ANN ARBOR TWP., MI — Nearly 100 acres adjacent to a new million-dollar housing development north of Ann Arbor will be protected from future development.

Ann Arbor Township officials made a deal with developers of Barton Ridge, a 57-luxury home Toll Brothers site on the east side of Whitmore Lake Road south of Warren Road. Property owner Red Equities, LLC is donating about 98 acres directly north of the site to the township.

The land is to be permanently protected by a conservation easement and can be used for agricultural production or establishing a township park.

The new approximately 54-acre luxury home site is in a historically rural part of the township on the outskirts of Ann Arbor where development pressures have increased over the years.

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The township Board of Trustees voted unanimously Monday, April 21, to authorize township Supervisor Diane O’Connell to proceed with closing on the land donation.

O’Connell said the township has completed due diligence. They are ready to make it a done deal and take ownership of the land.

The land donation was a condition of the township’s approval of Barton Ridge, a planned-unit development, which was previously called “Maple Ridge.” Previous owner Whitmore Lake Property Investors, LLC made the initial deal to donate the 98 acres to the township to help satisfy the public benefit component of the PUD approval.

Red Equities, LLC kept the land donation deal once it took over the property.

Last July, the township board approved a private wastewater system for the development, which was needed to allow Toll Brothers to move forward with construction.

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Barton Ridge is for homebuyers with big bucks who want a custom home.

Large great rooms will be a feature of luxury homes to be constructed at Barton Ridge, a new 57-home site in Ann Arbor Township, as seen in a photograph of a home in the Parc Vista neighborhood in Northville.Provided by Toll Brothers

While exact pricing has not yet been released, Isaac Boyd, Toll Brothers of Michigan’s division president, previously said pricing is expected “to start from the upper $900,000s.”

The homes will be on the larger side of what Toll Brothers builds, ranging from about 3,256 to more than 5,412 square feet, Boyd said.

Homebuyers will choose from several home designs, all two-story, single-family homes with three-car side-entry garages, with options to personalize.

Groundwork, roads and infrastructure have already been underway. A model home is expected to be ready for viewing this summer. Building all the homes is expected to take two or three years.

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