U-M receives approval to purchase building near Law Quad
(This story has been revised to correct a factual error.)
After receiving approval from the University of Michigan Board of Regents today, U-M is planning to purchase a .14-acre parcel near the Law Quad by the end of the month.
The $730,000 price tag is more than triple the property’s assessed value.
U-M Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Timothy P. Slottow told the regents that the parcel’s “strategic location” will be beneficial to the university.
The property is adjacent to two law school buildings: South Hall and the U-M Law School admissions office. It includes a 2,018-square-foot rental home.
The building is assessed at $213,500 for the 2011 tax year, according to Ann Arbor assessment records. Under Michigan law, a property’s assessed value should be nearly equal to half of its market value.
The university and the property’s owner —Oakland Tec LLC owned by Ann Arbor resident Eric Aupperle— have planned a tentative closing date for Sept. 30.
Existing leases on the apartments will expire in August 2012.
U-M is looking to purchase the parcel at 716 Oakland in Ann Arbor.
Kellie Woodhouse covers higher education for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at kelliewoodhouse@annarbor.com or 734-623-4602 and follow her on twitter.”
Comments
trespass
Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 3:40 p.m.
One more parcel of land taken off the property tax roles. The other AA property owners will have to make that up unless the UM voluntarily pays for some of the services it gets from the City (ha ha).
Veracity
Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 2:51 p.m.
UM should guarantee property tax revenue to the city that will be lost upon purchase of the property. As a strategic property how does UM plan to use the building or is it destined to be destroyed and replaced by a new structure? As I recall the Pfizer property generated $7 million in property taxes yearly which has not been paid since the property was sold to UM. Although the Pfizer property will never produce property tax dollars for the city, UM employees working in the Pfizer facilities will spend money locally which is more worthwhile then if the building was empty.
Arno B
Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 2:02 p.m.
Wonderful! Note that they (UM) also recently bought up part of a building at First and Liberty for a school of something or other. I'm so old that I distinctly remember Sue Coleman talking about how much money the U would be saving by moving facilities from central Ann Arbor to the much-ballyhood Pfizer property. Odd that she didn't say anything about just filling more buildings in the City instead!
Stephan11
Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 12:46 p.m.
Weil Hall is not a law school building. It is the School of Public Policy.
Tony Dearing
Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 1:12 p.m.
Thanks for pointing that out. The story has been revised to remove the reference to Weill Hall.
A2comments
Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 10:55 a.m.
Anyone who suggests that Ann Arbor would be what it is today without U of M is kidding themselves. Unemployment would be higher, business failure would be higher, and people wouldn't move to an area for which the university is the center. That said, there are many things that the university does that many of us disagree with.
John A2
Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 6 a.m.
Do you smell something? HMMM...What's new?
djm12652
Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 9:14 a.m.
what's new? the smell....just horse puckey in stead of cow, same old same old....
Sparty
Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 3:58 a.m.
As it says, the assessed value is only half of the market value. Given it's strategic value, I'm sure the owner negotiated from a strong position. All this hate about UM is crazy. The are the base of Ann Arbor: largest employer, the income they generate from athletics, the health system, construction, wages, income taxes, property taxes paid by their employees, etc. Did you see anyone else lining up to buy the Pfizer complex? No. Now, thousands of jobs are being added there. New hospital. Hmmm. New Cardiac Center. Hmmm. Remodeled dorms across central and north campuses. Hmmm. New law school addition. Hmmmm. New Weill Building, New Art building addition, New Business School. Hmmm. New Athletic facility enhancements and buildings. Hmmm. THIS ALL MEANS JOBS AND MONEY PEOPLE, so wake up. Ann Arbor would collapse without UM.
YpsiLivin
Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 2:05 p.m.
djm12652, You DO understand that the University and the Medical Center employ more than 47,500 people, right? And you realize that's more than the remaining top 25 Washtenaw County employers combined, right? And you also understand that of the remaining non-UM employers in Washtenaw County's top 25, the loss of the University and the Medical Center would directly and negatively impact more than half of them, right? Your statement that "A2 would not collapse without the school" ignores the simple reality that Ann Arbor exists strictly because the University is here. When you take away the University, there's not much left, and certainly not enough to sustain Ann Arbor. Don't kid yourself: the city (and Washtenaw County) would lose a lot more than coffee shops if the University disappeared.
djm12652
Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 9:13 a.m.
just out of curiousity, do you have the statistics relating to the number of University employees that live in the city or even in the county for that matter? And all of the jobs to be created in your remark, are these jobs RFQ? Or does the board use all local Ann Arbor/Washtenaw contractors, design firms, engineering firms, etc? A2 would not collapse without the school...granted only 1 or 2 coffee shops would survive and the head shops, safe sex store and the likes would lose their client base.
Somargie
Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 2:32 a.m.
Why is it necessary to have a Board of Regents when they just rubber stamp all the greed that UM can pay for? They buy property for huge prices, give the UM President a huge pay raise every year...yet they won't pay for all the services they drain from the City of Ann Arbor or their nurses from the hospital they advertise frequently about its greatness. Most importantly, UM property grab causes the city to lose more tax revenue all the while demanding that roads are closed, create major traffic problems for residents that they refuse to pay for and have permits for out-of-control noise levels from their many stadiums with no means for residents to seek relief from among other things. At this rate, they will finally take over the city and rename it some stupid name that was bid out to the highest contributor to the university who don't even live here. A great university cares about the city it inhabits, not seek to destroy it. Sad that everyone seems to just accept the tyrant called University of MI.
West of Main
Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 2:24 a.m.
Is there anything the University could do that you guys wouldn't criticize ceaselessly?
West of Main
Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 12:49 p.m.
No, Craig, I never fail to pay obeisance to my lord and master, the University of Michigan. Get a grip, people. This is hardly the nefarious "property grab" that some of you are making it out to be.
Craig Lounsbury
Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 12:35 p.m.
I guess the flip side to that would be....Is there anything the University could do that you would question?
mimisays
Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 2:13 a.m.
Hmmm. Pay triple assessed value for a "strategic" property, but compromise health care delivery systems by cutting staffing levels and compensation packages to nurses? Oh...but look at the shiny buildings!
Sparty
Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 7:36 p.m.
Here we go with the bitter nurses trying to tie the cost of health care benefits that EVERY EMPLOYEE of the UM pays to any other unrelated issue .... they think they should be the only group in the entire University system to pay something less than all the others, because of what they do. The costs of the benefits to the university aren't different, however. The nurses continue to try to tie the issue to all sorts of unrelated issues: facilities, pay rates of people in other jobs, profit or loss of various units, how far they drive from home, who threw up on them today, etc. The egos they have are remarkable.
eom
Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 1:37 a.m.
I wish they wanted to buy my house.
7718
Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 1:30 a.m.
When is the next tuition hike?
drewk
Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 1:26 a.m.
How nice. They can pay twice as much for property as it is worth, but balk at paying out a few dollars for traffic control which they created the problem for.
Sparty
Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 7:31 p.m.
The property is worth what the owner could get for it, right ?