Delta Gamma Project Gets Final Approval
Final approval of a rezoning request for 515 Oxford – to convert a house for use as an annex to the Delta Gamma sorority – has been given by the Ann Arbor city council. The main sorority house is located nearby at 626 Oxford. Action came at the council’s June 2, 2014 meeting. At the same meeting, the council approved the site plan for the same project. The site plan had been recommended for approval by planning commissioners on April 15, 2014.
Aerial view showing the location of 515 Oxford, south of Geddes and at the eastern end of South University.
The rezoning, recommended by the planning commission on Jan. 23, 2014, changed the zoning from R4A (multi-family dwelling) to R2B (two-family dwelling and student housing). Most of the surrounding parcels are zoned R2B, although the site immediately to the north is also zoned R4A. Also nearby is public land (PL) where the University of Michigan’s Oxford Houses complex is located.
The two-story house at 515 Oxford includes two one-story wings. It is currently a rental property with three units – a studio apartment, one-bedroom apartment, and four-bedroom apartment – and a maximum occupancy of 8 people. One of the units is in a former garage.
The renovation will accommodate a maximum of 20 residents, including a required resident manager.
The building is notable because it was originally designed in 1940 by architect George Brigham, who used it as his home and architectural studio. He designed over 40 houses in Ann Arbor, including many in Arbor Hills and Barton Hills between 1936 and 1958.
This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron.