New retail center with restaurant approved near planned Costco in Pittsfield Township
A rendering of the multi-tenant portion of State Street Marketplace, as it will look from Ellsworth Road.
From Bowers + Rein
The retail profile of the South State and Ellsworth intersection continues to expand, this time with final approvals coming for a retail center and restaurant.
The Pittsfield Township Planning Commission passed the proposal for State Street Marketplace earlier this month in a unanimous vote.
Now, developer Howard Frehsee said, they're working on finalizing plans.
Frehsee said he hopes to start construction in April. Whether that happens could be considered an economic indicator for small retailers seeking new locations in Washtenaw County, he added.
“I don’t want to launch at a time when it’s still difficult for retailers,” he said. “The retailers that typically frequent these small centers still find it very challenging.”
The center will total 20,625 square feet with 84 parking spaces. There will be one 15,750-square-foot multi-tenant building on the west edge, with a 4,875-square-foot standalone restaurant on the eastern edge.
The location is on Ellsworth just southeast of the South State intersection, where Costco seeks to build a store about ¼-mile to the west.
That proposal is on hold until Pittsfield Township finalizes master plan revisions in early 2011, but many officials are expressing support for the popular warehouse store’s proposed location. Developers also are watching how the proposal could impact the value of the corner.
If built, Costco would elevate the corridor’s retail potential, Frehsee said.
“By Costco coming there, it just validates the location (for State Street Marketplace),” he said. “…It really is a great area with a lot of upside for the future.”
The original proposal for Frehsee’s retail center went into the township in 2007, said planner Paul Montagno. Mitigating the loss of the wetlands on the 5.74-acre property took some time, he said.
Over that time, Frehsee and his team, including architects Bowers + Rein of Ann Arbor, “worked with us to provide a lot of pedestrian connectivity,” Montagno said.
Frehsee also collaborated with Speedway, which operates a gas station at the corner, to reconfigure curb cuts so the entities could share entrances.
Now Speedway is finishing a rebuild of the gas station that repositions it on the site — thanks in part to land that Frehsee sold the station to give it extra room — and also upgrades the facilities there.
“We have a number of shared features,” Frehsee said of Speedway, including a retention basin at the rear of both properties.
Frehsee said the pace of pre-leasing of the retail space will determine the construction start. That’s important to the lender and to the momentum for leasing all of the spaces, he said.
“I plan on building a nice center,” he said. “I just want to come on board at a time when we’re starting on an uptick.”
He’ll need to have about 50 percent of the property under contract to tenants before he can break ground. He’ll be listing the property with Landmark Commercial Real Estate, based in Farmington Hills.
Eventually, he said, he envisions the center delivering more services to the people who live and work south of I-94 near South State.
“I want this to be an upscale commercial development where people can feel comfortable going in to get coffee, a sandwich, their dry cleaning,” Frehsee said. “That was the plan when I was looking at this property originally.”
Frehsee’s other properties in Ann Arbor include Corner House Lofts, a student high-rise at South State and East Washington, and the commercial building on South State that houses Sava’s Restaurant. Frehsee is launching an upper level remodel of that building this fall.
Paula Gardner is Business News Director of AnnArbor.com. Contact her at 734-623-2586 or by email. Sign up for the weekly Business Review newsletter, distributed every Thursday, here.
Comments
4 Fingers
Tue, Oct 19, 2010 : 6:53 a.m.
Hey Costco- that Vacant Jim Bradley car dealership is looking mighty fine if Pittsfield doesn't approve your site plan....
applehazar
Mon, Oct 18, 2010 : 6:43 a.m.
Pittsfield passes this building unamiously?? Politicians - be careful - if you mess up the Costco deal (you are well on your way) this building will go up and remain empty like many others in the area. Do the right thing give Costco the approval now before Costco takes their building and go elseware - or maybe no where and we again have to drive 25 miles to Brighton.
CincoDeMayo
Sat, Oct 16, 2010 : 9:20 p.m.
That was supposed to be - too funny imagining dading in a roundabout... You'll notice most of those 6 cars in the vast parking lot of Tyner's have people in them that are eating, listening to the radio, or reading. Kind of an urban park in a way.
CincoDeMayo
Sat, Oct 16, 2010 : 9:12 p.m.
too funny!
jcj
Sat, Oct 16, 2010 : 7:49 p.m.
