Ann Arbor : Development News

An Ann Arbor group that promotes creativity in the community has designed a traveling geodesic dome that can be used for any number of creative outlets.

The dome, 16 feet in radius, is a project of Syncytium, a group dedicated to creating large-scale, interactive art in Ann Arbor, Detroit and surrounding communities.

A2Awesome, the Washtenaw County arm of a Boston-based micro-philanthropic organization, The Awesome Foundation, awarded $1,000 to artist Amanda Sari Perez to help complete the dome, which is made out of 1.5 inch thick electrical conduit. Perez told A2Awesome that she wants the dome to be a "platform on which others in the community can express their creativity. The dome has already been a guest at Ann Arbor and Detroit Maker Faires, Figment and Lakes of Fire.

Future plans for the dome include covering it with cargo net so that it could be used as a climbing gym. Add lights and it's a great DJ stand.

“Other people,” says Perez, “may want to use it for parties, fundraisers, gatherings, or performances. They may want to hang hammocks or swings inside of it. They may want to cover it in some way, or leave it open.”

Ultimately, according to Perez, she would like to see it find a semi-permanent home where it could exist as a giant instrument, filled with cords that would trigger sound, either electronically or mechanically, when tugged or clambered upon.

Linh Song, board member of A2Awesome, where the mission is "Forwarding the interest in Awesome in Washtenaw County, $1,000 at a time, says the dome was chose as a grant recipient in June because “it’s the kind of thing that could continue to foster awesomeness for years to come. Not only will people be able to play on it at Maker Faire, which is awesome in its own right, but it’ll exist as an easily-transportable cultural asset that could be used in hundreds of different ways. We’re excited to see how it inspires people. The potential is endless.”

Source: A2Awesome
Writer: Kim North Shine

Ann Arbor-based Children's Orchard, a children's clothing, toy and furniture resale shop with dozens of stores in more than 20 states, has expanded into adult and teen clothing for men and women with Style Trader.

The first Style Trader store opened July 14 in Livonia with plans for more to come. The expansion comes as Children's Orchard's sales have increased.

In its newest venture with Style Trader, the company hopes to appeal to its base of budget-conscious consumers looking to buy gently used name brands for all ages and both genders. It's using a concept that will give traders a discount should they choose to shop as well as sell.

"Style Trader is the first upscale resale store to cater to women, teens, kids, and men all under one roof," Taylor Bond, President of Style Trader and president and CEO of Children's Orchard, says in a statement announcing the store opening.

The Livonia store is located at 11502 Middlebelt Road and is 7,500 square feet of space filled with more than 20,000 pieces of merchandise.

Source: Style Trader
Writer: Kim North Shine

A thriving Ann Arbor fundraising consulting firm has pulled together some heavy hitters as it prepares to expand and establish itself as a national player in the field of nonprofit fundraising.

Richner & Richner, which is hiring staff as it takes on more work, has attracted William R. Johnston, former New York Stock Exchange president; Stephen B. Dobson, former president of insurance company Dobson-McOmber; and William C. Richardson, former president and CEO of W.K. Kellogg Foundation and former president of Johns Hopkins University toss erve as the inaugural board.

Richner & Richner, which was formed in 1997, tailors sustainable fundraising strategies for non-profit organizations around the country by guiding them through the areas of strategy development, campaign planning, staff development and training, donor portfolio and relationship development, feasibility studies, planned giving program developments and program audits.

“The formation of our national advisory board is a watershed moment in our 15-year history,” says Cedric Richner, an Ann Arbor resident and co-founder and principal of Richner & Richner. "The three board members will help accelerate our plans to grow nationally.

The board members' combined experiences in their professions, in the non-profit sectors and with volunteerism will serve as a "catalyst for innovative thinking on how best to serve non-profit organizations interested in building true philanthropies ofculture through strategic fundraising."

 “Their counsel will challenge us to do more and be more on behalf of the client organizations we serve,” says Richner, who formed the company in his home with wife Mori Richner, both having come from development and fundraising backgrounds at the University of Michigan.

Richner & Richner set up office space in Ann Arbor in 2002 and is now located downtown Ann Arbor office, where it is growing and adding to staff this year and next.

