![]() ![]() for nearly seven years when they started house hunting - right in their own neighborhood. Alisa and Aaron Bobzien rented on Dexter Ave. "With more people living in the area, they're looking for places close to home," he says.Īnd don't think the residents haven't found them. To boot, Payeur says, there's more residential housing going in on the New West Side all the time. "People would be leaving because there wasn't enough space in there, but they didn't want to go downtown," he says. Payeur knew there was enough demand for another brewery when he saw people leaving the crowded Wolverine State. The crowds from the Vets Park leagues still exist today, bolstered by activity at the Ann Arbor Skatepark, and they still need places to go. Payeur's memories of the New West Side years ago include going to various restaurants as a family after his mother's softball games at Veterans Memorial Park. "We feel the West side can offer a complete experience for the beer enthusiast."Īnother boon to doing business along the West Stadium, Maple, and Jackson corridors is ample demand for what new businesses are supplying. "We hope to join that little community," says Fichera. "They were as excited as we were for us to get open," Payeur says of Chela's.Īnd between the Session Room, which will have 70 taps of craft beer, Adventures in Homebrewing on Jackson Rd., Wolverine State, and Glasshouse, there's a bit of a beer culture renaissance happening in the area. Glasshouse, which doesn't currently make food, benefits from a partnership with its neighbor Chela's, as well as other nearby restaurants where patrons are encouraged to pick up food and enjoy it at the brewery. The existing and growing business mix on the New West Side is another pull for small business owners. "The area is set up for continued growth, and you've got the movie theater, the bowling alley right there." "It's a really diverse area with a lot of people driving by," says David Fichera, co-owner of the forthcoming craft beer taproom and restaurant The Session Room on Jackson Rd. That includes available customer parking, but also easy access to downtown, the expressways, the stadium, and the Old West Side. "There's a nice selection of independently owned businesses where people can spend their money locally and keep it here in Ann Arbor."Īsk any business owner on the New West Side why it's such a great place to do business as opposed to, say, downtown, and their long list of answers will likely begin with the same thing: accessibility. "There have been lots of pockets of new business that have popped up," Fox says. Fox expanded his Stadium Boulevard location by 4,500 square feet to accommodate a new deli and prepared foods area. In the neighborhood since opening in 1979, Arbor Farms co-owner and founder Leo Fox doubled down on his commitment to the area this year. has recently expanded, as has the iconic Arbor Farms Market. Longtime businesses are also deepening their investment in the neighborhood. ![]() The following years saw Great Lakes Cycling and Fitness, Seva, Chela's Restaurant and Taqueria, Juicy Kitchen, El Harissa Market Café, The Little Seedling, Goldfish Swim School and the Ann Arbor Skatepark, among others, all move to the New West Side or open there for the first time.Īnd it's not just new entrepreneurs suspecting the New West Side is the right place to invest. opened its small taproom two years later. Plum Market's arrival certainly helped class the area up eight years ago, and Wolverine State Brewing Co. The arrival of new commercial life in the New West Side has been a slow enough process that it's easy to have missed it. With an influx of new and growing independent businesses - including a particular groundswell of good food and great beer - it's time the neighborhood is recognized for the bustling hub it's becoming: Ann Arbor's New West Side. It seems like banks and fast food restaurants overtook them all."īut these days, the need to harken back to the area's heyday is fading fast. ![]() "There used to be a lot of bars and restaurants down Stadium. He remembers the days of the old Stadium Tavern," says Brent Payeur. "My dad bought the company in '84, and we've been there ever since. Their father, Steve Payeur, owns West side stalwart Diamond Glass and Feiner’s, so they're well-acquainted with the business climate of the neighborhood just west of the Old West Side. Glasshouse Brewing is new to Ann Arbor's West side, but co-owners and brothers Brent and Brad Payeur are not. ![]()
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