Ann Arbor reverses FOIA denial, releases Y Lot appraisal report

ANN ARBOR, MI – The city of Ann Arbor has reversed its decision to withhold a Y Lot appraisal report from the public.

The city released the 83-page document from Alcock & Williams LLC on Wednesday, April 18, showing the appraisal firm’s August 2017 value analysis for the former YMCA property.

The city sold the lot to Dennis Dahlmann four years ago for $5.25 million for a redevelopment that never happened, and city officials are now considering spending $4.2 million to repurchase it.

Dahlmann is suing the city to keep it, though he has offered to drop his lawsuit and return the property to the city for $5.7 million. Or, alternatively, he has offered to pay the city $1.5 million to let him keep the property without any special restrictions.

City officials have been citing market values from the appraisal report ranging from $7.7 million to $12.5 million to support the argument that the lot is worth buying back, though until now they’ve been unwilling to disclose the report containing those numbers. Read more…