538 new houses, condos and apartments proposed on Ann Arbors north side - MLive.com - Home Builder Developer, Interior Renovation and Design Home Builder Developer, Interior Renovation and Design

ANN ARBOR, MI A major housing development on a 64-acre site could bring 538 new homes to Ann Arbors north side, along with nature trails and new connections to Leslie Park.

The new community, dubbed the Village of Ann Arbor, would rise between the Arrowwood Hills housing cooperative to the south and the Northside Ridge condos to the north and west.

An initial conceptual plan calls for a variety of rental and for-sale homes, including 78 townhomes with two-car garages, 67 townhomes with one-car garages, 48 units of townhomes over flats, 45 single-family homes and 300 apartments.

Bloomfield Hills-based Robertson Brothers Homes is teaming up with Lansing-based DTN Management Co. on the development off Pontiac Trail and Dhu Varren Road.

They presented initial plans to neighbors during a virtual Zoom meeting Monday night, Feb. 8.

Our vision for the property really is more of a village type of concept, said Tim Loughrin, Robertsons land acquisition director. What were envisioning is a wide mix of housing options for all ages and stages of life.

As for pricing, townhomes could start in the $200,000s while the single-family homes may start in the $300,000s, with upscale apartments priced at about $2,000 per month on average, according to the development team.

A closer look at the mix of housing types included in the Village of Ann Arbor conceptual plan.Land Design Studio courtesy of Robertson Brothers Homes

Housing units could range from 684 to 3,000 square feet overall, including everything from one- to five-bedroom units, Loughrin said, assuring residents they would be very high quality. A lot of the homes would be family-oriented, he said.

The apartments would have lots of amenities and would be designed to look like houses, the development team said.

The conceptual plan shows a small dog park, an outdoor barbecue area and grassy outdoor seating area within the apartment community, plus an outdoor pool next to a community clubhouse, which could include amenities such as a fitness center/yoga studio and work stations.

The project, while within the citys ultimate borders, involves annexing a township island from Ann Arbor Township into the city and zoning it for residential development.

That process could take several months, Loughrin said, predicting the development could start in 2022 or 2023 with approvals from the city and state.

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The development team plans to seek brownfield tax incentives for an environmental cleanup of the site.

Part of the site used to be an old city landfill up until about the 1950s, and another part was a sand and gravel operation that was heavily mined in the 1920s and 30s and later filled with mainly construction-type debris, Loughrin said.

Theyre planning to leave the landfill area, which is filled with household waste and now nicely treed over, as a nearly 10-acre community woodland park with trails connecting to the adjacent Leslie Park, Loughrin said.

The former gravel pit area is where there would be some cleanup before homes are built on top.

There are environmental concerns that were working through with our environmental consultants, Loughrin said.

The site is across from two new developments taking shape on Pontiac Trail: the North Sky project by Pulte Homes, which includes 139 single-family homes and a four-story, 56-unit condo or apartment building, and a 682-bed apartment complex called The One targeting University of Michigan students.

The Village of Ann Arbor plan shows access drives from both Pontiac Trail and Dhu Varren, giving the public new ways to access Leslie Park by cutting through the development.

There also could be a connection for pedestrians and cyclists to the condo neighborhood to the north via Hunley Drive.

There will be multiple open space areas and plenty of new neighborhood connections that will connect Olson Park all the way through Leslie Park through the development, and this would include biking and walking trails, Loughrin said.

The primary concern of neighbors who spoke Monday night was the potential for more vehicle traffic, as well as more people walking and cycling on their streets, including people walking dogs to and from Olson Park, and the need to ensure safety.

Some suggested doing more to coordinate plans with the other neighboring developments, including configurations of driveways, crosswalks and bus stops.

James Adams, who lives in the Dhu Varren on the Park neighborhood on Leslie Park Circle, raised the issue of traffic to and from Leslie Park via his private street off Dhu Varren.

Development team representatives said they think the new Village of Ann Arbor development will actually help with that by giving people more ways to come and go from the park, and many coming up Pontiac Trail will be able to take a straight shot over to Leslie Park through the new development.

There are several more layers of review to go and traffic studies will be done, the development team noted.

With hundreds upon hundreds of new housing units being built in the area, several neighbors said theyre hoping to eventually see some new retail built so they can have a neighborhood store. Thats something they agreed is missing.

As for the level of housing density proposed, Loughrin said its in line with the citys master plan for the area, which calls for 10 units per acre. The Village of Ann Arbor would have 8.4.

Robertson has constructed over 7,000 homes in southeast Michigan over the last 75 years, with about 100 different developments, and 97% of homebuyers are willing to refer their friends and family to Robertson, Loughrin said.

The company has 15 more residential developments underway and about 1,200 more homes in its land acquisition pipeline, Loughrin said.

The company focuses on infill developments that create vibrant communities, rather than building out in corn fields, he said.

DTN, founded in 1972, manages about 120 properties and has acquired or developed over 8,000 residential units, plus about 1 million square feet of commercial space, Loughrin said. DTN would manage the apartment community.

Julie Roth, leader of Ann Arbors Solarize Program, asked the development team about possible sustainability features to help meet the citys carbon-neutrality goals and whether there could be solar panels and a district geothermal loop tapping into the earths energy to heat and cool the entire development.

The development team has been in talks with the citys sustainability office and the project will strive for several green-energy initiatives, Loughrin said, mentioning the possibility of having all-electric buildings, for example.

As far as geothermal, the team would have to work with environmental consultants and engineers to see if thats possible, he said.

Parking spaces for all units would be wired for electric vehicle chargers, the development team said.

Following Mondays meeting, next steps in the process include the developer finalizing and submitting a site plan to the city that will be reviewed by city staff and then eventually go through Planning Commission and City Council for approval.

538 new houses, condos and apartments proposed on Ann Arbors north side – MLive.com

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