PITTSFIELD TOWNSHIP, MICH. — Gibbs Planning Group has proposed Sutherland Square, a neighborhood multifamily development in Pittsfield Township, just south of Ann Arbor. The walkable community will feature cottages, loft and townhomes, apartments, duplexes and larger family homes with varying price points and amenities as well as shops and offices clustered around a town square. Many of the homes will be designed for the “missing middle,” which refers to affordable housing options for renters and buyers. The proposed community is fully engineered and shovel ready.
The neighborhood will be the Ann Arbor area’s first new urban community and one of only 10 built in Michigan in the post-World War II era, according to Gibbs. Sutherland Square is based on the concepts of New Urbanism, a planning movement co-founded by Robert Gibbs to promote traditional neighborhoods as an alternative to suburban sprawl. Traditional neighborhoods offer a variety of housing options all located in a walkable village setting.
Sutherland Square will be located along State Road, four miles south of downtown Ann Arbor and nearby to the University of Michigan and Google office. Housing choices will include options for young, first-time renters, families, empty nesters and retired seniors. Sutherland Square will provide a combination of up to 200 single-family homes, apartments, townhomes and duplexes.
The project will be situated on 20 acres of the historic Sutherland-Wilson centennial farm originally settled by the Sutherland family in 1832. The Sutherland family home and farm buildings have been preserved as a museum and are operated by Pittsfield Township. A monument honoring the Sutherland family will be placed in one of the community’s parks.
Development for Sutherland Square has received all necessary approvals from Pittsfield Township for construction of a special planned community. All utilities are in place. The project team includes Gibbs Planning as town planner, Eaton Group as developer and Giffels Webster as engineer.