2 Monday, June 11, 2007 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com City gives go-ahead to destroy Anberay 10-story complex to replace historic apartment building By CHRISTINA HAMATI For the Daily The Ann Arbor City Council sealed the fate of the East Univer- sity Avenue apartment complex Anberay by unanimously vot- ing last Monday to grant its new owner permission to demolish the 84-year-old building for the con- struction of a larger complex in its place. Anberay's owner, Chicago- based real estate company Zara- gon Inc., bought the building - better known to students as Melrose Place - earlier this year and then soon after announced plans to raze it to make way for a taller apartment complex, parking garage and retail space. Zaragon president and Univer- sity alum Rick Perlman said the new 10-story building would pro- vide more, better quality student housing. "It's going to be great," Perlman said in an interview. "The new building will be great for this uni- versity and great for this city." Zaragon plans to begin con- struction this fall. Maggie Ladd, executive direc- tor of the South University Area Association, agreed that Zaragon's proposed development will benefit the city. "There are 21 units in that building now, compared to the 66 units Zaragon plans to put in," Ladd said. "That's an equivalent of around 250 people - people who would be shopping and eating in the South University area." Jill Thacher, a historic preser- vation coordinator in Ann Arbor, said she objects to Zaragon's plan to demolish Anberay. She explained that the only reason the 84-year-old building isn't pro- tected as a historic landmark is because in 2001, the court ruled that the building wasn't located in a historic district. "There's no doubt this is a his- toric building," she said. "I'd much rather see the building maintained or restored. It has a lot of charac- ter." Thacher's cited the book "His- toric Buildings of Ann Arbor," which includes Anberay, as proof of the building's historic value. Anberay was designed in 1923 by architects Albert J. J. Rousseau and George W. McConkey and was home to many notable University figures, including late Michigan football coach and athletic direc- tor Fielding Yost, the book says. LSA junior Stephen Hickner, who lives in Anberay, agrees that the complex should be saved. "It's really old and showing a lot of wear and tear," he said. "It definitely needs renovation. But if they could find a way to renovate it and keep the fagade, that would be great. I wish (the new building) was going to have more character and not look like every other new building." Perlman and Ladd do not acknowledge Anberay as a histori- cal building that merits preserva- tion. "Just because a building was built in the 1920's doesn't neces- sarily make it an architectural gem," Ladd said. "The building is not in a condition where renova- tion is an option. It's not economi- cally feasible to renovate it." "It's an old building that isn't historically significant," Perlman said. "It's an energy guzzler and it's in terrible condition - it needs new walls, roofs, courtyards, everything." For LSA junior Arthur Shtern, Anberay was more than just a temporary residence during his college years. He said he had a personal connection to the build- ing because many of his relatives See ANBERAY, Page 3 a2ey a 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com IMRAN SYED DAVID GOH Editor in Chief Business Manager CONTACT INFORMATION Newsroom s Ofres. hou2s 734-763-2459 NewsTips nws@nicfigandaiycom Corrections corrections@michigandai ycom LtterstotheEditor thedaily@ichigandaiy.com PhntographynDepantmentnhoo icianaiy, o 734-7640533 Arts Section mchartspage@mnichdgazdail.com Editorial Page opinionymichg anidy.corn 734-764-6136 Sports Section sports@ntichiartdaily corn 734-764-8585 DisplaySales dailydisplay@gmailcom Classified Sales dailyclassified@gmaitcomn Online Sales temdoaline@gmacom Finance dinanc gn con EDITORIAL STAFF Jessica Vosgerchian Managing News Editor vo sge rc h iana ntmichigantda i y. comr ASOIAEEDITORS: Emily Angell, Emily Barton, GaryGraca EditoralPageEditor graca@mnichigantdaily.comn ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Emmarie Huettemen Dan Feldman Managing Sports Editor feldanichigandaly.com ElieZwiebel ManagingArtsEditor zwiehe @michiiga ndall ycon ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Anna Ash Shay Spaniola ManagingPhoto Editor spa niol a@mrnichzigandai. com Lisa Gentile ManagingDesign Editor Jessica toullion ManagingOnlieEditor BUSINESS STAFF Tiffany Lin Display Sales Manager Benjamin Schrotenboer Display Special Projec ts Manager David Goh Online Sales Manager Robert Abb I-aou /Producion Manager CASTING CALL! 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