University of Michigan enrollment continues to grow. Enrollment increased by an average of 803 students per year from 2021 to 2025. The Ann Arbor campus broke its enrollment record again in fall 2026, reaching 54,181 students.Much of the land near campus and downtown is zoned so that buildings can be only 30 feet high, commercial uses are generally not allowed, and only a few homes can be built on a typical lot. These rules limit how many people can live within walking distance of campus and push students and other residents farther away.When the number of homes doesn’t keep up with the number of students and people working in Ann Arbor, too many people compete for too few homes. That competition pushes up rents, pricing some residents out of the city and making it harder for others to move here. It means people have fewer choices about where to live. Some must live farther away and drive in to campus.Allowing more homes near campus and downtown would help more people afford to live close to classes and jobs.

This area is an ideal place to live if you are working or studying on central campus or downtown, and it doesn't have nearly enough homes to meet demand.The area described in the resolution is within walking distance of Central Campus and downtown, where demand for housing is especially strong. Allowing more homes here would let more students and workers live near their classes and jobs, easing competition for homes in surrounding neighborhoods. This change follows the Comprehensive Plan’s direction for more housing and mixed uses in this area.​​

People are being pushed out of Ann Arbor now, and the full zoning rewrite will take years.​​​The Unified Development Code (UDC) rewrite is a citywide update to Ann Arbor’s zoning and development rules to implement the Comprehensive Plan, expected to start in November 2026 and take 2–3 years, finishing in late 2028–2029. Once adopted, the new rules will supersede these near-campus zoning changes.While it’s great that the city is rewriting the UDC, the housing shortage is an urgent problem that requires both a long-term comprehensive solution and short-term remedies. The UDC rewrite is the long-term comprehensive solution. The near-campus zoning changes are a short-term remedy consistent with the Comprehensive Plan.A few extra high-rises completed each year could double Ann Arbor’s average annual housing production. A three-year delay could mean thousands fewer homes and thousands more residents priced out of Ann Arbor.

The Comprehensive Plan followed more than two years of public engagement—from early 2024 through its unanimous adoption in March 2026—including surveys, open houses, public hearings, and multiple draft reviews. The plan says to allow a flexible mix of uses and to permit high-rises in Hub areas and in Transition areas far from land designated Residential. Now it is time to implement that direction through specific zoning rules.The Council resolution asks Planning Commission to solicit input from residents, work through the near-campus zoning details, and send recommendations to Council. The broader 2–3-year UDC rewrite will provide further opportunities for public input on the citywide rules that will supersede these near-campus zoning changes.

No. The Council resolution explicitly calls for nearby residents’ input. It states:“RESOLVED, That the City Council requests that the City Planning Commission solicit, obtain, and consider proximate resident input regarding zoning map boundaries, height limits, and other district amendment conditions.”The Comprehensive Plan established broad land-use guidelines after a public engagement process. The near-campus zoning process and the citywide UDC rewrite provide opportunities to shape the details.

Yes. The rewrite includes a citywide zoning-map update to replace most or all of the city’s existing zoning districts. The approved scope provides for resident working groups, surveys, public draft review, and feedback on code and map questions. Nothing in the near-campus resolution removes this area from that process.

Some students prefer houses. Others may choose high-rises for a shorter walk home from campus, safety, or conveniences such as in-unit laundry and on-site maintenance. Building high-rises will reduce competition for both apartments and houses by freeing up existing homes of both types.For example, Five Corners replaced nine rental houses and one apartment building—an estimated 68 beds—with 1,217 student beds. That means Five Corners added about 1,150 more beds than the housing it replaced. Those 1,150 additional beds can house the same number of people as about 290 four-bedroom houses or 190 six-bedroom houses. If even a tenth of the students living in Five corners would have otherwise lived in rental houses, more rental houses have been freed up for other students than destroyed.Estimate basis: Nine houses at an assumed 4–6 bedrooms each gives 36–54 beds. The city’s rental certificate for 736 Packard lists 14 studios, seven one-bedroom apartments, and one two-bedroom apartment: 23 beds assuming one person per bedroom or studio. Together, that gives 59–77 beds replaced, with 68 as the midpoint. Subtracting 68 from 1,217 gives 1,149 additional beds, rounded to 1,150.

The answer depends on the rules the City Planning Commission recommends and City Council adopts.Under the city’s current rules, Ann Arbor treats two kinds of short-term rentals differently:A home someone lives in. Homeowners anywhere in the city can rent out their own home short-term with a City license. For example, they might host on a football or graduation weekend.A dedicated short-term rental. Nobody lives there full-time. These are banned in residential (R) zones but allowed in some other zones, including the downtown zoning districts (D1/D2).The City can limit dedicated short-term rentals in at least two ways:Adding area-specific rules. If the City uses the downtown zoning districts (D1/D2) for the near-campus rezoning, it could add extra rules restricting short-term rentals as part of a “character overlay.” The D1 and D2 districts have many character overlays already.A moratorium on new short-term rentals citywide. In July 2026, City Council asked the City Attorney to draft a temporary moratorium on new short-term rentals while the City studies the issue.

A Planned Unit Development (PUD) is custom zoning approved for a particular project, granting more flexibility in exchange for extra public-benefit requirements.Ann Arbor already offers up to 30% additional height for developments that meet affordability or sustainability standards. These rules already provide a way to secure public benefits without negotiating a separate deal with every developer. A counterargument is that the City should require all large new developments to use PUDs so Council can negotiate stricter requirements than the existing height incentives require. But that approach has two problems:1. Rules should apply consistently.If stronger standards are warranted, the City should adopt them in its zoning rules rather than negotiate them separately with every developer. Repeated negotiations add time, expense, and uncertainty, and can lead to inconsistent treatment of different property owners. Money spent on negotiations could instead help make the project financially feasible and allow for lower rents.2. Additional requirements function like a tax on new housing.Excessive requirements can make projects financially unworkable. The Observer’s “The Last High-Rises?” described developers’ calculations under the City’s former downtown affordability requirements, adopted in 2019 and eliminated in 2023. The developer of Vic Village North and South estimated that meeting those requirements would have required 20–30% higher rents on the remaining apartments—more than tenants would pay.If high-rises don’t get built, we lose the new homes and the tax revenue they would generate. That revenue can amount to millions of dollars: the Observer reported that Vic Village South paid $2.4 million in 2025 in property-tax payments supporting the city, schools, and other public services.