things, big things one day come. That's the philosophy of tech incubators like SPARK. But with all the attention Ann Arbor gives to start-ups, one has to ask: Where's the love for small downtown retailers? Some entrepreneurs are finding it at East Liberty Plaza.

Middle Managers Learn To Shift Gears

By Constance Crump

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Economic Development

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February 11, 2009

Sometimes size does matter. Working for a large company like Visteon can be very different than taking a position at a start-up. As Ann Arbor's new economy seeds the ground with small tech firms, transitioning employees must adapt to changing job expectations.

Wireless Ypsi spreads its wings with big plans for second year

By Newsroom

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Development News

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February 11, 2009

Wireless Ypsi, the little Internet-access engine that could, is picking up speed as it enters its second year of existence.The free community-based Internet access system has spread well beyond its original boundaries of downtown Ypsilanti. It now covers points all over Washtenaw and Wayne counties and continues to spread. More than 500 people a day are logging onto the system."We're going beyond downtown Ypsilanti," co-founder Steve Pierce says. "We can relay wireless Ypsi to anywhere in the world with an Internet connection."Right now that covers large swaths of Ypsilanti and smaller sections of Ann Arbor, Whitmore Lake, Superior Township, Dearborn and Trenton. It's also spreading north into Oakland County with a testing site planned for Clawson. Pierce is even talking about expanding as far as Alberque, New Mexico, and the Florida Keys.That doesn't mean its forgetting about its roots in Ypsilanti. Pierce and his co-founder, Brian Robb, are drawing up a proposal for the housing commission to expand the service into low-income housing and other places the Internet boom has yet to reach.The initiative, which is run more like a non-profit than a business, does this withMeraki technology. The Google-funded start up uses off-white transmitters that look like a child's walkie talkie to connect Internet hot spots at local businesses, institutions and homes. The transmitters use the extra bandwidth from the hot spots to create a mesh-like net of Wi-Fi coverage.Similar systems are spreading in San Francisco, Pittsburgh and San Diego. More than 50,000 different people have logged onto San Francisco’s Meraki network, which covers large sections of the city and has the goal of reaching every neighborhood. Source: Steve Pierce, co-founder of Wireless YpsiWriter: Jon Zemke

Atwell-Hicks plans to invest $5 million, hire 131 in Ann Arbor

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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February 11, 2009

Wind power projects are blowing into Ann Arbor these days now that Atwell-Hicks plans to invest $5 million to create alternative energy infrastructure.The Michigan Economic Growth Authority recently approved tax incentives that would allow the Ann Arbor-based firm to build production and transmission corridors for wind power and other alternative energy sources. This will be utilized mainly by wind farms.Atwell-Hicks plans to hire 131 over the next seven years for the project. The company is also looking for a location for its new Energy Market Group, which will coordinate activities and design alternative energy projects. Atwell-Hicks was also considering Tennessee as a location for the project, but instead choose to expand its Ann Arbor location. Michigan is giving $1.4 million in tax breaks to the company over seven years. Source: Michigan Economic Development CorpWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor hosts public speaker on public art on Thursday

By Newsroom

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Development News

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February 11, 2009

Ann Arbor is bringing in a speaker on public art Thursday at a time when the city is really starting to encourage more and more public art in its downtown.The Ann Arbor Public Art Commission, along with a number of other local organizations, is hosting Anne Pasternak, the President and Artistic Director of Creative Time. Pasternak is well-known advocate of public art and her organization has been commissioning innovative art in New York City since 1972. She has worked closely with artists such as Doug Aitken, Laurie Anderson, David Byrne, Jenny Holzer, Gary Hume, Vik Muniz, Takashi Murakami, Shirin Neshat, Steve Powers and Cai Guo Qiang. The lecture will begin at 5 p.m. in the Michigan Theater, 603 E. Liberty, in downtown Ann Arbor. For information, call (734) 764-3464.Source: Margaret Parker, chair of the Ann Arbor Public Art CommissionWriter: Jon Zemke