Source: Cedric Richner, co-founder and principal, Richner & Richner
Writer: Kim North Shine

Come autumn, No Thai! restaurant will be moving to a fresher spot on South University Avenue in Ann Arbor - the ground level of the 14-story Landmark high rise apartment building at S. University and S. Forest avenues. Construction is still in progress.

"It was kind of a logical move to move to that new building," No Thai! owner Jeff Cho says. "Everything will be new and nicer, and it's in the same exact area."

The move across the street, which Cho hopes will happen in November, equates to a more than doubling in floorspace. The new configuration will have at least 40 seats, he says; the current location at 1317 S. University seats 22.

Cho is working with the architects on a "clean, modern, and comfortable space" possibly with eco-friendly options such as LED lights.

The larger location means a small chipping away at Ann Arbor's unemployment rate. Upon opening, "hopefully we should be hiring anywhere from 5-10 more employees," he says.

Source: Jeff Cho, owner of No Thai!
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

CityFARM, an Ann Arbor-based provider of urban farms and gardening services, continues to expand the fresh food supply in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and Plymouth, and is plotting out its impact on the city of Detroit. The company has installed two new gardens there and is digging deeper into the city.

Since its inception in January, CityFARM has amassed 30 garden installations, some of which are up to five beds in size, according to Lauren Maloney, business director. Maloney has partnered with real estate developer Stewart Beal in the venture.

All gardening clients have been residential thus far, Maloney says, but "I think as it gets more popular, we will see more commercial spaces with gardens." She anticipates having 50 clients by year-end. Urban packages include the design, installation, and materials to grow a season's worth of produce in a yard.

"All of the gardens I've been back to are just huge and bountiful..." Maloney says, adding, "I just went to a client last week and she had green beans and cucumbers and eggplant and basil and cherry tomatoes already, and right now, kale, and just everything bursting out of the box. She was really happy."

With each bed purchase, cityFARM installs a matching one in its donation garden at 103 N. Adams St. in Ypsilanti and then donates the produce crop to Food Gatherers. In its first year alone, the garden is already 1,500 square feet. So what happens if space runs out?

"Luckily [Beal] owns a lot of properties, including open space and lots of apartments with yards and things, so we will be able to expand in Ypsi. We'll just have to move maybe down the street a few houses," Maloney says.

Source:  Lauren Maloney, business director of cityFARM
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

It's not just beer as usual at Arbor Brewing Company tonight. The brewery will be hosting a ribbon cutting for its newly implemented solar thermal and solar photovoltaic (PV) system. Photo boards showing the system's components will be on display.

The $95,000 cost was offset by a $20,000 grant from the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority's Energy Conservation grant program, various tax credits, and incentives from DTE.

The system has a 2.4 kW solar photovoltaic array (visible from the roof of the parking structure across the street), 300 solar thermal collector tubes, and a high-efficiency tankless water heater system. Other savings will be realized from CFL and LED lighting and the installation of low-flow sprayers and occupancy sensors. It is expected that gas and electricity usage will decline by up to 40% and 15%, respectively. The project cost will be recouped in five years, according to Rene Greff, co-owner of Arbor Brewing Company.

A $250,000 project showcasing solar-thermal, photovoltaic, and geo-thermal technologies as well as new windows, awnings and energy-efficient chiller equipment is still underway at Corner Brewery, Arbor Brewing Co.'s sister brewery in Ypsilanti. A ribbon cutting is scheduled for August 29.

To the best of his knowledge, says Jarett Diamond, the company's sustainability director. "This is the largest installation of a solar panel array for a craft brewery east of Colorado." New Belgium and Sierra Nevada also have large solar arrays, but those breweries make hundreds of thousands of barrels every year, whereas Corner Brewery does under 10,000, Diamond says. "Relative to the next step up, this is very significant for the size of the brewery we're looking at."

Energy stats and savings will be available at a later date on Arbor Brewing's website, Diamond says. "The idea being this will validate our projections and demonstrate to the public at large that renewable energy is feasible, cost effective, and can work well in Michigan."

Source: Rene Greff, co-owner, Arbor Brewing Co.; Jarett Diamond, sustainability director, Arbor Brewing Co.
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

It's smooth currents for the organizers of the Huron River Water Trail, a 104-mile inland paddling route intended to improve recreational access and connect communities along the Huron, from its headwaters in northern Oakland County to its mouth in Lake Erie. The Huron River Water Trail is part of RiverUp!, a larger river revitalization initiative.

