New retail development on Plymouth Road wins approval from Ann Arbor City Council
These elevation drawings for The Shoppes at 3600 were submitted to the city of Ann Arbor by the developer. From top to bottom, they show the south, east, north and west views of the building.
Bowers + Associates
The council approved the site plan for The Shoppes at 3600 with dissent from only Council Member Stephen Kunselman, D-3rd Ward, who said he's concerned the first thing that will be visible from Plymouth Road is the back end of the building.
The council rezoned the property from hotel to fringe commercial to allow construction of a 9,490-square-foot, single-story retail building with one drive-thru and 33 parking spaces.
City of Ann Arbor
Ken Hicks of Ohio-based Diverse Development is dividing off a 1.15-acre parcel from the parking lot and front yard of the Holiday Inn North Campus for the $1 million project.
Hicks is listed as the petitioner, Dan Stone of Ohio-based Van Horn Hoover & Associates Inc. is listed as the petitioner's agent, and Ann Arbor Farms Hotel Corp. is listed as the owner.
The new retail building includes a restaurant with a one-lane drive-thru on the north side. Hypothetical sketches submitted to the city show signage for a Tim Hortons restaurant. The site will be accessed from an existing driveway off Plymouth Road.
An outdoor patio seating area is proposed on the east side of the building. About 51 existing hotel parking spaces are being removed to make way for the project.
Stormwater detention is required and is being provided underground on the southwestern corner of the parking lot. The system is designed to allow for infiltration into the soil.
A 22-inch landmark oak tree is proposed to be removed from the property, with five mitigation trees to be planted around the perimeter of the site in its place.
The adjacent Holiday Inn kicked off a major renovation project in December that is budgeted to cost $4 million.
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 email newsletters.
Comments
MjC
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 5:52 p.m.
Plymouth Road slowly but surely becoming the next Washtenaw Avenue. Sigh.
DJBudSonic
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 7:16 p.m.
Thank your planning commission for that. We need to demand more from our developement so we have better projects to choose from, ones that are more considered, green, appropriate for the area, etc. Planning is is place to give voice and guidance to the sensible growth of a community, not to rubber stamp every project that comes along just because the square footage is available. This is not anti-progress, it is thoughtful-progress.
CincoDeMayo
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 2:24 p.m.
And, seriously, how many of these strip malls can Ann Arbor support??? I seriously can not figure out how - due to the sheer number of them in Ann Arbor - these places can stay in business. Bamn! Two on Plymouth Road added, Bamn! another one on Washtenaw added (even as businesses across the street close down). And yet, nothing at the old Georgetown Mall where the community really wants one.
CincoDeMayo
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 2:20 p.m.
My "landmark tree" now sits in the middle of Traverwood Kroger's parking lot. I can not believe it has survived so long. I played under that tree as a child. It was the biggest tree in that whole field. Now it looks so small....and surrounded...by cement.
DJBudSonic
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 7:13 p.m.
My kids and others still love that tree though it is still better up than down! And the birds like it too!
Local Yocal
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 5:50 p.m.
I remember that field, and the only thing on that corner was a produce stand in the summer.
newsboy
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 1:35 p.m.
Where is the outrage and moratoriums at this type of development? Isn't this close to the rock where the pilgrims landed before entering Ann Arbor?
DJBudSonic
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 1:11 p.m.
Once again, tree town takes down a landmark tree. Five 4" trees DOES NOT equal one 22" landmark tree. Especially since they will likely be parking lot trees ( spruce, ginkgo, fir) and not oaks. Thanks council and planning commission for more good work. That intersection isn't busy or dangerous enough. You can barely tell where the US23 on ramp is in that mess.
Fordie
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 12:11 p.m.
Yay! I LOVE stripmalls! This is sooooo exciting!!! (Please note the hint of sarcasm in that statement)
Gorc
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 12:04 p.m.
If you want to see a similar retail development already in construction. Drive to Plymouth Mall, at the corner of Plymouth Rd and Nixon. The new building has its back facing Plymouth Rd and there is virtually no set back from the road. There are to many blind spots for cars exiting onto Pylmouth Rd due to the new building and retail signage.
Gorc
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 12:58 p.m.
Sooze - I'm referring to the ingress and egress at Plymouth Mall.
Sooze
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 12:21 p.m.
People will enter from the back parking lot and the frontage right on Plymouth Road is very generic. When I saw the drawing for this new mall I thought it was the same one. Very congested place to put a mall. Bad planning! Don't do it!
Katrina
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 11:57 a.m.
If they DO put in a Tim Horton's hopefully it will have a better design than the new one on Ellsworth Rd. near State Street. That building is an eyesore; nothing attractive about it whatsoever! Looks like a pole barn! U-G-L-Y! Who on earth thought that was a good design???
markguy
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 9:49 p.m.
It certainly is stunning how terrible that building looks. Nothing a round about won't fix.
A2Nut
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 11:03 a.m.
So; they can change zoning for another out of town developer, but not at the request of local citizens, because they might get sued? I'm really not getting this. The Huron and Division article made it seem like rezoning is an impossibility. A child of Satan or something.
EyeHeartA2
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 10:52 a.m.
Traffic will be a problem. I would love to see a dive bar there. Maybe Elbow Room West. or Zukey Lake South. Mr. Floods Party, the reduex.
