High Rise Construction Hits $22 Million Mark

'Topping Out' Activity

Two high-rise apartment buildings being built in Ann Arbor were "topped out" this week, receiving final framing members which indicate the maximum height of the buildings. They are (top) Ann Arbor's tallest building, the 18-story University Towers building built on S. University Ave. at S. Forest Ave., and the 10-story luxury apartment building, called Riverside Park Apartments, now being built at 1050 Wall. The two structures are estimated to be worth a total of $6.3 million. 

High-Rise Construction Hits $22 Million Mark

A luxury apartment building 10 stories high, which is being built at 1050 Wall, was "topped out" yesterday. It joins a number of recently completed, planned, and partially finished high-rise construction buildings in the city. 

Those three categories come to the total of $22 million. Here's the rundown: 

The luxury apartment building called Riverside Park Apartments, $2.3 million; 

The existing 10-story Maynard House, $1.7 million; 

The existing University Physics and Astronomy Building 12 stories high, $3.2 million; 

The planned Ann Arbor Inn a 201-room downtown hotel 13 stories high, $4 million; 

The planned Bell Tower, a revised campus area hotel of unknown height, $2 million; 

A planned 21-level apartment building on N. Fourth and E. Ann, $3.8 million; and

The 18-story University Towers now being built at a cost of $4 million on S. University Ave. and S. Forest Ave. 

The 21-level apartment building would be erected only if the City Council agrees to rezone the site from C2B to C2A.

"Topping out" of Riverside Apartments is a term used by the trade to indicate that the topmost framing member has been put into place and the building's final height has been reached. 

The "topping out" was marked in an on-the-scene ceremony yesterday, followed by a lunch at the Ann Arbor Town Club. 

A. Clark Pardon, one of the principals of Riverside Park Associates, said that 30 of 60 apartments consisting of 313 rooms have been leased. Rentals range from $185 to $450 a month.  

Riverside Park's work in redevelopment of the south side of Wall with the $2.3 million apartment and a $1 million 104-bed specialized medical care unit drew the plaudits of Mayor Pro-Tem O. William Habel and former Mayor Cecil O. Creal. 

Riverside Park's two Wall St. developments and property holdings were estimated at $3.5 million by Pardon and he and his associates indicate they favor additional redevelopment of the area, which is adjacent to the Huron River. 

A comment from a separate "quarter" came from a local anonymous land expert yesterday.

He considers the city to be "lucky" to get high-rise apartment buildings downtown because of the high taxes they pay to the city, schools, and county, but said the city can expect to get "very few" such buildings. The reason, he said, is because such structures are not as profitable as walk-up buildings.

There is another point too in the eyes of the expert. He said that private enterprise has met the apartment market demand in Ann Arbor and that by this time next year the buyers' market will have developed.