Superior Dam in Superior Township has just received a $33,000 upgrade for paddler accessibility; paddlers formerly had to wrangle an unmarked and unkempt portage. The overgrown brush around the portage has been cleared and a low deck for easier access, a new graded path, a sign, and a safer and easier put-in on the downstream side of portage have been installed. The Huron River Watershed Council (HRWC) partnered with the city of Ann Arbor, St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, Superior Township, Smith Group JJR for the design, and Michigan Hardscape for construction.

"It's the first water trail improvement project that we completed, and we're pretty excited to start getting some more experience under our belts with making these improvements on the trail, both the portages around dams and the access points for launching and landing," says Elizabeth Riggs, deputy director of the HRWC.

The HRWC now has its eye on completing the installation of wayfinding signs at key points along the river's 104 navigable miles, starting at the upstream end. Signs are starting to go up at Proud Lake and Island Lake Recreation Area. Riggs says the HRWC hopes to have all signage installed by this fall.

As funds become available, Riggs says other projects in the pipeline include installing a landing and launch point at Island Park in Ann Arbor; new portages at Ford Lake Dam in Ypsilanti Township and the French Landing Dam in Van Buren Township; and improving portage access at Flat Rock Dam in the city of Flat Rock. The existing cumbersome portage directs paddlers to a land parcel owned by Flat Rock Metal, Inc. and requires them to call ahead for a company representative to unlock a fence on the property, which runs up to the river bank.

A flipbook of waterproof maps of the entire river should be available by year-end, Riggs says.

Source: Elizabeth Riggs, deputy director,  Huron River Watershed Council
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

Hungry University of Michigan students and Ann Arborites won't have to cross too many downtown blocks to find build-to-order salads, sandwiches, and stone oven pizza. In fact, some of them will only need to go downstairs.

NeoPapalis restaurant, a new-concept offshoot of the PizzaPapalis and RioWraps chains in metro Detroit, is set to begin serving on the ground floor of the Zaragon West high-rise apartment building at East William and Thompson Streets this fall – very possibly in September, according to owner Joe Sheena.

The 50-seat quick-service eatery won't offer table service. It will have customizable choices ranging from $3 to $12 apiece on the menu and be run by green standards, including aluminum and styrofoam-free disposable ware and energy-efficient lighting and mechanical systems.

Sheena anticipates hiring 25-45 employees to staff NeoPapalis, which will be open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. seven days a week.

"I think this whole idea is geared towards being on a college campus, and what better place to try to launch off this new concept than to do it in the Ann Arbor market," Sheena says.

Source: Joe Sheena, owner, NeoPapalis
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

The electric tide is coming to Ann Arbor, and the city's downtown development authority wants to embrace it. Last week the city held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for 18 new electric vehicle charging stations placed in six city parking structures:  Fourth and William, Maynard, Ann and Ashley, Forest Avenue, and Fourth and Catherine, as well as the soon-to-open Library Lane facility.

The Ann Arbor DDA has found the usage to be higher than expected at the stations, some of which have been in place for the last month, according to Dave Konkle, the DDA's energy programs director. On average, three cars a day plug in to the 220-volt, 30-amp type 2 chargers at each station. "They can charge five times faster than the ones you plug into your own house," he says.

The stations offer free plug-ins, although normal parking fees apply. The average charge uses about 80 cents' worth of electricity, says Konkle.

The outlets were funded through a $110,000 U.S. Dept. of Energy's Clean Cities Recovery Act grant passed through the Clean Energy Coalition.

Konkle says within the next two months the DDA will be adding a link to its website showing the locations of the chargers and whether they are in use at that moment. A mobile phone app with this real-time availability information will follow.

With the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf out in circulation, and the new Ford Focus and Prius plug-in hybrid following at their heels, "Our logic was that this is certainly something that is coming and Ann Arbor needs to be ready for it," Konkle says.

Drivers can "take their electric cars and, without worrying, they can come to downtown Ann Arbor and park and plug them in and go to the restaurants or the music venues or whatever they want."

Source: Dave Konkle, energy programs director, Ann Arbor DDA
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

The beer barrels are gone, and now a think tank has moved into the walk-out basement of a circa-1894 building that formerly housed the Northern Brewery. The Forge, a new collaborative workspace open for user groups, events, and other mind-sharing purposes, has opened at 1327 Jones Drive in Ann Arbor, also home to Tech Brewery.

