Arbor Hills Crossing: Opening date set for retail center under construction on Washtenaw

Several buildings were demolished on the 7.45-acre site at 3000 Washtenaw Ave. and steel framing is now up, giving passerbys a sense of the overall size of the project.

Max Reiswerg of Illinois-based North Shore Properties Group, the company handling the leasing at Arbor Hills, said the project is on schedule for an August 2013 opening. He said the buildings should be completed and turned over to tenants for their build-outs by April.

“We are right on schedule,” Reiswerg said. “We are into our winter conditions right now, which we certainly have planned for. We are pretty firm with an Aug. 22 (opening) date. The entire center should be open then.”

Reiswerg said the buildings are almost fully leased, including several restaurants, retail stores and about 10,000 square feet of second-floor office space.

The only tenant that has been announced so far is Hot Mama, an upscale nationally recognized boutique. Reiswerg said he expects to release a full list of tenants in mid-to-late January.

Real estate sources say stores like Lululemon Athletica and Anthropologie — which is owned by Urban Outfitters Inc. — have been looking for space in the Ann Arbor market. Those companies have not announced plans to open at Arbor Hills Crossing, but the large footprint provides opportunity in an otherwise tight retail market.

“We are really well leased,” Reiswerg said. “The restaurants will be really, really cool…we do not have a lot of space left in the center.”

The Arbor Hills property was targeted for development in 2006 as the Shops at Arlington. It was sold following foreclosure to RSW Washtenaw LLC, an entity controlled by Tom Stegeman of Campus Realty. O’Neal Construction of Ann Arbor is working on the project. The company's website shows some renderings of Arbor Hills.

Stegeman said in 2011 that Arbor Hills will not have a large anchor, such as the Whole Foods Market across the street. He said he hopes to attract national chains, regional players and local businesses.