Student life is looking up at the University of Michigan after Hughes Properties announced another high-rise development aimed at providing state-of-the-art housing for students. It looks like the days of student ghettos filled with dilapidated single-family homes are quickly coming to an end.
Case in point: University Village. The newly proposed development is promising to build two residential towers connected by a level of ground floor retail space at the southwest corner of Forest and South University streets. The developers intend to replace the Village Corner party store and a handful of small apartment buildings and houses, beginning the first phase by 2010.
The project would also strive to incorporate environmentally friendly construction techniques, materials and systems. Hughes Properties and partner Omena Real Estate Investments plan to incorporate environmentally sustainable and recycled materials, passive solar technologies, high-performance mechanical systems, advanced water recapture systems, a green roof and comprehensive recycling programs. The developers are going for LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
"This is a very unique, exciting, and noteworthy project — we are committed to building a state-of-the-art residential complex on a brownfield infill site that incorporates sustainability best practice," says one of the developers, Ron Hughes. "Everyday, students will see how green systems work through live exhibits installed throughout the building, and they will come to understand how their actions impact the environment as we share monthly energy consumption and recycling reports with our residents."
Each tower will be able to house about 850 students each in loft-style apartments. Each unit will come furnished with amenities like flat screen TVs and floor-to-ceiling windows. There will also be a café, fitness facility, business center and a landscaped roof garden. A far departure from the run down houses and apartment buildings that surround the campus and most university students have called home at one point or another.
This development, which must still be approved by the city, joins a slew of other student housing updates that are in the works. Those projects include the University's North Quad (its first dorm in 30 years), upgrades to a number of other dorms, 4 Elevel Lofts and Zaragon Place Lofts.
Source: Ron Hughes of Hughes Properties and Tracy Koe Wick, principal of Kirkwood A Marketing Group
Writer: Jon Zemke
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