Planning commission delays decision on 23.5‑acre Arbor South site plan after 20‑minute presentation

Developers and city staff outlined plans Thursday for Arbor South, a multi‑phase, mixed‑use redevelopment of roughly 23.5 acres at the northwest corner of South State Street and East Eisenhower, then the Ann Arbor Planning Commission voted to postpone formal action to its June 17 meeting to allow staff reviews to finish and the applicant to respond to outstanding items.

The project, presented by Jeff Hauptman of Oxford Companies and a development team that includes Crawford Hoyne and design firm Lored X Sargent, would replace most existing surface parking and several low‑rise structures with new residential buildings, ground‑floor commercial space, three multi‑story parking structures and a central plaza/park. Staff described the site as zoned TC1 (Transit Corridor District) and said the proposal is being reviewed in five construction phases. Planner Plano DeLeo told the commission the site plan covers 23.5 acres and that some department reviews remain incomplete, prompting staff’s recommendation to postpone.

The applicant described a dense, transit‑oriented scheme. Jeff Hauptman said the team is proposing “housing where there isn’t any,” a mix of affordable and market‑rate units, tens of thousands of square feet of ground‑floor commercial space and a central park that could be expanded for events. Architect Matt Cherry said the team’s guiding idea is to break the existing superblock into walkable, pedestrian‑scale blocks with ground‑floor…