DJBudSonic
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 1:16 p.m.
Guy Hollerines was pretty dive-y last time I checked...
HB11
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 12:40 p.m.
So when you visit Pinckney, how do you get back into AA? Over the wall, or do you swim the moat?
A2comments
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 9:27 a.m.
Plymouth Rd gets more unsightly by the day...
Jay Thomas
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 6:13 a.m.
"Ken Hicks of Ohio-based Diverse Development." What exactly is 'diverse' about it? Seems just like every other strip mall. :(
Goofus
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 2:57 a.m.
First sight the back end of a building? Appropriate placement considering how much the A2 Planning Commission has bent over backwards for developers of late.
Brad
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 12:06 p.m.
Just cover it up with solar panels and everyone will be atwitter.
kuriooo
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 1:46 a.m.
Seriously, a Tim Horton's? We don't need any more fast food or low-quality food on this side of town. What I'd really like to see are more interesting businesses. What about some more neat themed kids' activities, like the ever-popular Goldfish swim school?
Rod Johnson
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 4:28 a.m.
We have too many [business I don't like]s! How about some [business I do like]s?
Jack Gladney
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 1:10 a.m.
This would be a great place for a Cheese Cake Factory. (Comment added for the lady who always posts, "This would be a great place for a Cheese Cake Factory."
DJBudSonic
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 1:14 p.m.
Hooters!
Jay Thomas
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 6:08 a.m.
That woman is over three hundred pounds and diabetic. Please do not encourage her!
eze
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 12:52 a.m.
This is a terrible location for this. Traffic is already so congested between US-23 and Green Rd. Why is the city council caving into developers yet again?
demistify
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 12:30 a.m.
This being Ann Arbor, nobody mentions that bad word "traffic". That Holiday Inn driveway is a very short distance this side of the US 23 on-ramp. Cars coming out of that driveway onto Plymouth Rd are not supposed to turn left (toward town) as such a maneuver is extremely dangerous in this heavy traffic zone with cars turning on and off the highway (though some do anyway). A fast-food place with a drive-through window will vastly increase the volume of cars trying to get from that driveway onto Plymouth while juggling a hamburger and a cell phone.
Michael Billmire
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 4:40 p.m.
AND they pull up on the left to take a wide-right- essentially creating a double right turn lane- which is just as obnoxious, as it totally blocks the view of the cars trying to make a right-right turn. Hopefully a redesign of this driveway will be part of the project.
A2comments
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 9:25 a.m.
Right. And they turn left anyway. And the Holiday Inn signs are right in the line of sight for cars exiting. They should have to curve the drive to the right to prevent left turns. Same with CVS.
Veracity
Tue, Mar 19, 2013 : 11:44 p.m.
Will this qualify as another "strip mall"? How many different businesses will occupy space at this mall and will any leases be signed prior to completion of construction? Is this an entirely speculative development like Arbor Hills Crossing, the much-delayed Packard Mall and, of course, the Connecting William Street plan? Is this a key part of the North Corridor plan?
Lizzy Alfs
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 1:42 p.m.
@Veracity: I believe the developer is working with commercial brokers to get leases signed before the building is completed. Similar to the one that was constructed in front of Plymouth Road Mall recently.
Local Yocal
Tue, Mar 19, 2013 : 9:59 p.m.
A tree relocating machine at work. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx9a6FmRV0U
zanzerbar
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 3:01 p.m.
Dj, it won't be chipped but milled into boards for wood workers, cabinet makers.
DJBudSonic
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 1:13 p.m.
That tree is not going to moved anywhere but into a chipper, sorry to say. The biggest one I have seen moved in A2 was a 10" and that was nothing compared to this oak.
DonBee
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 12:43 p.m.
Veracity - There are two companies that have local offices that do this sort of work on trees this big. They each have a couple of machines and drive them around the country to do the work that is needed. For a tree that big, it would probably be in the $20-30,000 range to move the tree and it only has about a 60% chance of living after the transplant.
Veracity
Tue, Mar 19, 2013 : 11:25 p.m.
Do we know that transplanting the tree is the plan. The relocating machine in the video services New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania. Where is the closest machine available for use in Ann Arbor? How much does transplanting a tree cost?
talker
Tue, Mar 19, 2013 : 9:36 p.m.
Can they afford to remove 51 hotel parking spaces and still have enough parking for hotel guests and retail customers? I may drive over there to see the lankmark oak tree before forming an opinion about its removal. How large would mitigation trees be? We have some little trees that replaced some ash trees that needed to be removed a few years ago. That was necessary due to ash bore disease. That was bad enough. Is it really necessary to remove a healthy, mature oak tree?
Michael Billmire
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 4:36 p.m.
I work very close to the Holiday Inn, and from what I can tell, it looks like they can easily spare the parking spots- the area being rezoned for the commercial development is actually currently being used by AVIS to park their rental vehicles. But there's plenty of parking available surrounding the hotels, and I've never seen the parking lots anywhere close to full. That said, the additional parking required for the retail customers could put a slight squeeze on things.
Machine
Tue, Mar 19, 2013 : 9:34 p.m.
Hopefully we get another pizza place, coffee shop and place for cheap haircuts. That's what the northeast side of AA really needs right now. (Said nobody ever)