If there is any truth to cliché about "the elephant in the room," then that elephant is the Water Street project in Ypsilanti.
City officials are speaking to a number of developers about taking on the development and are keeping a very open mind about what can be built there. Whoever does end up taking on the project will end up with a "signature project," according to Karen Hart, Ypsilanti's planning and development director.
"We are looking at it more broadly," Hart says. "We are willing to partner with anybody. Who knows what will go there, but we want it to be urban, attractive and taking full advantage of the river."
The story of the Water Street project has been more rough seas than smooth sailing since its inception a few years ago. The city took out $32 million in bonds to assemble the large chunk of acreage between downtown and Depot Town. The land is bordered by East Michigan Avenue to the north, Park Street to the East and the Huron River to the south and west. It served mostly as an industrial area for decades, although a few of the 42 parcels were old commercial and residential properties.
The city hoped that bundling the properties together would make it easier for a developer to put in new residential housing and commercial space. The taxes from that development would then pay off the debt the city incurred, a common strategy employed by cities across the country. A public trail is planned along the greenway.
However, the company that had planned to develop it pulled out last year due to the struggling economy. The city risks losing more than $1 million in grants to clean up the 38 acres of brownfield if a new one isn't found soon.
Source: Karen Hart, planning and development director for Ypsilanti
Writer: Jon Zemke
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