The automobile company has received a $2.5 million incentive to expand, adding 50 jobs over five years.
By Autoviva.com
Ann Arbor based SPARK helped Hyundai secure the $2.5 million from the Michigan Strategic Fund.
The Hyundai-Kia Technical Center in Superior Township off Geddes Road is currently home to over 170 employees. The $15 million dollar expansion is expected to add 50 jobs to the center. With the $2.5 million from the MSF, Hyundai will be able to complete the expansion much more quickly then originally anticipated.
The expansion will add a multimillion dollar environmental chamber, called a Hot/Cold Weather Dynamometer test facility used to test extreme weather conditions.
More information on this story can be found at annarbor.com.
The most familiar of all coffee house chains, Ann Arbor Starbucks locations do not disappoint.
The Main St. Location
Residents of Ann Arbor benefit from several Starbucks locations, State St. and Main St., and many more in the surrounding area.
While other cafes and coffee shops featured here have had their individual qualities that set them apart from the main stream or even just from this model, Starbucks is still the most successful and for a reason.
If waiting for slow brew or fresh ground beans is not something you’re interested in or can’t wait around for, Starbucks is a perfect location to get a cup of joe on the go. Strong and flavorful, a cup of coffee from Starbucks is probably the most consistent you’ll find.
Of course, for the exploratory drinker, the person who like espresso, cappuccino, frapes or whatever else is available, Starbucks may again be your destination of choice. With a large menu and options in cold and hot it’s likely you’ll always be able to find something you like here.
Starbucks is without a doubt the place for consistency and quality. It lacks the homey feel an independent and usually has a higher employee turn over (if consistent service is something you enjoy).
On Friday’s Late Night Show with Jay Leno, Jason Segel opened up about this experience and time in Ann Arbor.
Calling it “the best time of his life” Jason Segel praised Ann Arbor as a wonderful place where he and the crew of The Five Year Engagement were able to become extremely close.
He joked about the cold and having to do nude scenes with hundreds of U-M students looking on, cameras out.
Last week experts met to discuss the social dynamics and use of public space in downtown Ann Arbor.
The speaking engagement was part of Concentrate’s four part speaking series, “Great Places” which engages the Ann Arbor community and focuses on the growth and use of public space downtown Ann Arbor. Bob Gregory, President of the Detroit 300 Conservancy and Kirk Wetsphal urban researcher and filmmaker addressed the following questions and more:
How do you create a public space that’s safe, well maintained, and social?
What makes it welcoming?
Why do some spaces inspire use and others sit idle?
What is the effect on the surrounding neighborhood?
About the Speakers
“Bob Gregory is Senior Vice President for the Downtown Detroit Partnership, (DDP). As a member of the DDP’s leadership team, he is responsible for the Partnership’s planning and development initiatives including the “Live Downtown” program, transit oriented development planning in connection with the Woodward Light Rail’s greater downtown segment, retail, housing and other related planning efforts.
Bob also serves as the President of the Detroit 300 Conservancy, a private not for profit organization now directly affiliated with the DDP. He has been responsible for the development and ongoing management and programming of Campus Martius Park, the $20+ million privately funded, centerpiece of Downtown Detroit.
Bob is a veteran in the urban development and real estate field, including a 20-year career with General Motors as an executive in their real estate group leading a $250 million dollar internationally recognized revitalization of their former 500 acre Headquarters district in Detroit’s historic New Center commercial, and residential neighborhood.
Kirk Wetsphal, is the principal of Ann Arbor-based Westphal Associates. His last major production was a downtown-focused documentary called The Great Street Toolkit (trailer), a follow-up to the acclaimed Insights into a Lively Downtown, which featured Ann Arbor as a case study (watch). Kirk has also recently produced films about the council-manager form of local government (watch). Before moving to Ann Arbor in 2004 and completing a masters in urban planning at the University of Michigan, he was a marketing researcher for advertising agencies in New York City. He is currently vice-chair of Ann Arbor’s City Planning Commission and also serves on the Environmental Commission and the board of the Glacier Area Homeowners Association. Kirk lives in Ann Arbor’s Second Ward with his wife and two sons.” -From Concentrate
60% of voters polled said they would favor a proposed $65 million bond to help rebuild the downtown Ann Arbor Library or replace it with a new building.
The bond would be responsible for renovation or replacing the downtown branch of the Ann Arbor District Library. A majority of voters polled by Lansing-based research firm EPIC-MRA were in favor of voting for such a proposal. Roughly 30% said they would not vote for the bond.
If passed the bond would increase property taxes by nearly five dollars a month on a property valued at or around $200,000.
As plans for the Fuller Parking garage are scrapped U-M hospital looks to build on Wall St, again.
The hospital needs the extra space badly.
Originally a very controversial plan, a parking garage on Wall St. may yet happen.
Three years ago the University of Michigan proposed a plan to build a parking garage in the middle of residential Ann Arbor on Wall St.
