It's a new twist on the typical RFP process. In its
Connecting William Street effort, the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority (DDA) is soliciting public input prior to asking developers for proposals for a chain of city-owned parking areas that are more befitting valuable downtown space.
The properties consist of four city-owned surface lots – the Library Lot, the Old Y Lot, the Palio Lot, the Kline Lot – and the ground floor of the 4th & William parking structure, all in a four-block area spanning from Ashley to Division Streets. RFPs have been issued in the past for these public sites, with the community reacting to the proposals afterward. Now the DDA is launching a
survey for the general public (responses due by March 12) to provide its input on possible uses, after which a request will be made to the development community that includes the desired options for those sites.
The Ann Arbor City Council requested the DDA begin with these properties to test a new way of considering the development of public parcels, with these sites seen as having the biggest impact downtown, says Amber Miller, DDA planning and development specialist.
"They're adjacent to one another, you've got the library there, you've got the Transit Center, Main Street on one end, campus on the other, and then a really big opportunity to activate William Street and these parcels."
The DDA has also formed a volunteer Leadership & Outreach Committee to help with the effort. Besides public meetings, information will be shared through the use of social media, webinars, and speaker series.
"We're trying to do some innovative things to engage the community that isn't interested in public meetings or doesn't feel quite comfortable with the public meetings," Miller explains.
Scenario building will occur through mid-April, then brought to the public in May. A land use economist will do an economic analysis of final scenarios. "In mid-July we'll be talking about something more final," she adds.
The DDA is hoping to garner at least 1,000 responses to the survey.
Says Miller, "We think there's a tremendous opportunity in these five sites in this part of downtown but we know that we can only do this if we have a broad spectrum of voices participating, so really as much participation as we can get. That's really our goal."
Source: Amber Miller, Ann Arbor DDA planning and development specialist
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.