Illustration by Tabitha Walters
When the postcards arrived at homes in North Burns Park this summer, residents were understandably curious. The owner of 1015 Olivia Ave., one of the largest homes in the neighborhood, had applied to the city to divide the parcel into two lots.
The existing house, an imposing five-bedroom, five-bathroom home with more than 5,000 square feet of living space, would be on one lot. The other would be rezoned R2A, meaning it could house a two-family structure.
Owner Warren Samberg’s plans showed a reconfigured driveway and a six-foot-high wooden fence separating the two lots. The original would be eighty-five feet wide and the new one fifty-two feet wide.
The topic came up among guests at the tenth-anniversary party for Argus Farm Stop at its Packard St. location. Neighbors noted that in 2023, a new two-family home was built nearby at 904 Lincoln Ave., replacing a vintage single-family house.
The buzz grew as Samberg put 1015 Olivia on the market. Initially listed at $1.979 million, the price was cut to $1.939 million in October. The fence went up, and the newly created lot was covered with freshly laid sod.
After some digging by the Observer, the Burns Park Puzzle has some answers. Although he put the house up for sale, Samberg, an architect, is keeping the lot. “I’m not looking for a developer,” he says. “I’m planning to do it myself.”
Samberg, whose projects have been featured in Architectural Digest, has designed a variety of residences and remodels around Ann Arbor, many built with sustainable materials and features.
They include 529 Elm St., a rectangular 2012 design whose green touches include rain gardens and low-flow plumbing. He also built a multigenerational home in Water Hill with red cedar siding and an interior courtyard.
Realtor John Ramirez, who is selling the existing house, could not estimate an exact value for the vacant land. Samberg expects it will be assessed in time for winter tax bills. “Land value is very hard to determine,” Ramirez says. “I’d say there’s almost no land in Ann Arbor” in such a desirable neighborhood.
Samberg, who’s looking for a client interested in having him design housing for the lot, promises not to build an eyesore: “I’m allowed to do multifamily,” he says, “but I have good taste.”