The Forge is also the first office space for Pillar Technology, a Brighton, Mich.-based tech consultancy that employs 45 in Michigan, 45 in Ohio, and another 30-40 in six states around the U.S., according to Pillar Technology CEO Bob Myers.

"We have more work than we have people, so we could probably add anywhere from 20-30 people if we could find the talent," Myers says, adding, "So there'll be a lot of training and instruction and community events where we're helping people to learn how to do IT and put them to work."

The roughly 4,000 square-foot space can field about 30-40 workers. The company renovated the interior from scratch, installing windows, a stairwell, a kitchen area, enclosing the walls, and furnishing it with big screen TVs and collaborative-style furniture made by Steelcase.

There is no charge to use the facility, "but there's gotta be a purpose. You've gotta be in here trying to accomplish something to advance the cause ... that's what the only requirement is," Myers says.

The cause being? "The cause is innovation and bringing innovation to the area, creating jobs, helping people to figure out what constraints are real and which ones are perceived, and breaking those off. Innovation and incubation, really a place to go where you can learn and fail and it's okay. Just to really better yourself."

Source: Bob Myers, CEO, Pillar Technology
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority board's vote last week to release funding for all WALLY (Washtenaw and Livingston Railway) expenditures means the station design phase will now get underway. The total AATA budget for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2012 was $230,000, most but not all of which will be applied to the station design, says Michael Benham, AATA's special assistant for strategic planning.

WALLY is a planned 26-mile north-south stretch of commuter railway spanning from downtown Howell to Ann Arbor. The rail line would run on existing track largely owned by the Great Lakes Central Railroad. The end point in Ann Arbor, however, is yet to be determined. Track ownership changes on the city's north side to the Ann Arbor Railroad, which has objected to providing passenger service, according to Benham.

The Great Lakes Central Railroad terminates in the Plymouth and Barton Road vicinity. That stop could serve the U-M Medical Center, the North Campus Research Complex, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other employers, Benham says, but, "Ideally we'd continue to go downtown and then that would open up a whole separate market for the service, namely the downtown businesses."

Site evaluation and station design work will start in either start late summer or fall, after contract negotiations with the design consultant are complete, Benham notes. Once design work is done, the next step, assuming continued public support, would be to develop management plans in preparation for a federal funding grant request.

Meanwhile, 24 rail cars, many of which are intended for use on the WALLY line, are being rehabilitated by the Great Lakes Central Railroad. "That project continues to move along. Those cars recently passed some federal tests that qualified them for service."

Whether WALLY will evolve past the design phase remains to be seen. The project, Benham says, is in the "out years" of Washtenaw County's 30-year transit master plan. "It's something we need to do the development work on now in order to prepare a fit for possible implementation in the future. So we're kind of taking it one step at a time."

Source: Michael Benham, AATA's special assistant for strategic planning
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority board's vote last week to release funding for all WALLY (Washtenaw and Livingston Railway) expenditures means the station design phase will now get underway. The total AATA budget for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2012 was $230,000, most but not all of which will be applied to the station design, says Michael Benham, AATA's special assistant for strategic planning.

WALLY is a planned 26-mile north-south stretch of commuter railway spanning from downtown Howell to Ann Arbor. The rail line would run on existing track largely owned by the Great Lakes Central Railroad. The end point in Ann Arbor, however, is yet to be determined. Track ownership changes on the north side of Ann Arbor to the Ann Arbor Railroad, which has objected to providing passenger service, according to Benham.

The Great Lakes Central Railroad terminates in the Plymouth and Barton Road vicinity. That stop could serve the U-M Medical Center, the North Campus Research Complex, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other employers, Benham says, but, "Ideally we'd continue to go downtown and then that would open up a whole separate market for the service, namely the downtown businesses."

Site evaluation and station design work will start in either start late summer or fall, after contract negotiations with the design consultant are complete, Benham notes. Once design work is done, the next step, assuming continued public support, would be to develop management plans in preparation for a federal funding grant request.

Meanwhile, 24 rail cars, many intended for use on the WALLY line, are being rehabilitated by the Great Lakes Central Railroad. "That project continues to move along. Those cars recently passed some federal tests that qualified them for service."

