Ann Arbor City Council approves up to $35 million in bonds to support affordable housing at 350 S. Fifth Ave.

The Ann Arbor City Council has approved the issuance of up to $35 million in bonds to support the construction of a new affordable housing development at 350 S. Fifth Avenue.

The bonds will help finance a 20-story, mixed-use building located in the heart of downtown. The site sits between Fourth and Fifth avenues at East William Street and is located near transit, the Downtown Library and other services.

It will feature about 330 units that will be targeted to low-income households (30% to 80% of the Area Median Income) along with ground-floor retail and the expansion of the Blake Transit Center.

The Ann Arbor Housing Commission, through its 501(c)(3), the Ann Arbor Housing Development Corporation, is co-developing the project with Related Midwest.

The property housed the Ann Arbor YMCA from 1960 to 2005, including approximately 100 affordable housing units. Since the building was demolished in 2008, the site has been used as a surface parking lot.

In 2018, City Council adopted a resolution directing the site to be redeveloped to maximize the quantity and quality of affordable and workforce housing. The Ann Arbor Housing Commission has since led planning efforts and selected Related Midwest as a co-developer for the project following a competitive request for proposals process.

“The Ann Arbor Housing Commission would not be able to fulfil its mission of increasing the supply of affordable housing in the City of Ann arbor without the support shown by the mayor, City Council and city staff,” said Jennifer Hall, executive director of the Ann Arbor Housing Commission. “Ann Arbor is the first city in Michigan to issue general obligation revenue bonds to develop affordable housing. These bonds will be paid back with future affordable housing millage revenue, and the city of Ann Arbor is one of two municipalities in Michigan whose residents have adopted an affordable housing millage. The other community is Kalamazoo County.”

The bond issuance represents a key step in assembling the financing for the $215 million project and advancing the city’s efforts to increase the supply of affordable housing in Ann Arbor.

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Media Contact: 

Jennifer Hall, Executive Director, Ann Arbor Housing Commission, jhall@a2gov.org