Special Session on Edwards Brothers: Cancelled

The special session on Feb. 10 that had been called for the Ann Arbor city council – to convene a closed session and to consider the purchase of the Edwards Brothers property on S. State Street – has been cancelled. According to a message sent out to councilmembers by the city clerk at 11:12 a.m., mayor John Hieftje has withdrawn his request to convene the special session.

The next opportunity to take up the Edwards Brothers item at a regular meeting will be at the council’s Feb. 18, 2014 meeting.  The council had postponed the question at its Feb. 3, 2014 meeting.

The question is whether to move ahead with the purchase of the 16.7-acre Edwards Brothers Malloy property on South State Street. The University of Michigan made an offer to Edwards Brothers to purchase the property for $12.8 million, but the city council is currently considering whether to exercise the city’s right of first refusal. The council will need to take action at its Feb. 18 meeting in order to meet the condition of a 60-day window after notification – or possibly convene a special meeting to consider the question.

The council will convene its work session on Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. as it had previously planned.