In anticipation of the September 8, 2026 City Council meeting, members of the public have pointed out the absurdity of placing one particular item on the “Consent Agenda”, among items that are not expected to prompt discussion.
CA-21 (26-1479) Resolution to Approve a Purchase and Sale Agreement for the Kline’s Lot (8 Votes Required)
In approving this agenda item, elected leaders will reject community priorities for one of the most valuable publicly owned parcels in the city. City Council members have offered a fictional narrative for how and why the Kline’s lot should be sold. Fortunately, the community does not have to accept a fictional narrative— the facts exist in public records.
PUBLIC PROPERTY FOR PUBLIC PURPOSES
A prior City Council directed that ten under-utilized City parcels should be assessed for the potential development of affordable housing. In 2020, the city’s Housing Commission director, Jennifer Hall identified the Kline’s lot as HIGH priority. See page 2 of the report “Analysis of the Financial Feasibility of Developing Affordable Housing on Under-utilized City-owned Property (Updated May 2020)”. The Kline’s lot is listed as “S. Ashley & William surface parking lot.”
https://a2gov.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=8643648&GUID=B99B0D4A-D4DA-48A4-9A4F-B0740EB1894A
In May 2021, a commissioned report highlighted the results of significant public engagement: maximize affordable housing units, activate the ground floor, understand long term parking needs, consider the needs of downtown businesses. Starting on page 76 (slide 80):
https://a2gov.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=9448604&GUID=03BA75F5-C897-4942-AB5C-FF5DADC2DA3D
Six months after the seating of a unanimous City Council endorsed by Mayor Christopher Taylor, there was a drastic shift in priorities. In April 2023, City Administrator Milton Dohoney told Council: “I also want to pursue taking what we call the Kline lot which was assessed at $19 million some years ago and I would like to see us pursue putting a market rate development on it”
VIDEO: Ann Arbor City Council Meeting 4/17/2023 time stamp 57:42
https://www.youtube.com/live/oaYHCuOpXPg?si=KOW_M7eIafUPVcnb&t=3462
In July 2023, Dohoney began negotiations behind the scenes with a former employee representing developers who wanted to build a Sports Illustrated Resorts conference center on the Kline’s lot. In October 2023 – presumably in anticipation of a deal with SI Resorts – the property was appraised for $16.9 million, a good bit less than Dohoney’s earlier statement that it was worth “$19 million some years ago.” (The 2023 appraisal is attached to this week’s agenda item.)
In November 2023, FOIA requests exposed the behind-the-scenes negotiations with SI Resorts. The deal was eventually abandoned when the bare minimum of Council members – four – expressed opposition to the deal. Mayor Taylor and Council Members Lisa Disch, Ayesha Ghazi Edwin, Chris Watson, Cynthia Harrison, Jenn Cornell and then Council Member Linh Song never expressed any opposition to the deal. More on that here:
VIDEO: Few Things Considered: Sports Illustrated Resorts Ann Arbor
https://youtu.be/RpiwXgqymr8
In the aftermath of the public outcry over the SI Resorts idea, Council approved the use of a private broker, so that a potential deal to sell the Kline’s lot would not happen at City Hall and communications would not be accessible via FOIA requests. More about that here:
https://a2elnel.com/post/from-public-process-to-private-broker-selling-and-developing-the-kline-lot/
In February 2025, Council unanimously approved a $700,000 brokers agreement, to pay a consultant to manage the sale of the Kline’s lot and 415 W. Washington. This consultant arrangement guaranteed that bids for the Kline’s Lot (and 415 W Washington) would be collected and terms of sale would be negotiated outside of City Hall, out of reach of FOIA requests.
https://a2gov.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7129541&GUID=A9506F67-3329-40D6-9596-E0A535A33A6A&FullText=1
At a work session in July 2025, options were discussed. Council Members Ghazi Edwin and Cornell were absent. Council Member Cornell represents Ward 5, where the Kline’s lot is located.
