photo gallery with video: Last house down: Images from final day of City Place demolition in Ann Arbor

"It's heartbreaking," said Betsy de Parry, wife of Ann Arbor developer Alex de Parry, who fought last year for approval of an alternate development called Heritage Row that would have restored the century-old homes and added new apartments behind them.

"This is what failure to compromise looks like," she said as she filmed the demolition on Friday with a tripod-mounted digital camera. "And it breaks everybody's heart, including mine."

Betsy de Parry, who fought back tears to talk, said she and her husband once lived together in the house at 415 S. Fifth Ave.

"It was our first home in Ann Arbor together — a lot of good memories there," she said, adding her husband has an even bigger emotional attachment to the houses.

"Alex moved into 427 S. Fifth in 1972 and lived there for five years. He's lived in a couple of other houses," she said. "Both of his kids lived in these houses while they were in college. His office has also been on the block since the '80s, so he's continuously been on this block for 39 years. He saw the first day of demolition. I'm just glad he's not here to see the rest of it."

After a long and frustrating battle with the city, Alex de Parry recently sold the properties to developer Jeff Helminski who is pushing ahead with City Place. The by-right project includes a series of six-bedroom apartments in two buildings separated by a 36-space parking lot.

The city of Ann Arbor issued the demolition permits on Tuesday. Residents of the Germantown neighborhood also are mourning the loss of the houses, which they believed added to the charm and character of their near-downtown neighborhood.

Some argued the houses should have been protected under a historic district, but the Ann Arbor City Council rejected a proposal to give the neighborhood that designation.

The six who opposed the historic district proposal last year were Stephen Rapundalo, Christopher Taylor, Tony Derezinski, Margie Teall, Marcia Higgins and Sandi Smith.

Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's e-mail newsletters.