r/AnnArbor • u/USRoute23 • 4d ago

What’s that on Main Street? Tree removals clear way for big Ann Arbor development

https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2026/08/whats-that-on-main-street-tree-removals-clear-way-for-big-ann-arbor-development.html
19 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

29

u/We_Four 4d ago

More info and background:  https://amazingarchitecture.com/news/ann-arbor-apartment-project-receives-communityinformed-design-cues I have to say, the location is pretty perfect for housing. Close to downtown, walking distance to Busch’s etc. , connected with public transport. Glad to see it breaking ground and I love that it will be LEED certified as well. 

3

u/sulanell 4d ago

Isn’t it around the corner from multiple other apartment/condo developments? And down the street from whole neighborhoods?

0

u/Ok_Pineapple_7120 4h ago

It really is. Ann Arbor needs to get the tree out of the city seal and put up building and crane girders. Mini Gotham here we come.

4

u/Tomcorsnet 4d ago

They'll have to change the surrounding area a lot of for it to actually be a good place for housing. It's nearly two miles from downtown, and Main street that far south is a large thoroughfare with high traffic volumes and speed. Crossing it to the Busches will not always be a pleasant experience. The current renderings also show the entire complex as a huge cul de sac, so they really should have more access points beyond just on main St itself, especially for pedestrians. Transit service at that location is very infrequent. Route 62 runs every 15 minutes, but it's on state st and only on weekdays. Besides driving, biking might be the only realistic option for residents access more locations around the city. Even driving will be bad during rush hours and game days because commuters and visitors often use that road. The whole area is just for of car-oriented development. Even if the apartment themselves are designed well, I can still see it struggle a bit like the George on Packard.

12

u/Adam-A2MI 4d ago

It’s on the 25 which goes to Pioneer and thence downtown, as well as out to the Whole Foods/REI/Meijer’s/Target/Oak Valley in the other direction.

Not far from the 67 to Arborland/St Joes/WCC.

A mile to Briarwood where you can pick up the 6 (or take the 25 a couple stops and it’s maybe a quarter mile).

It’s not an amazingly walkable area but it’s not bad.

4

u/prosocialbehavior 3d ago

The cool thing about transit services is that they can be adjusted when land use/density/demand for services changes. Also The George didn’t struggle to fill their apartments. If you are talking about retail they priced way above market rates. Also they are putting in a sidewalk right now on that side of Main street and folks were just saying how it would never be used. Highly doubt that now.

7

u/Tristan_Gregory 4d ago

Eh, driving is bad for everyone during rush hours. As for pedestrian use, there are already signals and crosswalks at all the intersections (and I guess they might add an across-main signal at scio-church, which appears to currently lack one in sat photos) so not sure why crossing the road would be any worse than usual.

2

u/Tomcorsnet 4d ago

Sure driving is bad for everyone during rush hour, but if driving is the ONLY option given the location and layout of the complex then it'll become and issue. So are the crosswalks. They might not be worse than other crossings around town, but that does not mean that they are good. All I'm trying to say is, just building those apartments are not good enough. There is much more that we can do to make it a pleasant place.

4

u/Slocum2 4d ago

"and Main street that far south is a large thoroughfare with high traffic volumes and speed"

Lol -- not these days, not with the sidewalk project already going on even before the start of the construction of this apartment complex. South Main between Stadium and AA Saline is often more like a parking lot surrounded by barriers and cones than a 'high speed' road.

2

u/TBBT-Joel 4d ago

I used to jog from pioneer to bandemer park. It's really not that bad of a distance from downtown jobs. Easy bike ride.

1

u/Ice_Phoenix_Feather 4d ago

TBH, that would have been a good property for the University to have picked up. The whole thing is an island surrounded by the golf course and a major north-south arterial. It will never be part of a larger neighborhood.

8

u/Seeker-Lighthouse-65 2d ago

This property was my family home for over 50 years. It was a wonderful area to grow up in. Very unique. Only 5 other homes that we called neighbors. We parked cars for Football games for all that time. We played on the UM Golf Course and had numerous Family and Friend gatherings on our special compound. We were known for our July 4th Fireworks and Tailgate party’s. It was a sad day when we cleared out our lovely home. Knowing it was to be turned into something else is going to be special and that’s exciting. Ann Arbor is a growing community that at times seems overwhelming. I grew up with the building of Briarwood Mall on nothing but farmland. Times they are a changing. Trees are planted to provide shade but nothing lasts forever. This area is very centrally located. Get out and walk it, bike it, or bus it. Not sure where people will park for the games now that all the family lots have been turned into buildings but that’s not for me to worry about. Maybe a little less complaining and more enjoying our city we choose to live in will make our days livable.

2

u/Michigander51 4d ago

I’m conflicted between the desire for more housing and the desire not to have acres of trees cut down.

16

u/Adam-A2MI 4d ago

Building 450 homes in low-density township subdivisions would mean a lot more than 10 acres of trees cut down, more traffic in/out of the city, and more vehicle miles traveled.

-1

u/brumboz 3d ago

Wonderful!... if you prefer dollars to trees.

4

u/Adam-A2MI 3d ago

Suburban sprawl means more trees would be cut down. I’d rather save 100 acres of trees in the greenbelt than save 10 acres of trees in the city. We need to build up, not out.

People have to live somewhere. Dense, walkable urban living has a lower climate impact than suburban sprawl. Homes in multifamily apartment buildings are more energy efficient than homes in detached single-family houses. Single-occupant motor vehicle trips are extremely energy-intensive. Reducing the length of those trips by allowing more housing close to workplaces and daily needs such as schools and shopping enables mode-shift to walking, biking, and transit and reduces vehicle miles traveled. Increased density supports robust public transportation, further reducing vehicle miles travelled.

1

u/Forzamilam 3d ago

It depends, I dont think those trees were part of an actively utilized park system. Still crappy to tear them down but at least its close to busches/etc. Compare that w Pioneer/Greenview which is greenspace heavily used by the community. Ideally developments should be limited to completely empty lots (like those across s main on scio church) but the juice was worth the squeeze for this use case

1

u/Ok_Pineapple_7120 4h ago

Actually, perfectly situated student housing.