with poll: Heritage Row developer making fourth attempt to sway Ann Arbor City Council on project

"I've been asked to do one last effort," he said. "Heritage Row has garnered a lot of attention, and we've gotten a lot of community support for it, and members of the community have asked that something happen, so we'll give it one last shot.

"I hope it gets discussed, people see the merits of it, and it gets approved."

De Parry previously said if Heritage Row wasn't approved, he would push forward with the unpopular City Place project.

Council Members Sandi Smith, D-1st Ward, and Tony Derezinski, D-4th Ward, are on de Parry's side for Heritage Row. They're planning to bring forward a resolution on Monday that asks the City Council to waive the application fee for de Parry to bring his near-downtown development back through the city's planning process — starting from square one.

Although no changes have been made to the project since it died before council in December, Smith and Derezinski are hopeful council members will be willing to let de Parry — who made revisions last fall that were never considered by council — make his case.

"The objection that we heard last time really had to do with process and not the changes in the development," Smith said. "So if we can work with the developer to bring it back again — but going back earlier in the process — then I think we'll have the support. And I've heard pretty clearly, as have other council members, that it's still a better project than City Place."

Alex de Parry

The Heritage Row Planned Unit Development proposed for South Fifth Avenue was rejected by the City Council last June and was reconsidered and rejected again in July.

In response to that denial, de Parry spent months in close talks with some of the council members who voted it down and made revisions that he unveiled last fall.

He scaled back the project from 79 units to 76 units, and reduced the number of bedrooms from 154 to 147. He also brought the height down by 8 feet, removing one floor from the southernmost of three apartment buildings proposed for the site.

De Parry also promised to enhance affordability and construct the new buildings to LEED-certified standards for energy efficiency and environmental design.

But when it came time for a third consideration of Heritage Row in December, five council members joined forces to block a motion to let the developer make his case.

That has left de Parry pushing forward with City Place, an already-approved alternate development plan for the same site that, unlike Heritage Row, involves knocking down seven century-old homes that stand in the way along the 400 block of South Fifth Avenue.

De Parry said he is in the process of getting plans and permitting for City Place, which essentially is two apartment buildings, and is moving forward on construction drawings.

The developer has said he would prefer to build Heritage Row, a project that includes restoring the seven homes and adding three new apartment buildings behind them. He said he believes the project would attract national attention for being an innovative model for combining historic preservation with new infill development.

De Parry still needs enough council members to see things his way. Since last year, he's been one vote short of winning council approval. Much of the concern has been around the project's size and density and whether it fits the residential neighborhood it's in.

So far, four council members have continued to oppose Heritage Row: Mike Anglin, Stephen Kunselman, Sabra Briere and Carsten Hohnke.

Hohnke, D-5th Ward, seems to be more willing than some of the others to reconsider de Parry's project, but he won't say whether he'd change his vote.

"We've always been trying to work on making it a better project," he said. "If Mr. de Parry and the development team have some modifications they'd like folks to consider, then they need to make sure they're bringing it through in a way that respects the normal planning process and community input, and all of the things that are associated with bringing a project through."

Hohnke said he's happy to consider Heritage Row if it comes back to council. He said the revisions de Parry made, but weren't considered last year, are positive steps.

"I think both the community and the development team have done a great job in continuing to refine the project," he said. "So I think those are great steps forward and add to the public benefit of the project. Obviously, it's my job to consider it if it's in front of me."

If council gives the OK on Monday, de Parry would resubmit plans for Heritage Row to the city's planning department, which would review them and forward them onto the Planning Commission. With Planning Commission approval, the project would come back to council.

De Parry also would have to hold another citizen participation meeting, and public hearings would be held on the project at both the Planning Commission and City Council.

Wendy Rampson, the city's planning manager, said the PUD fee de Parry is hoping will be waived is based on the amount of floor area proposed, which the city does not know at this point. The formula is $6,705, plus $71 per 1,000 square feet of new gross floor area.

When de Parry brought Heritage Row before the City Council last year, plans showed the three new buildings totaled 48,152 square feet, but that was before he made revisions.

The project still faces some opposition by residents in the Germantown neighborhood, but de Parry said he's learned by now he can't please everyone.

"There's some people I will never please no matter what I do, unless I do absolutely nothing, and that might not please them, either," he said.

Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529.