(Photo courtesy of Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News) A smaller carriage house that is rented out as an apartment can be seen behind the larger main house at the corner of Ann and Division streets in downtown Ann Arbor on Jan. 23, 2015.
UPDATED, 11/12/2018 – “city staff recently dropped their previous requirement that a detached ADU have its own water and sewer hookup, separate from the main house. That reduced the cost of creating an ADU by $20,000 to $30,000, Letaw said.”
READ UPDATED ARTICLE HERE: https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2018/11/ann_arbor_accessory_apartments.html
In 2016, Ann Arbor began allowing ADUs, Accessible Dwelling Units, to be built according to certain specifications.
Yet no new qualifying dwellings were built after more than a year later. It is now being talked about more,
as a free-market solution that can increase affordable housing in Ann Arbor.
A series of talks in August 2019 by an ADU specialist from Portland, Oregon, will address the challenges and will result
in a report on how to better facilitate the development of more spaces for family or non-family to rent on Ann Arbor
homeowner’s properties.
UPDATE: 8/6/2018
From Jessica A.S. Letaw
Accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, go by a lot of names; garden apartments, granny flats, carriage houses, backyard cottages, mother-in-law suites. If you’ve been trying to figure out housing for your extended family or could use a new income stream, an ADU may be a solution for you.
There’s a ticketed session August 15th (Wednesday) for building industry professionals. This is a good fit if you or someone you know would like to learn more about the technical side of ADUs, including details on zoning, permitting, and building code requirements.
Also, the following public sessions are free, but space is limited, so registration is required!
August 14th (Tuesday), 7pm – geared towards Downtown/Historic District homeowners but open to everyone
August 15th (Wednesday), 9:30am
August 15th (Wednesday), 7pm – general information session
The carriage house behind the main house at the corner of Ann and Division streets in downtown Ann Arbor. (Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News)
https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2018/07/accessory_apartments_ann_arbor.html
P.S. If you’d like to know more before deciding, check out ADUs in local media:
– MLive, “Accessory apartments are popular in other cities. Why not Ann Arbor?”
– Concentrate Media, “Accessory dwelling units create lucrative, affordable housing. Why hasn’t Ann Arbor built any?”
– or listen to my short but lively WEMU interview
P.P.S. If you’d like to understand why I’m talking about ADUs at all, you can check out Washtenaw County’s Housing Affordability and Economic Equity Analysis. It sounds dense (and is), but it’s also helpful in understanding how ADUs can help us build a more equitable community.
Leave a Reply