Whether WALLY will evolve past the design phase remains to be seen. The project, Benham says, is in the "out years" of Washtenaw County's 30-year transit master plan. "It's something we need to do the development work on now in order to prepare a fit for possible implementation in the future. So we're kind of taking it one step at a time."

Source: Michael Benham, AATA's special assistant for strategic planning
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

Look at the grounds of many elementary schools around Ann Arbor, and besides the standard-issue playground equipment and flora, you'll see another type of landscaping: edible gardens.

"To the best of our knowledge, there are eight or nine school gardens at the elementary level," says Elissa Trumbull, a founding board member of Agrarian Adventure, an Ann Arbor nonprofit that supports school gardening and food production efforts. The Ann Arbor Preschool and Family Center also has raised garden beds, while Tappan Middle School has a garden, fruit trees, and a passive solar greenhouse.

"The growth in school gardens that we're seeing in Ann Arbor Public Schools is reflective of what we're seeing on a nation-wide level," she adds.

There is no count of aggregate food production between all the schools, Trumbull says. Crops are being used for class lessons, special events, and donations to food gatherers and food pantries.

The produce grown is not currently being served in cafeterias. In a pilot program last year, salad greens and radishes grown for 7th grade coursework at Tappan Middle School were served in all the middle school cafeterias in the Ann Arbor district. "That is unprecedented in the country as far as I know, working with a district of this scale [that already has] a contracted food service provider," she says. The district contract with Chartwells.

"Nationwide, school gardeners are convening and working towards finding safe and healthy ways to have school garden-grown food included in school lunch programs."

Source: Elissa Trumbull, founding board member of Agrarian Adventure
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

Instead of Belgian waffles at 217 S. Fourth Ave. in downtown Ann Arbor, it'll be eye candy in the form of bikes from Italian, Swiss, and American companies on offer at the new Transition Rack bike shop. A previous deal to open a waffle shop in the space fell through, making room for the specialty bikes to move in.

Majority owner Will Jurkowski, who has been running Transition Rack from a lower-level space below Afternoon Delight on E. Liberty St. since January, is more than doubling his shop size with the new location. The store specializes in triathlon, road, and cyclocross bikes made by BMC, Colnago, and Quintana Roo, as well as shoes, helmets, gloves, and other accessories.

The shop also has a fitting studio and large repair area. It's open Monday through Saturday to start; Sunday hours may be added, Jurkowski will likely hire more staff, but is still determining needs.

"We want it to be a welcoming atmosphere, [where] anyone can come and learn about bikes, whether they're a beginner or they're experienced ... We all had help when we began doing triathlon and cycling, and that we'd like to pass that along to everyone else who is interested," Jurkowski says.

Source: Will Jurkowski, owner, Transition Rack
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

The University of Michigan has opened a new energy-efficient Modular Data Center, the very first of its kind in the nation.

What distinguishes the new center from others is its modular design and a cooling system that uses ambient outdoor air (when the temperature is below 80 degrees) to cool the equipment, rather than the costly process of using recirculated chilled air for cooling, according to Andy Palms, director of communications systems and data centers at U-M.

The center was built to lower the cost of computing for researchers and to be more environmentally friendly, Palms says.

The $6 million center at 2901 Baxter Road in Ann Arbor is the size of three shipping containers. "Typically you used to look at data centers in terms of how many square feet they have, just pretty much like any building ... but now what's become more important is the electrical capacity of the data center," Palms explains.

The new center has a one-megawatt capacity. In total the entire university consumes about 85 megawatts of electrical capacity. Compare that with another data center built earlier at the university, which cost $20 million and consumes two megawatts of power.

"When [the Modular Data Center] is full, we are expecting that the charge for electricity will be about $600,000 per year, but in a traditional data center we'd expect our electrical bill to be about $1.2 million a year," Palms says.

Its modular construction leaves room for two more pods to be built onsite. "Hopefully our researchers will receive more grants and will need more capacity, and we could, at least at this particular location, add two more of them." And with technology changing at whirlwind speed, "it might be that future modules that we purchase might have even more efficient cooling in them," he adds.

Source: Andy Palms, director of communications systems and data centers at U-M
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

A tour of the facility at 2901 Baxter Road will be held for U-M faculty, staff, and researchers on June 14 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.