Title
Resolution to Approve a Public-Private Development Agreement for the Arbor South Project and Authorize the Purchase of up to Three Parking Structures Subject to Availability of Funding (8 Votes Required)
Memorandum
Arbor South is a transformative urban infill project located northeast of the intersection of South State Street and Eisenhower Parkway that will redevelop approximately 17 acres of parking lots and Brownfields into a walkable center of housing and employment. By creating a critical mass of activity, it will catalyze continued redevelopment along the South State TC1 Transit Corridor, replacing acres of parking lots with a high-density, mixed-use neighborhood designed for walkability and seamless transit access.
The development envisions more than 1,000 residential units, including approximately 209 permanently affordable units, a full-service hotel, and roughly 100,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, all centered around programmable open space. The project will help fill a critical housing gap, attracting young professionals, empty nesters, and local workers who want to live closer to jobs and amenities.
Transforming one of Ann Arbor's most automobile-dependent districts into a walkable urban neighborhood requires major infrastructure investment that cannot be supported by the private sector alone. To achieve this, the City and the developer intend to enter into a public-private partnership in which the City will finance, own, and operate three parking structures, while the developer constructs, owns, and operates the private components of the project City-issued bonds would fund the construction and/or acquisition of the parking structures and would be serviced by a combination of (i) tax increment revenue generated by the private development (pending approval of the Brownfield Plan) and (ii) net parking revenue from the new decks. A Special Assessment District (SAD) encompassing the project is anticipated to provide a backstop...
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