Ypsilanti

[ZachariahDaMan]

I just realized that this forum is for Ann Arbor AND Ypsilanti so why not start an Ypsi thread. I'm actually there pretty often, 2 of my brothers live there and I like walking around downtown and the historic district. So many nice houses! Feel free to use this thread to post pictures and talk about any development. If you don't know Ypsi well, you have downtown on Michigan Ave. and Depot Town. Downtown has a lot of nice architecture but unfortunately abandonment too. Depot Town on the other hand is doing very well. The historic Thompson building in Depot Town is being renovated and will have restaurants, luxury loft apartments and retail shops. I have a ton of Ypsi pictures so if there is anything you want to see then just let me know.

[egrguy]

I thought this gonna be one of your traditional photo threas Zacharia. I can't speak for the whole AA/Ypsi forum, but I would like to some photos of the city as I haven't been to that area in quite a long time.

[wolverine]

I was expecting Yypsi photos too!

Im always in Ypsilanti at night, so no daytime photos from me.

[ZachariahDaMan]

Depot Town

[ZachariahDaMan]

Downtown

[egrguy]

Thanks for the photo tour!

What is Ypsilanti's Cool Cities project that is in progress?

[wolverine]

I don't know, but there is a lot of renovations going on.

[egrguy]

http://www.easternecho.com/cgi-bin/story.cgi?1623

Looks like this was it, a 2004 cool city award winner. Was it successful? Did this project happen?

[ZachariahDaMan]

I'm not sure jdkacz but I shall find out.

Here is the historic Thompson building in Depot Town that I mentioned is being renovated.

[wolverine]

Good to see they are finally moving on that. I love Depot town.

[ZachariahDaMan]

Here is what the Thompson Block will look like when completed in fall 2007. Stewart Beal from Beal Group told me there will be 16 luxury lofts.

West Michigan Lofts

^The white building on the left through all the buildings to the right of it are apart of the lofts.

Info from gobeal.com: Beal Properties' crowning acheivement was the recent completion of the West Michigan Lofts in dowtown Ypsilanti. This project combines 5 historic buildings to house 20 loft apartments on floors 2 & 3 and a variety of retail/restaurant tentants below. The project was difficult and unique because the 5 buildings were constructed to share common elements to reduce the cost of development, even thought they will continue under separate ownerships.

He also told me about 3 other properties they have:

513 Pearl

220 N. Hamilton

15 N. Hamilton

Some random shots:

[wolverine]

I like what the Thompson block is going to look like. The red is nice (what I gather is the paint will be removed exposing the brick color)

[ZachariahDaMan]

I like the brick color too. I was really excited when I found out about the Thompson Block renovation. I hated seeing such a large building just sit there. I also love how they're adding the cornice.

[stellar]

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I moved out of Ypsi (Normal Park) 5 years ago now. Depot Town was a great alternative to the "scene" in Ann Arbor. Sidetracks was a nice place to just get a beer. I always thought downtown Ypsi could really be something special. It's looking good. I hope it continues in the right direction.

[wolverine]

I hope the best for Ypsi in upcoming development and increased retail presence in the main downtown area. One thing is, I hope it doesn't become what Ann Arbor has in the past decade. AA saw a loss in a lot of mom and pop stores for popular chain retailers who could pay the high rents downtown. Ypsi is the last hope in maintaining the unique retail environment that Ann Arbor has lost.

[stellar]

I hope the best for Ypsi in upcoming development and increased retail presence in the main downtown area. One thing is, I hope it doesn't become what Ann Arbor has in the past decade. AA saw a loss in a lot of mom and pop stores for popular chain retailers who could pay the high rents downtown. Ypsi is the last hope in maintaining the unique retail environment that Ann Arbor has lost.

[ZachariahDaMan]

Built 1859- this building has a lot of old writing on the side that is hard to make out. I took some pictures of it and am trying to find out what it says lol.

2 old pics

1900

1910

[nofunk]

Holy crap! I had no idea that Ypsi had a trolley back in the day!

[ZachariahDaMan]

Go to this link if you are down for a nice Ypsi walking tour. Lots of interest history here!

http://www.ypsilanti.org/welcome.html

Also, check out the newest issue of the Michigan History magazine, there is quite a bit about Ypsi.

[ZachariahDaMan]

I am in Ypsi really often since I have brothers there, is there anything you guys would like to see?

[ZachariahDaMan]

While doing some research on railroads I found pics and info of this train station built in 1860.

[wolverine]

Did Ypsi have two stations or was this one replaced by the historic structure we see today.

BTW, I missed this image:

I want to get these and stick them all over U of M buildings.

Zach, there is an apartment complex behind EMU near the McDonalds where there is this really really old factory. The sign is still in good condition. If you are there sometime, can you get some photos. Maybe go inside it? I think you can actually, it looks pretty open.

[nofunk]

Zach, there is an apartment complex behind EMU near the McDonalds where there is this really really old factory. The sign is still in good condition. If you are there sometime, can you get some photos. Maybe go inside it? I think you can actually, it looks pretty open.

[ZachariahDaMan]

I got those photos of the Peninsular Paper factory, Ian. I was able to go inside the little building. However my computer has some crazy viruses right now so I won't be uploading the photos for a little while.

[ZachariahDaMan]

Here we go