Luxury Car Dealership To Be Built Off Jackson Road

Morning, Ann Arbor! After a one-week hiatus, we’re back with a very full newsletter.

To start, here are some restaurant-themed quick hitters to know:

• Isalita and Mani Osteria & Bar are being sued by the U.S. Department of Labor for failing to pay workers proper overtime wages.

• Hotel Hickman Chuckwagon BBQ in Dexter has closed.

• While not officially announced, a few local Redditors believe Madras Masala is reopening at a new location on Packard. Evidence 1 and evidence 2.

Read Time: 3.5 minutes

Reader Count: 1,274 townies

Percent of Ann Arbor Reading: 1.06%

ANN ARBORITES SHOULD KNOW

🚗 Luxury Car Dealerships: Earlier this month, Oregon-based Lithia Motors received unanimous approval from Scio Township to develop a set of luxury car dealerships off Jackson Road. The project would feature BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, and Land Rover dealerships and a $1-million "electric vehicle park" with 12 Level 3 chargers for locals and I-94 travelers.

🪧 New Building Names: The University of Michigan Board of Regents met last week and agreed to rename two campus buildings currently under construction. After a $20 million gift from the Hadley family, the CCRB will be renamed the Hadley Family Recreation and Wellbeing Center. And the 2,300-bed Central Campus residence hall being built on Elbel Field will be named after E. Royster Harper, a former vice president of the university. The new dorm will be the first building on campus named after a Black woman.

💰 GIG A2: Ann Arbor is rolling out a new guaranteed-income program (GIG A2) aimed at lower-income entrepreneurs and gig workers. Funded by federal stimulus dollars and administered by the University of Michigan's Poverty Solutions team, the program will provide 100 selected applicants $528 per month for two years. To be eligible for the program, applicants must live in Ann Arbor, be at least 18 years old, and earn less than $32,805 per year (or $44,370 for two-person households). For any interested parties, there is an information session at the downtown library this Thursday and applications open next Monday.

🏊 Local Hero Honored: Earlier this month, Margarita Howes, 22, was honored by the Ann Arbor Fire Department for saving the life of a stranger who was drowning in the Huron River. On July 27, Howes administered CPR to Jamaine Atkins, 22, who had been underwater for several minutes. Her actions were credited with saving Atkins' life. Howes, now a nursing student at Eastern Michigan University, emphasized the importance of CPR training.

🏈 Michigan Football Tracker: Week 4 of 13

• Current Record: 4-0

• Current Rank: #2 in the country

• Last Saturday: Michigan beat Rutgers 31-7.

• This Saturday: Michigan plays a 3:30 p.m. game at Nebraska (2-2). The Wolverines are 18-point favorites.

MICHIGANDERS SHOULD KNOW

🚗 Retro License Plates: Two years after Michigan reintroduced the retro “Water-Winter Wonderland” license plate, Sen. Mallory McMorrow has introduced a new bill that would resurrect two additional classic state license plates: the black plate with white letters used from 1979-1983 and the blue plate with white letters used from 1983-2007.

📚 GPA Requirement: To encourage more Michiganders to attend college and simplify the admission process, a coalition of 10 state universities announced last week that they would accept any in-state high school student with a GPA above 3.0 for enrollment next fall. The participating universities are:

• Central Michigan University

• Eastern Michigan University

• Ferris State University

• Lake Superior State University

• Northern Michigan University

• Oakland University

• Saginaw Valley State University

• University of Michigan-Dearborn

• University of Michigan-Flint

• Wayne State University

🔬 Childhood Lead Testing: Michigan lawmakers have passed legislation mandating universal lead screening for young children. The new law would require physicians to test all children at 12 and 24 months, expanding current federal requirements that cover only children on Medicaid. The legislature comes after Michigan ranked the third-highest state in the country for the percentage of children with elevated lead levels in their blood in 2021.

🏡 August’s Housing Market: RealComp, a Michigan real estate data company, released a report on the state’s housing market. Last month’s year-over-year (YoY) highlights:

• Median Sale Price:

  • Michigan: +4.4% YoY ($261,000)

  • Washtenaw: +1.7% YoY ($381,950)

• On-Market Listings:

  • Michigan: -15.0% YoY

  • Washtenaw: -20.4% YoY

• Avg Days on Market:

  • Michigan: +17.4% YoY (23 to 27)

  • Washtenaw: +21.1% YoY (19 to 23)

• Closed Sales:

  • Michigan: -14.1% YoY (10,318)

  • Washtenaw: -23.5% YoY (326)

ON THE MARKET

3 Bed | 2 Bath | 1,652 Sqft | $337,900

2 Bed | 2 Bath | 1,373 Sqft | $585,000

3 Bed | 4 Bath | 3,141 Sqft | $1,049,000

ADOPTABLE HUMANE SOCIETY PETS

Chance | 1 year | Hound Mix

Toby Weldon | 10.25 years | Ragdoll

That's all for now! Have a great week in Tree Town!

- Andrew

P. P. S - To help manage Fall leaves, the City of Ann Arbor is expanding its compost collection services. Starting next week, residents will be allowed to set out 20 paper bags of leaves per collection day.

P. P. P. S. - For any U of M alumni who are locked out of their UMich emails because they missed last week’s deadline to reset their password, you can use this link to regain access to your account.

P. P. P. P. S. - In a friendly state lawmaker showdown, Michigan Republicans beat Michigan Democrats 15 - 9 in a 5-inning softball game.