After facing community criticism during an informational session hosted by the Ann Arbor City Council at the end of January, Sports Illustrated Resorts will no longer be considering Kline’s Lot for the development of a mixed-use complex in downtown Ann Arbor. Four councilmembers — Erica Briggs, D-Ward 5, Dharma Akmon, D-Ward 4, Jen Eyer, D-Ward 4 and Travis Redina, D-Ward 3 — have said they would vote against the proposal, which would need eight votes for the city to continue its review process.
The development proposed by Sports Illustrated Resorts included a hotel, conference center, restaurant space and fitness center. The company plans to propose similar developments in college towns across the country. Tuscaloosa, Ala. was announced as their first official college-town resort location in September.
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Taubman sophomore Ethan Casler said the proposed development posed a complicated question about how to best use city-owned land.
“When I first look at this, it is easy to first judge that it’s a completely bad thing,” Casler said. “A big company coming in and taking up space that could be used for housing and stuff like that, … (but) these things could also bring taxes and revenue and more interest in the city on social media and advertisements.”
The Sports Illustrated Resorts project was presented to the city as an unsolicited proposal — as opposed to entering a competitive request-for-proposal process for Kline’s Lot, which would have considered other applicants.
Akmon said in an interview with The Daily that the city does not currently have a policy to approach unsolicited proposals.
“It was an unsolicited proposal, which means that somebody came to approach the city without us making any kind of call,” Akmon said. “The city doesn’t currently have a policy for dealing with unsolicited proposals. So these developers approached our city administrator, and he worked with them to develop a deal that he thought would be favorable to the city.”
The lot is located at 309 S. Ashley St. and is named after the former Klines Department Store which was located downtown for six decades until it closed in 1994. In an email to The Daily, City Planning Manager Brett Lenart wrote that the city has been considering the development of the Kline’s Lot for the past several years, but nothing is finalized.
In an email to The Daily, City Administrator Milton Dohoney Jr. wrote the city does not have plans to solicit alternative development proposals for Kline’s Lot at this time, but it may be reconsidered in the future.
“At this time there are no firm plans to initiate a process to develop it,” Dohoney wrote. “That might happen down the road, but it would need to be initiated by the City Council.”
Akmon said she believes the Council should still consider the development of the lot given its monetary value.
“I think that it’s too centrally located and is too valuable to leave it as is,” Akmon said. “So I absolutely want to see something happen with it. I think what that is, remains to be discussed with the community and my colleagues.”
Sports Illustrated said it will still consider other options for development in Ann Arbor. If they choose to develop land that is not owned by the city, it will not come under consideration by the City Council, according to Akmon. Instead, if it conforms to zoning ordinances, their development will be subject to regular processes and review by the city’s Planning Commission.
Akmon also expressed concerns over Sports Illustrated’s reputation and stability as a brand. Parent company Authentic Brands Group laid off more than 30% of its staff when it acquired Sports Illustrated in 2019. More recently, Arena Group, the company that publishes Sports Illustrated, had its publishing rights revoked. Arena Group immediately began to lay off some Sports Illustrated staff members, while others were told they could keep their jobs for at least 90 days.
“I think that the Sports Illustrated branded hotel and conference center just doesn’t quite make sense to me,” Akmon said. “I don’t know how many people under the age of 50 really know what it is. It quickly became kind of a damaged brand, with all of the news circulating. … I don’t really see it adding to our downtown in a way that is favorable.”
Casler said he believes Sports Illustrated should work to build better trust with the community before proposing any other large projects.
“The reputation has reason for concerns in the community,” Casler said. “I do think that with any sort of big company involvement, though, there needs to be a level of trust involved. If they want to be entering this community and be a living, thriving part of it, building trust is definitely the most important thing.”
Casler said any proposals for the lot should consider how accessible the new building and resources would be to Ann Arbor residents, and what community benefits it may provide.
“You’ve got to also think about who’s going to have access to these sorts of resources with this being built,” Casler said. “Obviously, it’s going to have some price, so not everyone’s necessarily gonna be able to be willing or able to use the resort.”
Daily Staff Reporter Amanda Venclovaite-Pirani can be reached at amandavp@umich.edu.