Developers of Near North affordable housing project hope to begin construction this summer

The 39-unit Near North Apartments, which will be located at 626-724 North Main Street on 1.9 acres, first received approval from City Council with the Planned Unit Development designation in September 2009. Several amendments to the project have been approved since then.

Design plans for the Near North affordable housing project.

Avalon Housing is developing Near North with the Three Oaks Group as a mixed-use development, consisting of residential units, retail and office use. It will provide 25 affordable apartments to households with low incomes and 14 supportive housing apartments with project-based Section 8 rent subsidies.

Michael Appel, associate director of Avalon Housing, said the next step for the project is to close on financing and begin construction.

“We don’t have a set date to break ground, but we will be pulling those permits and getting going right after we close on construction financing,” Appel said.

The general contractor for the project is Spacewerks, a national design and development company. The architect is the Damian Farrell Design Group based in Ann Arbor.

Developers also filed an amendment to the existing Planned Unit Development with the city of Ann Arbor in May, which is yet to be reviewed. The changes will increase the square-footage of the building by 4.2%, bringing the total building area to 67,864 square feet. The amendment will add more vertical mechanical runs in the building.

Matthew Kowalski, city planner with the City of Ann Arbor, said he has yet to do a complete review of the amendment, but he anticipates the changes being approved.

“These are just relatively minor footprint changes,” Kowalski said. “I don’t think the review will take that long, and from what I understand from the architect, I don’t imagine any issues.”

The total cost of the Near North project is $11 million, according to a previous report. The project has received several grants, including $250,000 in federal funding for green design, $800,000 from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority and $500,000 from the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority.

Lizzy Alfs is a business reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at 734-623-2584 or at lizzyalfs@annarbor.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lizzyalfs.