Developers of student housing project The Grove to hold second public meeting Wednesday
A preliminary plan for The Grove shows the general layout of the site, with the Grace Bible Church building to the north. The two buildings on the southern end of the site have been moved to the northern end in the most recent drawings.
The project, located on a 15-acre site just south of the church building off South Maple Road near Pauline Boulevard, drew criticism at the first citizen participation meeting Jan. 19.
Campus Crest agreed to hold a second citizen participation meeting at the request of an attendee.
The company is proposing 10 to 12 three-story apartment buildings, totaling about 224 units each with two or three bedrooms. It includes one parking space per bed, and would likely include shuttling students to and from campus.
About 50 members of the community came to the first meeting, and many of the concerns stemmed from the project’s similarities to the controversial 42 North Project, which never moved forward after receiving approval from city council.
A major concern: the site’s distance from the University of Michigan campus.
Other concerns raised among attendees included stormwater management, water pressure issues, traffic and transportation, home values, safety, and whether the demand for student housing can support another apartment project.
Lizzy Alfs is a business reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at 734-623-2584 or email her at lizzyalfs@annarbor.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lizzyalfs.
Comments
HENDRIX242
Tue, Feb 7, 2012 : 6:32 p.m.
A cursory search reveals much to distrust about Campus Crest Communities. This proposal and this company stink to high heaven; be wary of carpet baggers bearing promises.
zags
Tue, Feb 7, 2012 : 6:32 p.m.
So some of you think Ann Arbor landlords are bad? Wait until these jokers come to town.
hard core ann arborite
Tue, Feb 7, 2012 : 6:16 p.m.
How in the world anyone can call this "student housing" is beyond me. This is NOWHERE near any school that would qualify it for such a name. The traffic on S. Maple and Pauline is bad enough already, too. Adding thousands more cars going through that area per day is a good cause for doing a lot more analysis and possibly disallowing such a development. And the contractor's record is scary enough ... as an Ann Arbor resident I oppose this development!
ypsituckian
Tue, Feb 7, 2012 : 6:14 p.m.
Lizzy, is it possible to print a larger picture of the preliminary plan? It is not very readible, as is.
xmo
Tue, Feb 7, 2012 : 2:04 p.m.
They need to name this project "Affordable Housing" so that everyone can support it and still feel good.
A2WS1
Tue, Feb 7, 2012 : 1:44 p.m.
This is student housing? For what institution? It isn't close to any...
Philip Santini
Tue, Feb 7, 2012 : 1:37 p.m.
If I'm reading this correctly, we're talking about the potential of a minimum of 2,240 apartment units with again, a minimum of 2 bedrooms each for a grand total of 4,480 bedrooms. Please tell me this is a misprint! ('The company is proposing 10-12...buildings totaling about 224 units EACH with two or three bedrooms.') And how many of those occupants will have cars?
David Vandervliet
Wed, Feb 8, 2012 : 3:35 p.m.
I think it's a case of missing punctuation, Philip, I would say its 10 -12 building totaling 224 units, each (unit) with two or three bedrooms. I say each Building would have between 20 to 22 units in it. meaning there would be between 450 and 700 parking spaces
Lizzy Alfs
Tue, Feb 7, 2012 : 1:46 p.m.
Sorry, the wording is a little confusing. It's going to total about 600 beds. There are about 224 units total, and each unit has two or three bedrooms.
Jack Davis
Tue, Feb 7, 2012 : 12:56 p.m.
I am amazed that no one is writing about the numerous law suits that have been filed against this company for everything from shoddy work, not paying their bills and sex discrimination... They do not sound like a good neighbors.. <a href="http://www.columbiaheartbeat.com/2011/01/planning-and-groaning-controversy.html" rel='nofollow'>http://www.columbiaheartbeat.com/2011/01/planning-and-groaning-controversy.html</a> <a href="http://www.columbiaheartbeat.com/2011/01/racial-charges-unpaid-bills-dog.html" rel='nofollow'>http://www.columbiaheartbeat.com/2011/01/racial-charges-unpaid-bills-dog.html</a> <a href="http://www.columbiaheartbeat.com/2011/01/student-tenants-slam-columbia-bound.html" rel='nofollow'>http://www.columbiaheartbeat.com/2011/01/student-tenants-slam-columbia-bound.html</a> <a href="http://www.columbiaheartbeat.com/2011/01/lawsuits-complaints-groundless-campus.html" rel='nofollow'>http://www.columbiaheartbeat.com/2011/01/lawsuits-complaints-groundless-campus.html</a> <a href="http://www.columbiaheartbeat.com/2011/02/from-orkin-pest-to-campus-crest-horatio.html" rel='nofollow'>http://www.columbiaheartbeat.com/2011/02/from-orkin-pest-to-campus-crest-horatio.html</a> Anti Campus Crest face Book page!! r 13, 2011 DEVELOPER DEJA VU? About student apartment fiasco, hate to say "we told ya so" COLUMBIA, 1/23/11 (Beat Byte) -- Sexual harassment lawsuits; angry resident protests; former employees airing grievances on Facebook. All in a day's work, apparently, for North Carolina-based Campus Crest Communities, a student-housing developer that just received unanimous Columbia Planning and Zoning commission approval to build a 632-bedroom student housing community across 12.5 acres on Grindstone Parkway and Rock Quarry Road. The Columbia City Council takes up the request February 5. "This page makes my day!" Jennifer Jackson-Burt from Abilene, Texas chirps. "I still get calls in the middle of the night about the fire alarms...& how about that lawsuit being filed now for race & gender discrimination!" "Lewd and sexually-charged emails," also came McCormack's way, her attorney alleges, including "so-called 'motivational posters' which contained both derogatory racial and sexual references, as well as another email, ostensibly entitled, 'how to tell whether your date is bored,' which depicted a nude female with her legs spread wide apart."