McKinley plans expansion at Glencoe Crossing + apartments

March 6, 2008

Source:Greg Migliore | Ann Arbor Business Review

Thursday March 06, 2008


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McKinley Inc. wants to move ahead this spring with plans to add nearly 30,000 square feet onto the Glencoe Crossing shopping center on Washtenaw and build 60 units of apartments in an area north of the development.

McKinley asked the Pittsfield Township Planning Commission for site plan approval and a wetland permit, and for rezoning of the site in February, though the requests were postponed while the company clarifies some of the plans, which are expected to be approved.

The commercial building would be about 27,000 square feet and fill between Quiznos Sub and Starbucks in the shopping center, said Trey Caswell, executive vice president and managing director of commercial operations for McKinley.

The apartments would be multi-tenant dwellings behind the shopping center and are expected to have three bedrooms, according to site plans.

A walking path would connect the new structures to the Glencoe Hills apartments. The plan also includes a separate, 2,200-square-foot structure on an outlot near Washtenaw Avenue.

The development is being presented as a mixed-use project to Pittsfield Township officials, and Caswell said they will complement each other.

"We're going to have to have service tenants that service those multi-family tenants," he said.

McKinley has considered different uses for the site over the last five years, including listing it for sale for $3.21 million in 2003. The company had been seeking a developer to build up to 107 condos.

Caswell said he has a letter of intent signed with an unnamed tenant for the outlot building, and is looking to get national tenants to take space in the larger addition.

Other tenants at Glencoe Crossing include Ichiban, a Japanese steak house and sushi bar, Dollar General, Comcast and Dynasty Buffet.

The center a gross leasing area of 94,118 square feet. It had four vacancies totaling 17,056 square feet, or an 18.1 percent vacancy rate, in February, according to a listing. Rents listed for $14 to $18.

The development would impact less than a tenth of an acre of wetlands on the site, and preserve about 17.69 acres, the township said.

The additions to McKinley's Glencoe properties would bolster an already strong mix of shopping centers and apartments on Washtenaw Avenue. The strip is midway between the campuses of the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University.

McKinley expects to come back to Planning Commission this month and could have its plans reviewed by the Township Board of Trustees in April.

"In general, we look favorably on the project," said Paul Montagno, Pittsfield Township senior planner.

David Esau of Cornerstone Design Inc. in Ann Arbor is did architectural work for the site. The project has not been bid out yet to contractors, and construction costs were not available, Caswell said.

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