The Ann Arbor Summer Festival is quintessential Ann Arbor. A model of town-grown collaboration, the festival is a three week party including professional shows, outdoor movies, local bands, activities for toddlers and teens, a food court, and beer and wine garden. There is something for everyone. Shows at the Power Center and Hill Auditorium, and for the first time this year, the new wing of the University of Michigan Museum of Art, are traditional to edgy. Food opportunities range from burritos to sandwiches to cotton candy to pizza to ice cream. An eclectic selection of outdoor movies might include Jaws and Superman and Harold and Maude.
Now celebrating its 26th season, the Festival has a proud history. The Festival’s roots are firmly planted on the top of the U of M parking structure on Fletcher — hence the name Top of the Park. Three years ago, construction necessitated a move, and the Festival moved to the Ingalls Mall, a beautiful piece of campus just down the street from the parking structure. Space and grass have allowed the Festival to grow and innovate.
Last year, I had the honor of serving the Trustees of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival as Chair. This year, I urge you to join me on Washington Street and feel quintessential Ann Arbor in the Summer. It’s too good to miss.
Ann Arbor Summer Festival website
Dawn Foerg
Sales Manager, South Ann Arbor Office
I am pleased to announce Janet Gilbert Smith has joined The Reinhart Company at the East Office. Many of you have worked with Janet at some of the new construction neighborhoods she has sold. Janet has sold new homes at Arbor Creek, Hawthorne Ridge, Arbor Pointe, Chelsea Fairways, Chelsea Ridge, Cambridge Condominiums and most recently at Balmoral Park. Janet has 5 condominiums remaining to sell at Balmoral Park and she will continue to market those homes. Please join me in welcoming Janet to the East Office and help her close out the final sales at Balmoral Park.
Frank McVeigh
Sales Manager, East Office
http://www.balmoralparkcondos.com/
Changing jobs is more the norm than the exception any more. So many people don’t really like what they do for a living. I don’t know what statistics would say, but when I look around me it seems no one ever leaves their career in real estate. Sure, people move around sometimes, but they never leave the business. It’s true of those in sales, administration, mortgage lending and title companies. Granted, many of us wish we were making more money, but we stay because we feel lucky to be doing something we love. It’s a great ‘people’ business–socializing is part of the job. Collaboration and teamwork is required. Making people happy is the order of each day. How great is that?
Marsha Volchoff
VP of Operations
32 years and counting…
On Friday, June 12, Michigan Ability Partners awarded Charles Reinhart Company the “2009 Community Spirit Award”. MAP is a community organization dedicated to helping people with disabilities by providing housing and employment services. The award was presented at their annual fundraising event at Travis Pointe Country Club in Saline.
Reinhart was chosen to receive the award for several reasons. The company has made a financial contribution to MAP over the last three years and has sponsored an annual coat drive, providing winter coats to many organizations in need throughout the county. In addition, three individuals were recognized for their many hours of service–Jeri Sawall for helping MAP locate and purchase affordable housing projects and rentals, Barbara Zinser for her time and support and David Lutton for the hundreds of hours of service he invests in service to reducing homelessness.
In a letter to the company, Susan Hornfeld, CEO of Michigan Ability Partners, said, “As a private company affected profoundly by the economic downturn in Michigan, The Charles Reinhart Company Realtors has consistently thought of ways to help others who are most vulnerable to find their way home.”
Thanks for the award, and for recognizing the efforts of a few of the great people who work here.
Mark your calendars! The 25th annual Showcase of Homes is set for June 20 – June 28, 2009. The Home Builders Association is Showcasing 15 beautiful homes built by an impressive cross-section of Washtenaw County’s finest builders and remodelers. The homes are of a wide variety of sizes, price ranges, and styles.
Make sure to visit the new “The Green Showcase” at home #1, with products and services for your home. The Charles Reinhart Company is proud to sponsor and be a part of this spectacular event! For more information and a map of the homes, please click below.
http://www.hbawc.com/se_showcase.cfm
Community Housing Alternatives has been awarded a combined total of over $1.2 million to develop foreclosed and abandoned properties in Ypsilanti, Ypsilanti Township, Superior Township and the City of Ann Arbor as a part of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program in Washtenaw County which was made possible from the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, which was passed by Congress.
