Title
DDA Approves the Provision of Additional Parking Spaces for William Street Station and Ann Arbor Hotel to Enable these Projects to Meet Zoning Requirements
Memorandum
At its October 2007 meeting the DDA voted to approve the provision of additional parking spaces for two downtown developments that had received earlier resolutions of support for parking spaces from the DDA.
The first project is William Street Station. HDC was selected by the City in 2005 to purchase and develop the City-owned property located at Fifth/William because William Street Station will provide several important community benefits, including
Construction of 100 units of housing affordable to individuals earning less than 40% of AMI, with rent levels set at 30% of individual income Creation of the new community transit center
A new mid block mews connecting Fourth to Fifth Avenue, energy efficient windows for the affordable units, and streetscape improvements on Fifth Avenue, William Street and Fourth Avenue
Creation of 5,000sf of new retail on William Street, which will enhance the walkability of this street
In February 2006 the DDA voted to approve a request from William Street Station for 163 parking spaces to enable it to meet zoning. In September 2007 the DDA received a second request from William Street Station for an additional 27 parking spaces, for a total of 190 parking spaces, to meet zoning requirements for its revised site plan which now includes a hotel and conference center. At its October 2007 meeting the DDA voted to approve these additional 27 parking spaces. In this resolution the DDA urged the Planning Commission and City Council to consider reducing the number of parking spaces required for this project given the opportunity William Street Station has to become a model transit-oriented project because of the new community transit center.
The DDA also voted at its October meeting to provide additional parking spaces for a second hotel development, this one located on Division at Washington Street.
In February 2006 the City approved a parking agreement with McKinley Associates, Inc. for 252 parking permits held by McKinley in the Liberty Square structure to support McKinley's proposed redevelopment plans in the Washington/Division area. Under this agreement, McKinley's permits come under contract as each of three development sites receive their Certificate of Occupancy, with permit allocations as follows:
« 107 spaces for Parcel #1 (McKinley Town Center and an infill development on E. Liberty Street
« 45 spaces for Parcel #2 (former rental car site at corner of S. Division at E. Washington)
« 100 spaces for Parcel #3 & 4 (former TCF Training Center at corner of E. Washington at S. Division)
McKinley has established a relationship with First Hospitality Group, Inc. (FHG) and has provided them with 44 of the spaces assigned to them under the City parking agreement. FHG has proposed the construction of a 120-room hotel on the site of McKinley's Parcel #2, and requested that the DDA provide them with an additional 26 parking spaces so that their project could meet the 70 space requirement set forward by zoning. The DDA voted to approve this request on October 3, 2007.
As part of its resolutions for William Street Station and Ann Arbor Hotel, the DDA acknowledged the 2007 Downtown Parking Strategies report approved by City Council in June 2007, which recommends that the DDA eventually migrate its parking permit system to a demand management system. To accomplish this, monthly parking permits must be eventually unbundled from projects. As a first step toward this goal, the DDA requested that the parking contracts for these two projects use the term parking spaces rather than monthly permits. This request will be pursued if these projects receive approval from Planning Commission and City Council.
Staff
Submitted by: Susan Pollay, DDA Executive Director