"the Tyner property creates a bit of a planning dilemma because they are not utilizing the space near that intersection well. They have a FAR larger parking lot than they need (that is not being maintained that well it looks to me) which is a big waste of space. Granted, the furniture business is probably terrible right now and they won't be able to afford to do a lot of upgrades." I don't think I have seen more than 6 cars there at one time in the last 20 years.
Ann English
Sat, Oct 16, 2010 : 6:19 p.m.
krc, For eastbound I-94 motorists exiting onto northbound State Street, there is a sign straight ahead saying, "Northbound traffic does not stop." For westbound I-94 drivers exiting onto southbound State Street, there's a white rectangular sign for them saying, "Southbound traffic does not stop." That sign is on the west side of State, not on the east side where drivers get off the exit ramp. I didn't realize that apparently many interstate drivers don't read these signs warning them about traffic in the far lanes of State. Everyone has to slow down approaching a roundabout, there's no racing through one. Roundabouts do have white YIELD commands painted right on the pavement right before them, so if you're already in a roundabout, State Street traffic should yield to you. If they don't, they're at fault, you have the right-of-way.
dading dont delete me bro
Sat, Oct 16, 2010 : 4:08 p.m.
im still soooo confused about where this thing is going. the picture of the plans on the easel sure looks like behind tyner's to me. airport and ellsworth...
krc
Sat, Oct 16, 2010 : 11:57 a.m.
I'm all for putting roundabouts at this intersection. Traffic really flows after learning to use them. There are still idiot drivers out there but for the most part roundabouts really do work. And I wonder if one would work at the E-bound State St. exit off 94? Where even with the light, Northbound traffic on State st. doesn't stop, making it scary to try to turn left there.
MarkH
Sat, Oct 16, 2010 : 9:41 a.m.
Let's hope a new bar goes in this new shopping center. Since Enzo's closed there has been a lack of good after work options in the south State St area.
TreeTownGal
Sat, Oct 16, 2010 : 7:53 a.m.
More shopping for wetlands, this is once again a sad story of that whole area - Briarwood to Ellsworth businesses, then over both ways for all the condos/apartments and even into the whole solid waste facilities. More sprawl - more wetlands filled in. Guess the whole snare up of traffic there at State and Ellsworth won't be effected in a negative way by this complex, though find it hard to believe. More traffic, more seasonal fog - watch out. Maybe this will get a buyer for the old Gallagher's place to stay.
Paula Gardner
Sat, Oct 16, 2010 : 6:46 a.m.
A little followup on location.... if you click on the link "southeast of the South State intersection" you'll see where this retail center would be built. It is just south (across Ellsworth) of the former Enzo's (approved about 2 years ago for a smaller retail center). And Costco would be built about a quarter mile west (also on Ellsworth) from this newly approved retail center. As I mentioned in previous stories, there also is small retail center approved for the property where the former Pinter's is at the northwest corner. That property is for sale and building plans have been on hold for several years until buyer is found.
Lakegirl
Sat, Oct 16, 2010 : 5:48 a.m.
Is this near that unsightly abandoned sports bar? It has been decaying so long it spoils my appetite and I have no desire to stop around there. I also don't think that area can handle any more traffic congestion than it already has.
MI-expatriate
Sat, Oct 16, 2010 : 12:11 a.m.
@treetowncartel, You will soon learn to love never having to pause at a stop sign or red light when no one else is at any other point of the intersection. Roundabouts require plenty of confidence at first, and the multi-roundabout near or in Brighton is treacherous if busy. People just don't know the rules, and no one uses turn signals - yes, signalling is recommended when inside a roundabout so everyone understands where the others are going, but I have never seen it done in this country. True, they are not good for drivers dialing, texting, or otherwise distracted...therein lies the biggest problem. Courtesy is necessary too, often in short supply on roadways here.
treetowncartel
Fri, Oct 15, 2010 : 11:33 p.m.
Much to my surprise, I encountered the roundabout at Hamburg and Winans Lake road yesterday, I am still alive.
MI-expatriate
Fri, Oct 15, 2010 : 10:31 p.m.
