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Mixed Thoughts On Making Ann Arbor's Former Y Lot A Temporary Surface Parking Lot Again

Ann Arbor
Andrew Cluley
/
89.1 WEMU

The immediate future for what was a popular surface parking lot in Ann Arbor remains up in the air.  The developer who purchased the former YMCA Lot at Fifth and William continues to try to have the property temporarily return as a surface parking lot.  The Downtown Development Authority has already turned down the proposal, but some City Council members continue to push the plan.

Until the city of Ann Arbor sold the former Y-Lot to Dennis Dahlmann, the Downtown Development Authority used the land as a temporary surface parking lot. But with the Library Lane underground parking structure and the Fourth and William Structure on either side of the Y-Lot, DDA officials say there isn't a shortage of parking in this part of the city. 

Executive Director Susan Pollay says the DDA Board's Operations Committee determined it didn't make sense to rent the land after the sale was completed. "Would have cost more than we would have seen in terms of new revenues.  The proposal had a certain amount going to the property owner as rent, and their feeling was we can support our downtown mission without those particular spaces, without that particular cost," Pollay says.

The important thing for Pollay is to see a quality development on the site. 

The sale requires a building to be completed by 2018, and City Council member Jack Eaton is confident Dahlmann will build a fabulous project. But, Eaton wants the site used until construction can start. "Planning process before you submit a site plan and then there's that rather elaborate process that follows the submission of a plan.  So you know, he's at least a year away from breaking ground on anything," Eaton says.

Eaton says the proposal would contribute about $100,000 to the city's affordable housing fund per year. He plans to bring forward a revised version of the plan at the next council meeting.

Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on Twitter— Andrew Cluley is the Ann Arbor beat reporter, and anchor for 89.1 WEMU News. Contact him at734.487.3363 or email him acluley@emich.edu.   
 

Like many, I first came to this area when I started school at the University of Michigan, then fell in love with the community and haven’t left. After graduating from U of M in the mid 1990’s I interned at WDET for several years, while also working a variety of jobs in Ann Arbor. Then in 1999 I joined the WEMU news team.
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