ANN ARBOR, MI - A new condo building is approved for development on the edge of downtown Ann Arbor and the Old West Side.



The City Council voted unanimously Monday night, Sept. 18, to approve plans for The Gallery, now a 22-unit, five-story development planned for the northeast corner of Ashley and Jefferson.



Developer Alex de Parry of Ann Arbor Builders is combining four lots and demolishing the existing structures, including three houses and a small office building, to make way for the roughly 35,000-square-foot condo building. Construction costs are estimated at $4 million.



Ann Arbor Builders is working with architect J. Bradley Moore & Associates and civil engineer Macon Engineering.



De Parry said the plan is to break ground in January and construction should last about 18 months.



Ann Arbor Builders is now taking reservations for the 22 units. More information is available on the company's website.

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The new building will be built into a hill and the plans include four floors of condos above parking, with seven condos on each floor except for the top floor, which will be one large penthouse unit.



"Every view is going to be very nice," de Parry said. "You can look to the campus and see Burton Tower. You can see the U of M stadium when you get higher up. The penthouse will offer 360-degree views of the city of Ann Arbor. You'll be able to watch the football games on the screen at the stadium. It's a one-of-a-kind unit."



Betsy de Parry, vice president of sales and marketing for Ann Arbor Builders, said the penthouse unit will be about 2,400 square feet and is priced at $1.3 million. Other units range from 1,167 to 1,394 square feet, priced from just under $500,000 to just over $600,000.



One of the unique features of the units, she said, is that they all include "tech spaces" for plugging in electronic devices without cluttering up kitchen counters or taking up space in another room.



The development site is located along the railroad tracks next to where the city eventually hopes to route a $55 million urban trail known as the Treeline, previously referred to as the Allen Creek Greenway.



The site plan for The Gallery includes an easement over the southwest portion of the property to provide an option for future trail connectivity, though the city's preferred route for the Treeline now runs down the west side of Ashley Street at that location, so the trail is not expected to go through the development site.



The development plans still include a "woonerf" for both pedestrian and vehicular traffic at the corner.

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