Ypsilanti gets price estimate for Water Street property

Wednesday, September 24, 2008 | Source: Concentrate

Somewhere between $7.3 million and $11 million. That's the new price for Ypsilanti's Water Street property.

The city took out more money in bonds to buy the 42 properties on the parcel just southeast of downtown. However, April McGrath, assistant city manager for Ypsi, says the city never planned for the purchase price alone to pay off the bonds. New taxes generated by development on the 38-acre property are also a major part of the equation.

As far as development goes, CB Richard Ellis suggested that the city should break the property into separate parcels, making it easier to develop in this tough market. For now city officials will continue to speak to developers interested in the property in hopes of working out a deal this year.

"There are a few developers who are interested in student and senior housing," McGrath says.

The collection of properties borders Michigan Avenue and the Huron River. Some of the buildings are in need of pollution remediation as a result of their industrial origins. The city acquired the land in hopes of attracting a developer that would turn it into new residential housing and commercial space that stressed a dense, urban ethic.

Like so many other plans with the best intentions, the idea began to fall apart when the chosen developer, Joseph Freed & Associates, pulled out. The city has since spent more than a year searching for a new developer.

Source: April McGrath, assistant city manager for Ypsilanti
Writer: Jon Zemke