The size of what once was University Village project at the University of Michigan has gone up and down but now seems to be on the ascension as the student-housing development bucks for city approval.
Before doing that the developers changed the name to 601 Forest and refined the design to an L-shaped layout that stands 26 stories tall at its highest peak. The Ann Arbor Planning Commission has recommended the project be approved and the City Council is expected to review plans later this summer.
The urban mixed-use development is planned to stand at the corner of the South University and Forest streets where the Village Corner is now. The central tower will stand 26 stories and it will be flanked by two 22-story shoulders.
The project will have 342 residential units with 1,100 beds. These will stand over 15,000 square feet of first-floor retail space and 245 underground parking spaces. Each room will have a window overlooking the surrounding campus area. The Mud Bowl space at South University and Washtenaw will remain as it is adjacent to the project.
The building will incorporate environmentally friendly construction techniques, materials and systems, such as passive solar technologies, advanced water recapture systems and a green roof. The developers, Hughes Properties and partner Omena Real Estate Investments, are going for LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
"If the developers receive the brownfield designation funding they will be much more aggressive with the green features," says Tracy Koe Wick, a spokeswoman for the project.
The developers are also working with the city to transfer development rights to buildings adjacent to the project to provide a buffer between University Village and the surrounding neighborhood. The development rights concept is the same one used by the city's Greenbelt program to preserve rural land around the city.
Each unit will come furnished with amenities like flat screen TVs and floor-to-ceiling windows. There will also be a café, fitness facility, business center and a landscaped roof garden.
601 Forest is the latest high-rise development aimed at providing student housing in the city's downtown and campus areas. Those projects include the university's North Quad (its first dorm in 30 years), upgrades to a number of other dorms, 4 Elevel Lofts and Zaragon Place Lofts.
If approved by City Council construction on 601 Forest is set to begin this fall and wrap up by the fall of 2010.
Source: Tracy Koe Wick, a spokeswoman for 601 Forest
Writer: Jon Zemke
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