Townhouses proposed for vacant lots on Catherine Street in Ann Arbor

Tom Fitzsimmons, owner of Huron Contracting LLC, is requesting to rezone the properties at 922 and 926 Catherine Street to construct a 3-story, 5-unit multi-family building with a new driveway and landscaping.

The site is located east of North Ingalls Street and across the street from a parking garage and a University of Michigan medical campus building.

The two lots — which Fitzsimmons purchased in 2010 for $250,000, according to city documents — are situated between a single-family home and a 3-story townhome called Catherine Commons.

The lots were first targeted for development decades ago when a developer proposed a 5-unit condominium building, but never moved forward with the project. Fitzsimmons is looking to revert the zoning of the property from Planned Unit Development back to Multiple-Family Dwelling.

Fitzsimmons said the townhouse-style building will have about 2,000-square-foot units with separate parking garages underneath.

Plans include a green screen between the new building and the single-family home to the west.

The target demographic, he said: “Employees either at the hospital or (University of Michigan). We also have empty nesters who want to move into downtown…and we have a number of young professional couples that we’re building for right now.”

He added: “We have quite a bit of demand for the new homes I’ve built right in the Kerrytown area, and I see this as an extension of that. Anything walkable to those (downtown) areas.”

Fitzsimmons said he’s already spoken with neighborhood residents about the project and the feedback has been positive.

Ann Arbor’s Historic District Commission reviewed and approved the project last month since it’s located in the city’s historic Old Fourth Ward.

There will now be a citizens participation meeting for the rezoning request at 7 p.m. May 16 in the St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church on the corner of Catherine and Division streets.