Arbor South, a recently greenlit brownfield development, plans to revamp a 20-acre plot of land off South State Street and Eisenhower Parkway. The mixed use project — developed by Oxford Companies and Crawford Hoying — is set to add 93,500 square feet of commercial space to Ann Arbor in addition to over 1,000 new residential units, a hotel and public green space.
The development is subject to TC1 zoning laws, which are meant to increase housing density in major transportation corridors. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Andy Andre, vice president of real estate development at Oxford Companies, said a goal of the Arbor South project is to exemplify the purpose of TC1 zoning.
“The vision really started off of ‘what can we do with this property’ … and then really taking to heart what TC1 is,” Andre said. “Arbor South is really the embodiment of TC1. It’s creating density — it’s creating walkable, livable spaces within underutilized areas of the city.”
Ann Arbor’s growing population and varied economy offers the possibility for unique utilization of the development. Andre said he anticipates Arbor South will provide opportunities for both pre-existing companies and new businesses.
“One of the key components is that we have about 100,000 square feet of commercial space throughout the entire development,” Andre said. “We envision both a mix of local, regional, and national (businesses), and having a mix of uses: entertainment, dining, retailers.”
In an interview with The Daily, Phil Santer, Ann Arbor SPARK chief operating officer, said he believes the mixed-use features of Arbor South will be enticing to a wide-array of potential tenants.
“People want to live in a place like Ann Arbor that has incredible assets — incredible, interesting things that are going on, associated with the University,” Santer said. “Projects like Arbor South that not only provide housing, but provide other amenities and things that are of interest to people — it’s an interesting product for people to be able to buy into.”
The additional space could also mean new prospects for the city’s professional sector. In an interview with The Daily, Business rising senior Sreejay Ramakrishnan said he hopes to see some of the commercial space used by startups.
“I think there’s lots of potential there,” Ramakrishmani said. “I think, also, tech is something that is super interesting … in Ann Arbor, there’s already some cool tech startups, so I think having office spaces could be cool as well.”
Andre said a main goal of Arbor South involves becoming the center of a neighborhood, with residential, commercial and community spaces all coexisting in a small radius.
“What we’re really proposing is a true mixed-use environment,” Andre said. “The main component is to bring housing to the forefront of this project. We also have complementary uses when it comes to commercial space, retail and the hotel. … All of these together serve a purpose of creating a neighborhood.”
Daily Staff Reporter Micayla Horwitz can be reached at hmicayla@umich.edu.