The plan was halted because of how hotly it was contested and the Hospital agreed to build a parking garage with the City of Ann Arbor on Fuller St. The city could not build a garage fast enough for U-M.
Now the original plan is back on the table as U-M is in desperate need of additional parking at the hospital.
While the hospital provides Ann Arbor with the money critical to growth and sustainability through the number of jobs and economic activity it generates some residents will not be pleased with this proposed growth.
For the whole article and other information visit annarbor.com.
For more information on the hospital and other Ann Arbor services visit piperpartners.com.
Serving coffee from one of the most interesting locations in downtown Ann Arbor, Comet Coffee offers a luxurious departure from the usual coffee shop.
Comet Coffee serves from inside the Nickle's Arcade, giving it a unique atmosphere.
The small little cove inside Nickle’s Arcade that accounts for the deep fragrant aroma of freshly brewed coffee is Comet Coffee.
The space is small but the coffee powerful and powerfully made. Using hand poured drips and a style called over-pour, Comet Coffee delivers a coffee that is both; made with care and presented with luster. The pour takes a bit longer than your usual trip to the cafe where the coffee comes pre-brewed from a thermos. If you can wait the extra minute or two your coffee will brewed on the spot, just for you, and just how you like it.
Not too strong, not a problem.
Black as night and strong as cement, not a problem.
Ann Arbor resident Chris Johnson had this simple praise to sum up the coffee and Comet’s process perfectly, “They brew it slower, for great coffee.”
Though a chain coffee shop, the Biggby on East Liberty in downtown Ann Arbor is a fine example of a big chain keeping it light to make it better.
E. Liberty Biggby Coffee
As a chain, Biggby Coffee is, well Biggby. There’s not much difference between the one here on East Liberty and one in suburban Canton or Livonia. The mood adjusting orange is to be found everywhere, while a generally young and friendly staff will make your drinks, coffee and other refreshments interesting names.
These things considered, the chief thing to notice about this location might just be its location. Placed directly between two downtown Starbucks locations, which are generally full, Biggby offers a great alternative to the biggest coffee chain in the world.
Don’t worry, your coffee’s not a venti and the man behind the counter wont remind you it isn’t.
Several people said that departure from the Starbucks system was their favorite thing about Biggby. Grant, of Ann Arbor, felt that, “the staff’s friendly nature is the nicest thing about Biggby, but [he] also liked that unlike Starbucks it’s not so crowded.”
Outside you’ll enjoy a bit more outdoor seating than is provided at most other downtown locations, but not much. You will be able to enjoy a view of the often entertaining Liberty Plaza and its occupy settlement.
For more information on Biggby Coffee visit their website biggby.com
Of the many coffee shops/cafes and bookstores in downtown Ann Arbor, Crazy Wisdom combines both in a holistic atmosphere right on Main St.
Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Tea Room on Main St. downtown Ann Arbor.
A first floor book store and a tearoom upstairs give Crazy Wisdom a distinct and unique vibe among all other downtown cafes. Upstairs in the tearoom you can order coffee, cappuccino, juice, and of course tea. Not just tea though but a large selection of tea, loose leaf tea to be made to order. From Jasmine to Darjeeling, you’d be pressed to place an order they couldn’t fill.
Hungry? Don’t be, Crazy Wisdom also make tasty pastries and snacks to go along with your drink of choice. Anything chocolate is particularly delicious. Want to bring your favorite flavors home? Do it, the tearoom sells a large selection of teas and coffee for you to make at home along with all of the accessories to make loose leaf tea and pressed coffee.
There are daily holistic activities in the tearoom among them psychic readings and book signings. A friendly seating arrangement gets you close and often acquainted with your coffee neighbor, but can sometimes be hard to navigate. It’s not a problem though, the friendly staff will bring your order out after you have comfortably settled in.
With so much in its favor Crazy Wisdom easily earns its place as one of the Ann Arbor Community’s favorite cafes.
For more information on Crazy Wisdom, visit their web site.
Earlier this year the Chocolate House of Ann Arbor closed its doors, the looming impact of growth and chain retail/service becomes more apparent in Downtown Ann Arbor.
The Chocolate House of Ann Arbor closed its doors in Dec.
As Ann Arbor grows and naturally the business downtown with it, many business face the unexpected and sometimes negative results of that growth.
For the most part rapid growth with a sustainable vision of the future is an agreeably positive thing. Some business in Ann Arbor are feeling the strain though as bug and recognizable chains fill in the blank spaces.
One of these establishments has been the Chocolate House of Ann Arbor. Located on Main St. between E. Liberty and 1rst, the Chocolate House had served a variety of treats and ice cream to Ann Arbor for years. Closed now permanently the Chocolate House met its demise in the wake of growing chain presence. A Starbucks down the street and three other chocolate or candy stores downtown, they were unable to keep up.
Ann Arbor has always been a place for “shop local” and while growth prevails, should hold onto that heritage.
