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Posted on Mon, Jan 3, 2011 : 6 a.m.

Saline City Council to vote tonight on land sale for 100-unit senior housing project

By Lisa Allmendinger

The Saline City Council is expected to decide tonight whether to sell city-owned land to a Grand Haven developer proposing a $12.5 million, 100-unit senior housing project.

The plan calls for a two-phase land purchase and build-out. The first phase involves purchasing 3.68 acres at a cost of about $331,000, and an option on the remaining 3.01 acres for a price of about $210,700. The total price for the land is $541,900.

The council postponed making a decision on selling the land at 7605 N. Maple Road on Dec. 20.

The family-owned parent company, Reenders, Inc., has built and owns 13 assisted living developments in Michigan. It also has a management company called Heritage Property Management Inc. that oversees more than 1,300 rental units, including apartments, single-family homes, professional office space, a mobile home park and more than 500 units of assisted and congregate living.

Also on the agenda is a vote on changes in the scope of an improvement project at Mill Pond Park that received a grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The proposed changes are necessary because the costs for the original project were higher than anticipated, city officials said.

Proposed for removal from the project plan are a rain garden and 800 feet of paved pathways.

The first meeting of the year also will include swearing-in ceremonies and the State of the City address.

Gretchen Driskell will be sworn in as the longest serving mayor in Saline’s history and will give her annual State of the City address. She'll also recommend a number of appointments to the city’s boards and commissions.

Also being sworn-in are re-elected council members David Rhoads and Brian Marl and former council member Dean Girbach, who was re-elected in the November general election.

The Saline City Council meets at Saline City Hall at 100 N. Harris St. beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Lisa Allmendinger is a reporter with AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com. For more Saline stories, visit our Saline page.

Comments

David

Mon, Jan 3, 2011 : 9:19 a.m.

I agree with Elaine. We have done due diligence, looked at their other facilities, talked with people familiar with the company and heard nothing but good things about their operation. You can see several of their existing facilities by going to www.heritageseniorcommunities.com and clicking on locations.

Elaine F. Owsley

Mon, Jan 3, 2011 : 8:58 a.m.

I would hope that council members take a look at facilities owned and operated by the potential buyer before getting too far into this project. In light of the problems with developers in the area, as much information as they can gather would be prudent.