Thanks Ann English - the US is finally beginning to embrace the roundabout idea - it is so practical and if done right can handle loads of traffic. Driver education is all that is needed to make them work well. Beyond that, I predict that the people in Saline who are fed up with the conservative climate there, much in the news lately, would be thrilled to venture north toward Ann Arbor without actually having to go into the city. Baby steps, baby steps. :)
anon505
Fri, Oct 15, 2010 : 10:04 p.m.
More sprawl, more traffic jams, more lo-tech jobs, more chain stores, more money going out of Michigan - now THAT is a master plan.
dading dont delete me bro
Fri, Oct 15, 2010 : 9:32 p.m.
hunh?!? you can almost understand this... "The location is on Ellsworth just southeast of the South State intersection, where Costco seeks to build a store about -mile to the west." from the stories before, i thought it was supposed to be behind tyner's? isn't tyner's on the NORTHWEST corner? so does pittsfield township really know where it's going? i'm sooooo confused...wait until i go round and round and round the round about that should go in there.
Ann English
Fri, Oct 15, 2010 : 7:22 p.m.
So the store will be built on the southeast side of the State and Ellsworth intersection; I thought from previous articles that it was going to be built on the northeast quarter of that intersection, west of Tyner's. Perhaps a study of the effect of roundabouts at State and Ellsworth, I-94 and State, and Airport Boulevard and State should be done, if nobody wants to widen State Street or Ellsworth Road. With two-lane roundabouts, you don't have to pay as much attention to what lane you want to be in, directional signs, or even other motorists, as you would in a three-lane roundabout, like those on Lee Road and US-23. I use the Maple Road roundabouts four days a week.
Townie
Fri, Oct 15, 2010 : 5:22 p.m.
I hope someone is thinking about the bottleneck situation that is coming: the lack of bridges over 94. Most evenings and mornings State is pretty jammed and this is going to add to the traffic jams. And the alternative route is? Ann Arbor Saline? How far will one have to go to get around the gridlock? Has anyone really thought this out?
Basic Bob
Fri, Oct 15, 2010 : 5:07 p.m.
Until the master plan revisions are completed, couldn't they just work to the existing plan? They must be able to "predict" whether it conforms with the "2010" master plan! I would think that for this location, a commercial center is perfect. It's not like it will be turned into farmland or single family homes. But I don't have a degree in urban planning or a seat on the BOT, so I would be speculating.
81wolverine
Fri, Oct 15, 2010 : 4:38 p.m.
This is a bit of a surprise. I'd have expected the retail center they are planning where the old florist was at the southeast corner of the Tyner lot would be built first. Certainly though, the Costco will pull in a lot of traffic to that area which will benefit some of the retailers that eventually open there. I agree with Babonx in that the Tyner property creates a bit of a planning dilemna because they are not utilizing the space near that intersection well. They have a FAR larger parking lot than they need (that is not being maintained that well it looks to me) which is a big waste of space. Granted, the furniture business is probably terrible right now and they won't be able to afford to do a lot of upgrades. About the only thing Pittsfield could do is offer them some sort of tax breaks to be spent on landscaping and building improvements. Also, when Costco opens, this might enable Tyner to do more.
Babonx
Fri, Oct 15, 2010 : 2:26 p.m.
I also hope they figure out something to do with the Tyner Furniture shopping center as it is becoming an eyesore.
russellr
Fri, Oct 15, 2010 : 2:13 p.m.
I just hope Pittsfield gets with it on Costco and doesn't drag there feet to long so they look elswhere. These cities should thank there lucky stars any business would come to Michigan. They could rush the process if they tried
Paula Gardner
Fri, Oct 15, 2010 : 2:10 p.m.
Here's one comparison: The McDonald's at Michigan and Carpenter, which will be enlarged, is 2,646 square feet. They're adding 2,000 square feet to it - so the newer McDonald's in town (Washtenaw, South State) are close comparisons. On the other end - the new Red Robin on South State (replacing Bennigan's) is about 7,000 square feet: http://www.annarbor.com/business-review/bennigans-near-briarwood-mall-in-ann-arbor-to-close-jan-16-red-robin-moving-in/
ViSHa
Fri, Oct 15, 2010 : 2:02 p.m.
i'm having trouble visualizing the calibur of stand alone restaurant that is ~4900square feet. are we talking pf chang size or something smaller?