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Ann Arbor News - New Indoor-Outdoor Restaurant Venue Opening in August

Ann Arbor News - New Indoor-Outdoor Restaurant Venue Opening in August

Monday, July 24: New indoor-outdoor restaurant, new downtown breakfast spot, swim school opens, Blank Slate production, and 95 land parcels being auctioned off

July 24, 2023

Morning, Ann Arbor! And congrats! If you’re a local, you’re living in the most educated city in the country.

Let’s all meet up at the library for a celebration/study sesh.

Read Time: 2.75 minutes

Reader Count: 913 townies

Percent of Ann Arbor Reading: 0.761%

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ANN ARBORITES SHOULD KNOW

Google Maps | @SamHillA2 Instagram

🍻 New West Side Hangout Spot: Sam Hill, an indoor-outdoor venue and restaurant with lawn games, live music, and craft cocktails opens next month at the former Standard Bistro and Larder location (5827 Jackson Road). Named after a famously foul-mouthed 19th-century Michigan surveyor, Sam Hill sits on a six-acre property with a full-service restaurant, seasonal beer garden, brick paver patio, and designated lawn games space. To follow along, here’s a link to Sam Hill’s Instagram.

🍳 Downtown Eggs: Iggy’s Eggies, a Detroit-based restaurant known for customizable breakfast sandwiches and smash burgers, is opening a second location in Ann Arbor later this year or early 2024. Iggy’s Eggies will be taking over the former Salad’s Up location at 611 E Liberty Street. Salad’s Up closed earlier this year for repairs and never reopened.

🤿 Swim School: More than a year after a shopping plaza fire halted construction, Big Blue Swim School is opening this week. Through group classes and private training, the swim school offers 30 and 45-minute swim lessons for kids between 3 months old and 12 years old.

🍦 Ice Cream Production: To keep up with demand, Blank Slate is opening a 3,200-square-foot production facility at 7879 Jackson Road. Currently, Blank Slate uses 500 square feet of its Ann Arbor location to produce ice cream for its Ann Arbor and Brighton locations. While the new production facility will not offer ice cream by the scoop, Blank Slate hopes to use 5% of the new space to sell pints and other retail items. Additionally, Blank Slate will use the new production facility to enter the wholesale market.

🎸 Thursday’s Sonic Lunch: Devon Gilfillian

Listen: Spotify or Apple Music
Style: Soul, Hip-Hop, R&B
Top Song: “Troublemaker” with 9.8 million plays
Popularity: 400,000 monthly Spotify listeners
Today’s Concert: 11:30 am - 1:30 pm on the corner of Liberty and Division in downtown Ann Arbor

MICHIGANDERS SHOULD KNOW

Michigan DNR

🌲 Land Surplus Sale: Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources has selected 95 parcels of land to sell via online public auction. The undeveloped land parcels are located in a dozen counties (most in the upper peninsula or northern lower peninsula) with sizes ranging from under an acre to 200 acres. Starting on August 3, parcels will be auctioned off by the county. Here’s an 81-page PDF showing all available parcels (skip to page 43 to see aerial photos).

💼 State Unemployment: With a net gain of 23,000 jobs in June, Michigan’s unemployment rate has dropped to 3.6% - the lowest it’s been in 23 years. With payroll employment rising for eight consecutive months, Michigan remains a strong labor market. Time will tell if the state’s unemployment can reach 3.2% - its all-time low set in February 2000.

🏡 June’s Housing Market: RealComp, a Michigan real estate data company, released a report on the state’s housing market. Last month’s year-over-year (YoY) highlights:

Median Sale Price
- Michigan: +2.3% YoY ($265,979)
- Washtenaw County: +9.3% YoY ($410,000)
New Listings
- Michigan: -15.4% YoY
- Washtenaw County: -20.7% YoY
Avg Days on Market
- Michigan: +8 YoY (19 to 27)
- Washtenaw County: +5 YoY (14 to 19)
Closed Sales
- Michigan: -11.7% YoY
- Washtenaw County: -13.7% YoY