https://a2gov.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=M&ID=1318466&GUID=335642EA-B8C8-4924-8C83-2EF27A401CFB
GASLIGHTING & MISINFORMATION
This week, Council Member Erica Briggs told a constituent that “at the recommendation of our Housing Commission Director, Council determined that the site wasn’t a good candidate for affordable housing.” There is an extensive public record of the parcel being assessed and recommended for affordable housing. There are many public statements from the Housing Director, Jennifer Hall, confirming its suitability for affordable housing, identifying it as “high priority” for affordable housing. Hall found the Kline’s lot to be every bit as suitable for affordable housing as the Y lot – the Kline’s lot is eligible for all the same sources of funding, it could be used to develop 400-600 units and, according to Hall, it has “no negative site issues.”
The Housing Commission director, Jennifer Hall, has made no public statement (written or otherwise) recanting her own past statements. Why? Because she would look foolish. The facts have not changed. What changed? City leadership. A unanimous City Council has landed on a narrative that depends on Hall’s seal of approval. There is not a voice of dissent to challenge the new narrative. Council Members are comfortable speaking on Hall’s behalf, knowing she can not speak up or contradict them. How could she?
A previous City Council committed this public asset to the public purpose of affordable housing and then invested in significant community engagement to confirm that priority. Community engagement identified competing interests that must be balanced: the desire for affordable housing and the need for parking for downtown merchants. In selling the Kline’s lot for private, luxury housing, City Council delivers neither. Under this City government, what the community wants from a public asset doesn’t matter. Ms. Hall’s assessment of its suitability for affordable housing was easily set aside.
When Council discusses the sale of the Kline’s lot, they are likely to emphasize how thoughtfully the decision was considered in the last three years. That thoughtful consideration actually happened seven years ago, before any of the current Council Members were seated. Thoughtful consideration stopped abruptly in November 2022.
Just six months after Mayor Taylor achieved his unanimous Council, strategies shifted to secretive behind-the-scenes negotiations, outside of public view and outside of any public records that could ever be accessed via FOIA request. Since November 2022, City Council has methodically removed opportunity for public discussion of how the Kline’s lot would best meet community needs. In a newsletter to constituents, Council Member Briggs reflects on the history of this property and made the remarkable statement that in 2024, “Council proposed utilizing a broker to increase transparency.” Up is down and down is up.
In questions to the agenda this week, Council Member Akmon asked staff to provide a “brief summary of the public and stakeholder engagement conducted to date.” The list provided by staff included three unanimous City Council votes, one Council work session, meetings with the Main Street Area Association and one meeting described vaguely as a “stakeholder roundtable.” In other words: there has been no public engagement. The robust public engagement that happened previously, has simply been rejected.
Instead of transparency and public engagement, City leaders offer alternative facts and an alternative reality. The gaslighting is aggressive and persistent. They pretend that there was never any discussion about (or commitment to) maintaining the Kline’s lot in public ownership. Council members pretend that the public never offered its own priorities for the lot. Most appalling: City leaders would have us believe that we simply cannot afford to maintain public assets in public ownership.
WHY THIS MATTERS
One of Ann Arbor’s greatest resources is an educated community of residents who care. The decision this week illustrates exactly what happens when the people elected as representatives are not actually interested in the job of representation.
Current elected leaders behave as if Ann Arbor is economically depressed, desperate for any infusion of cash. The sale of city property to investors will bring tax revenue. For the current City Council, tax revenue is now the highest priority, above anything else that the community might value— every policy decision is now considered through that lens.
Regarding the Kline’s lot, specifically, you can follow the history of how City Hall shifted from a community-driven government to an investor-driven government here:
VIDEO: Few Things Considered: Affordable Housing & “Other Initiatives”
https://youtu.be/hIw3Ze-g5PQ?si=hBWWprtiDatBgj9C
Residents cannot assert priorities or raise concerns, because every decision depends on tax revenue, i.e. what investors want. City Council reminds us that we must simply create the most favorable conditions for the investors, our saviors. City Council will sell out the City until there is nothing left to sell.