ANN ARBOR, MI — Plans for a 19-story high-rise behind the Michigan Theater in downtown Ann Arbor are on hold until next year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Construction was supposed to begin this spring, but that changed when the coronavirus hit, said developer Howard Frehsee of Bloomfield Hills-based Cerca Trova LLC.
“There were just too many challenges in the financial market, in the construction market, with guarantees and their employees being able to come to work, so we just made a business decision that we’re going to start at a better time when this stuff is behind us,” he said.
“We’re still intent on building it, but we want to wait until things are normalized. It’s a big project.”
Frehsee, who is hopeful about a vaccine, said construction is now expected to start in May 2021.
City Council approved the development — the tallest building in downtown Ann Arbor in over 50 years — last December.
Ann Arbor OKs tallest high-rise in over 50 years
It’ll be three years of construction and Frehsee expects COVID-19 will be in the rearview mirror by the time it’s finished and tenants move into the building.
He also thinks there still will be demand for high-rise living and he’s not worried the pandemic could change that.
“Not at all. High-rise living is a reality …. It’s here to stay. It’s never going to change,” he said.
“I still have the utmost confidence in Ann Arbor as a city and as a place to live, that there’s going to be continued demand and growth for housing in Ann Arbor.”
The pandemic has been a horrific, disruptive blow, Frehsee said, but he’s confident the country will pull through it and return to something resembling the old normal.
“I think people liked the life that we had and I don’t think everyone’s going to work from home and that people aren’t going to go to restaurants anymore,” he said.
Frehsee is teaming up with Chicago developer CA Ventures on the development behind the Michigan Theater, where four rental houses and a small commercial building along Washington Street are to be demolished.
The high-rise is planned to include 466 beds in 51 studios, 90 one-bedroom units, 39 two-bedroom units, 14 three-bedroom units, 25 four-bedroom units and 21 five-bedroom units, as well as a ground-floor restaurant along Washington Street.
The apartments will be marketed to a mix of University of Michigan students and working professionals, including UM doctors, and anyone else who wants to live downtown, Frehsee said previously, adding it’ll attract people with a mix of incomes with 19 affordable housing units.
High-rise behind Michigan Theater survives reconsideration attempt
The development plans also include a six-story apartment building behind Sava’s Restaurant that will include 19 more apartments billed as workforce-housing “micro units.” Those are to be accessible via a new mid-block walkway off Washington Street and connect with the Michigan Theater building to include new theater bathrooms on the first floor.
The old commercial building on Washington Street that houses the Camera Mall store is to be demolished.
Frehsee said he’s helping Camera Mall relocate to a new space on Ann Arbor’s west side where it’s expected to open next month. Tenants of the adjacent rental houses on Washington Street will be allowed to stay until next spring, he said.
MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS:
Ann Arbor’s small-town look fading as downtown reaches toward sky
Timeline: Ann Arbor’s downtown housing boom and what’s to come
Before-and-after views of downtown Ann Arbor’s dramatic transformation
The high life: Inside Ann Arbor’s newest luxury apartment high-rise
See inside new upscale condos near downtown Ann Arbor
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