Faster, Higher, Stranger
High-rises and luxury student apartments are transforming Ann Arbor’s skyline, and the streets and neighborhoods below.
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Business
Tough Break Hotel
After scathing reviews, Blue Suede’s Exhibit A2 has left the building.
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Starry-Eyed
A group of local chefs and business owners hope to lure Michelin to Ann Arbor. In April, Michelin announced its first Great Lakes edition, rating restaurants in Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis. (It has published a Chicago guide since 2010.) Michelin reviewers have begun visiting restaurants, and the guide is slated for publication in 2027.
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This Year’s Big Health Scare
The public fight between Michigan Medicine and Blue Cross Blue Shield is tormenting the patients and families who depend on them both.
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Dorro and Goliath
U-M alum Rachael Merritt and her team hope to offer an alternative to Amazon with Dorro.
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Downtown Dead Zone
The west side of the block is a kaleidoscope of historic storefronts housing Vinology restaurant, Crazy Wisdom bookstore, and half a dozen other businesses. Across the street, the vacant stone-and-glass facades of PNC and JP Morgan Chase loom over the sidewalk like silent ghosts.
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Mom Bosses of Ann Arbor
Powered by a collaborative spirit and inspired by their journey as mothers, these moms are reshaping the local business landscape.
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Innovation District?
One mysterious February morning, three modern, minimalist signs appeared on Plymouth and Traverwood roads: “ANN ARBOR INNOVATION DISTRICT” in clean white letters against gunmetal gray, along with a sciency, symmetrical symbol in simple blue.
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Data Center Traffic
Opponents of the Oracle data center in Saline Township had a laundry list of objections—electricity rate hikes, water consumption, the spoiling of the landscape. But for the moment, the biggest concern is truck traffic.
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Changing the Station
WEMU’s music director Michael Jewett and news director David Fair will retire in June.
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Rethinking Waste
Two U-M spinouts are taking the adage “waste not, want not” very seriously.
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Arbor South Moves Ahead
He was referencing Arbor South, a $588 million plan to build more than 1,000 apartments and condos, as well as a hotel, services, and public spaces, on the parking lots around the 777 Building on Eisenhower Pkwy. (“The Litmus Test,” June 2024). Proposed by Ann Arbor’s Oxford Companies and Ohio developer Crawford Hoying, it was the first response to council’s rezoning of the area for high-density development, and councilmembers had been weighing whether to support it financially for almost a year.
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Tree Town, a Truck Town?
“Most people explore the outdoors on four wheels,” says RealTruck’s chief growth officer Tony Ambroza.
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Thinking Bigger
The Downtown Development Authority’s new development plan includes up to $21 million for improvements to the Ann Arbor Farmers Market. This may come as a surprise, since in 2017, a $1.5 million plan to build a year-round pavilion on a vacant lot facing Fourth Ave. was shelved because of cost.
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Extreme Makeover: Broadway Edition
On March 16, 2020, Eunice Choi, Realtor and owner of the Broadway Party Store, confirmed a permanent closure of her business with a handwritten sign stating “We are closed … Covid 19.” Beyond the sign, sun-bleached bags of chips sat on shelves, and stocked display refrigerators stood dark.
Read MoreFor Sale: Lamp Post Plaza
Lamp Post Plaza owner Ron Marten has heard the rumors too. Although the sixty-three-year-old shopping center on E. Stadium is being sold, “it is not getting bulldozed,” he tells the Observer.
Read MoreMarketplace Closings | November 2025
Pinball Pete’s will close its South U. arcade in late November, as construction remains ongoing at its next home in the Carver-Gunn Building at 500 E. Liberty.
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Sports for Sale
After a landmark July court decision, the NCAA enabled schools to pay their athletes and removed limits on scholarships. Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manuel decided that every competing athlete would receive a full scholarship, and revenue sharing too, although the bulk of that money goes to men’s football, basketball and hockey.
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Newspaper Rescue
Ann Arbor businessman Nagabhushanam “Bobbi” Peddi has purchased the Sun Times News, a weekly paper covering Dexter, Chelsea, Milan, and Saline.
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The Observer’s Next Owner
Editor in chief John Hilton and publisher Patricia Garcia, who have owned the Ann Arbor Observer since 1986, were just beginning to think about a succession plan when the pandemic hit. They realized retirement would have to wait.
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