Plans have been introduced for a new 17-story high-rise building that, if approved, would require the demolition of the Galleria Building — home to iconic Ann Arbor arcade Pinball Pete’s, a Starbucks location, Pancheros Mexican Grill and other businesses along South University Avenue. The proposed development would be designed by Myefski Architects and include 2,000 square feet of retail space, 211 rental apartment units and 34 garage parking spaces.
Since the announcement of the plan in November, Ann Arbor community members, University of Michigan students and alumni and Pinball Pete’s fans alike have united to try to stop the development. Ann Arbor resident Ryan Jurado founded a Save Pinball Pete’s campaign that provides residents and other supporters with a pre-filled email template addressed to “questions@galleriamalldevelopment.com,” calling for the developer to spare Pete’s in their plans. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Jurado said he launched the campaign because he believes Pinball Pete’s and the other businesses in the Galleria Building hold significant value in the Ann Arbor community. According to Jurado, within the nine days following the website’s launch, more than 500 residents and 600 non-resident locals have expressed their support for the cause.
Jurado told The Daily that while he understands that the city needs more housing, it should not come at the cost of vital businesses and community gathering points.
“Galleria Mall is a really important linchpin of the South University district and in the Ann Arbor community as a whole,” Jurado said. “The problem (with the development) is not new housing whatsoever. The problem is displacing community spaces, businesses and social services.”
Pinball Pete’s first opened in the 1970s and prides itself on being a place where people of all ages and identities can come together to play a variety of arcade games.
“Pinball Pete’s is a critical point of community gathering for people of all ages, for people of all creeds, people of all backgrounds,” Jurado said. “It is just this really wonderful melting pot of the metro area around Ann Arbor, and beyond that, we would be much poorer culturally (without).”
In addition to the loss of Pinball Pete’s, Jurado said he is concerned that the U.S. Postal Office branch in the Galleria building would also be demolished. Jurado said that particular office services residents of Ann Arbor’s Ward 3. If it no longer existed, he said Ward 3 residents might have trouble finding another accessible office.
“(It’s) the only post office for all of Ward 3, which is about 20% of the residents of Ann Arbor, and will probably be more than 20% once these additional high-rises that are currently going in get built,” Jurado said. “For some of my neighbors, the round trip to the post office on public transportation could go up to over two hours if that post office location goes down.”
The proposed building is still in the early stages of planning and is awaiting approval from the city before any final decisions about development are made. Bonner Advisory Group, a real estate consulting group, is hosting a meeting on Dec. 5 at the Ann Arbor District Library for community members to voice concerns to the developers about the proposed project. However, Luke Bonner, owner of the Bonner Advisory Group, told The Daily that the location of this development will likely not change.
“In all cases where a developer is buying a property in Ann Arbor, they’re only buying properties that they know they can redevelop,” Bonner said. “In terms of location, this developer has decided to acquire this site because the property owner who’s selling it has done everything they can to sell a site that would be ready for development.”
Pinball Pete’s owner Ted Arnold told The Daily in the event that they need to relocate, Oxford Companies, the company that currently leases the Galleria Building, committed to helping Pinball Pete’s find a new property.
“We didn’t expect this and we don’t want to move, we don’t want to change, but we’re totally willing to (do) whatever it takes to remain in Ann Arbor,” Arnold said.
Arnold said he was initially blindsided by the news of the possible development as he was not told about the plans prior to his landlord releasing the information to the public.
“(Pinball Pete’s) is everything to me,” Arnold said. “It’s all I’ve ever done since I was 8 years old, so it was quite a different day when my landlord released the information about the new development and I had no idea. … I was taken totally off guard.”
In an interview with The Daily, Engineering junior Karsten Van Fossan, vice president of the Urbanism Club, said the new development would have both positive and negative impacts on the Ann Arbor community. While the relocation of Pinball Pete’s could disrupt residents’ social lives, Van Fossan said the city desperately needs more housing options.
“In Ann Arbor, we have a great need for housing, and I believe that (the new development) will really go towards fighting that problem,” Van Fossan said. “The one thing that is an issue is the potential loss of third spaces … (which are) places where you can go that aren’t your home and aren’t your work where you can build community. Pinball Pete’s is a really good example of a third space.”
Ann Arbor resident Adam VanderMolen told The Daily he grew up going to Pinball Pete’s and said, particularly for locals, Pinball Pete’s is one of the things that makes Ann Arbor special.
“Pinball Pete’s is kind of the thing to do for Ann Arbor teenagers growing up,” VanderMolen said. “It’s kind of what makes Ann Arbor Ann Arbor rather than just the University of Michigan.”
Correction 12/2: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the building project was proposed by Myefski Architects. This article has been updated to reflect that Myefski Architects is the architectural company for the development, not the proposer for the project.
Daily Staff Reporter Rebecca Lewis can be reached at rebeccl@umich.edu.