Plans for Ann Arbor's The Glen evolve into mix of hotel and apartments

The Glen development near downtown Ann Arbor is evolving in both its design and what it offers.The near-north-side development has tweaked its construction plans after speaking with city and local residents, adding rental apartments to the hotel plans, as well as some outdoor space atop of structure.

"We changed the upper floors and added some terraces," says Tom Shields, spokesperson for The Glen. "It will be less of a block-like structure."

The Glen's development team wants to build a boutique hotel at the corner of Glen and Ann streets, across the street from Angelo's restaurant and between the University of Michigan's central campus and the University of Michigan Health System. The land is currently a vacant lot. An old gas station and a handful of single-family homes were demolished on the site several years ago.

That past is part of the reason why The Glen is changing the makeup of its offerings. Originally it planned to build a 194-room hotel with no apartments. Because of the property's legacy of having homes on it there is grass-roots support from neighbors to add apartments to the mix.

"Historically there were residences on this property many, many years ago," Shields says.

The new design calls for a 162-room hotel and 24 apartments. The 9-story building will sit on top of four floors of underground parking with 191 parking spots. The apartments will go on the top floors and come with the terraces giving them a broad view of Ann Arbor's downtown skyline and beyond.

"There is tremendous demand in Ann Arbor for additional places to live," Shields says.

The Glen is currently going through the approval process of the city. The Glen's team hope to complete that this year. Construction is tentatively set to start in early 2018 and expected to take 18 months to complete the project.

Source: Tom Shields, spokesperson for The Glen
Writer: Jon Zemke

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