Purchasers qualifying for the Community Housing Alternatives program will be able to select the home of their choice and after the purchase is made, the home will be rehabilitated for the new homeowner. Buyers must be able to obtain a mortgage from one of the approved lenders for this program.
Households that are interested in purchasing a home through this program will be required to complete at least 8 hours of home buyer education, which is offered at no charge by the Washtenaw Housing Education Partners (WHEP).
For more information tune-in to my radio show, Ann Arbor Lifestyle Saturday, June 20th at 10:00 a.m. on AM1290 WLBY. My guest will be Rhonda McGill from Community Housing Alternatives. The show is live and we will be taking calls from our listeners. Rhonda will explain in great detail how this program will work and how buyers can take advantage of it.
Ann Arbor Lifestyle Saturday, June 20th at 10:00 a.m. AM1290 WLBY.
The Chicago Tribune calls Ann Arbor a veritable theme park of food. “Zingerman’s (delicatessen) is the nexus of an Ann Arbor Comfort Food Industrial Complex — a community commitment to first-rate French toast, cheeseburgers to dream about and, at one spot, a mason jar of frozen pink called a Constant Buzz.”
Click here for the full article.
Ann Arbor district honored for music education
The Ann Arbor school district has been named one of the nation’s
“Best Communities for Music Education” by the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation.
The district is one of four in Michigan to receive the honor.
Participants in the NAMM survey answered questions about funding, graduation requirements,
music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program, and other factors.
The responses were verified with district officials, and advisory organizations reviewed the data.
Jennifer Fry
The Charles Reinhart Company, Realtors
jfry@reinhartrealtors.com
More good news for Ann Arbor! There is a lot of talk these days about jobs and Ann Arbor Michigan has made the list compiled by BusinessWeek as the place to start your new business.
If an entrepreneur is going to start a company in Michigan, Ann Arbor is the place to do it, says a BusinessWeek list that ranked cities in each state.
The best small- to mid-sized city in each state to locate high-growth startup companies was chosen based on factors such as education level, availability of venture capital, number of patents and other demographic and statistical data.
The ranking was based on research conducted by San Francisco-based GIS Planning, which collects geographic data for its online ZoomProspector tool. It was compiled for a BusinessWeek article about the benefits of building startups in small cities rather than much larger cities.
• Find out more about the list.
Excerpt from Ann Arbor News, March 30
Sincerely,
Jennifer Fry
The Charles Reinhart Company, Realtors
jfry@reinhartrealtors.com
Two pieces of good news for green car fans in Ann Arbor. First, Mercedes-Benz says it is looking to hire 223 workers at a new research and development center for hybrid technologies there. These jobs will be phased in over 10 years. Ann Arbor is slowly getting a green car reputation and the new hybrid center is just the latest addition to the alternative propulsion puzzle. The state, through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, will likely approve tax credits for Mercedes and its 65,000 square foot center. The official name will be The Mercedes-Benz Engineering Center for Powertrains USA.
The other bit of green car news is that Zipcar, which has been operating in Ann Arbor since 2006, is expanding from the U of M campus to downtown. Now, any local resident can rent one of four Toyota Matrix or two Scion xD vehicles by the hour or daily. The Zipcars will be available for use 24 hours a day, seven days a week and will be located at the Fourth and Catherine parking lot, near the Ann Arbor Farmer’s Market, and at the parking lot at Main and William, next to Palio Restaurant. This will bring a total of 17 Zipcars to the Ann Arbor community (with 13 already located on the University of Michigan campus). All local residents 21+ can join the service, with gas, maintenance, insurance and reserved parking included in low hourly and daily rates. All University of Michigan students 18+, faculty and staff will also be able to use the four vehicles located off campus.
Those interested in learning more about Zipcar in Ann Arbor may visit www.zipcar.com/annarbor, and click on City Partners, for more information about membership and hourly rates.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Fry
The Charles Reinhart Company, Realtors
jfry@reinhartrealtors.com
