CEO Podcast: Marie Klopf, Lower Town Riverfront Conservancy

Paul Krutko: Welcome to Ann Arbor SPARK’s CEO Podcast…Conversations on Economic Opportunity. My name is Paul Krutko, and I’m the President and CEO of Ann Arbor SPARK.

Today, we have the pleasure of speaking with Marie Klopf, president of the Lower Town Riverfront Conservancy. Marie is a seasoned leader with over 20 years of experience in engineering, business development, and nonprofit management. As the former President and CEO of the Ann Arbor Art Center, she successfully led the organization through a period of growth and resilience, including navigating the challenges of the pandemic.

Now, as President of the Lower Town Riverfront Conservancy, Marie is spearheading the development of Broadway Park West—a transformative public space along the Huron River. Her deep community involvement and leadership are helping shape the future of Ann Arbor. Marie, thank you for joining us.

Marie Klopf:  Thanks for having me, Paul. Appreciate it. 

Paul: Well, so this is a really great opportunity, I think, for our listening audience to learn about the project. So I want you to take as much time as you want to tell us about it because I think it’s a very exciting opportunity for the city of Ann Arbor. 

So what’s the overall vision behind the Lower Town Riverfront Conservancy and the larger project? A part of that, I understand, includes housing, hotel, and retail components in addition to a park — and also explain to us what’s the timeline for construction is and when the community can expect to see the project coming out of the ground, if you will.

Marie: So I would say the larger vision is we’re transforming this 14-acre derelict site into a vibrant community treasure. I mean, that’s the goal, right? And we’re doing that by creating Broadway Park West, right along the Huron River. 

There are two pieces to it, as you know. There’s the nonprofit piece of it, and then there’s a commercial piece of it. The nonprofit piece is Broadway Park West, and that’s seven of the 14 acres. And Broadway Park West is being constructed in three phases. Phase one is the base park, which everyone could see being constructed now. The base park has that beautiful footbridge that we finally set across the Huron River. I don’t know, have you seen it, Paul? It’s quite stunning. We also will have steps into the Huron River. We have a very intricate, beautiful system, pathways that will go through the park. There’s a series of three ellipses, large open, green spaces for the public to enjoy. And of course the 1200 feet along the Huron River. So that’s the base park, that’s phase one, that’s being constructed now. It should be open and available to the public in the spring of 2025. The park, like I said, is in three phases. 

Phase two is a pavilion, which is 8,000 square feet of internal space. That will be, it faces the Argo Dam, and it will be used for conferences, civic celebrations, weddings, you name it. But the most exciting piece of the pavilion is a stage that’ll be on the back. It’s a 40’ by 60’ stage that opens to a large green space, again facing the Argo Dam. And of all the things I could ever talk about, this is the one that gets people the most excited because it’s an opportunity for outdoor concerts and performances in the warm months. So everybody is very excited about having that opportunity in Ann Arbor.

So phase two, the pavilion, I would say for phase one and phase two, we’re 91% of the way there. We have $2.5 million left to raise in order to construct that building and that building construction will start once we finish fundraising, hopefully in the spring of 2025 as well. 

The second part of the project, of course, is the commercial development, which will include a boutique hotel that has 161 rooms, that’ll be right along the river. Actually, that hotel will face the exit of the Cascades. So it’ll be very fun to sit on top and maybe have lunch or a cocktail and watch people come out of the Cascades, which is always fun. I just did it and I got super wet, so I’m sure that will be fun to watch everybody. 

The other piece is we’ll have 96 condominiums on the site, and those condominiums will sit on top of a two-floor or two-level parking structure. So there’ll be like 480 parking spaces in the complex. We’ll have 18 to 20 units of affordable housing there, and we’ll have some space for retail. So it’s a mixed-use development.

Paul: Oh, wow. Just tremendous. I mean, I think the one thing that is interesting, and I understand the excitement that people have, is when you really think about the assets the community has now, there isn’t a place other than the use of Liberty Plaza for those summer concerts. That really wasn’t designed, in my view, really wasn’t designed for that particular use. I mean, you get the feeling of the demand for that kind of activity when you see how many people come there and try to fit into that space. So I think it’s going to be really tremendous. 

This is an interesting concept, something that many other communities have done, but Broadway Park West is set to become a privately developed and managed public space, as opposed to a public space managed by the public. So what are the unique challenges and opportunities for creating that kind of space?

Marie: Well, I have to say bar none, the most complex and challenging piece of this project has been the remediation of the site. So as you know, prior to DTE purchasing it, it was a coal gasification plant. And so I’ll tell you that we’ve taken, and mine might be slightly off because it’s been some time since I got the numbers, but we’ve removed 13,000 tons of contaminated soil from the site, and we added 20,000 tons of fresh soil into the site. This project in Ann Arbor represents the largest brownfield redevelopment in the history of Washtenaw County. So it’s not a tiny task by any stretch of the imagination. And so in addition to adding utilities to the site, it doesn’t have power, sewer, or water. So those are the big challenges to creating the entire site and the park as well. 

But the opportunity now, and you mentioned it, Paul, there really isn’t anywhere in town along the Huron River where there’s active programming. There’ll be something happening 365 days a year. It’s going to be a vibrant, accessible community space for everybody, and a hub, right? Because right at the, let’s say the west point of the property, you have the Treeline Conservancy coming in, the border-to-border trail is actually going to be rerouted by the city and the county over our bridge so that people don’t have to ride their bikes over the Argo Dam anymore. So it’s a central hub for everything. It’ll point you to Broadway Park, to the Cascades. 

And interestingly, it’s different than a typical park because we don’t use tax dollars for the care and maintenance of this property. We’re a 501(c)3 and we’ll fundraise like any other nonprofit. We’ll have events and sponsors, but we’ll also have a component of contributed revenue. So it’ll be a good business model for sustainability.

Paul: So for some people who don’t know, a 501(c)3 is a foundation organization, we have one as well at SPARK, and so with that is an opportunity for people to contribute to the project and to receive tax benefits for contributing to the project. So it’s a really good model for this kind of development where people want to give back to their community and participate. So sort of a fundraising pitch for you, Marie, that this is an opportunity for people who believe in the city of Ann Arbor who have lived here for a long time and want to do something really significant for the community.

Marie: Thanks for that, Paul.

Paul: Well, as somebody who raises money all the time, I would communicate that because there are lots of choices that people can make when they think about wanting to give back to our community or what are philanthropic opportunities. And this is something that is a physical, tangible asset for the community that’ll be here for decades. So it’s a really great opportunity. 

So talk a little bit about the frontage on the Huron River. I mean, there’s a lot of interest from a lot of different people in the community about activating the riverfront. We know when we look at other communities around the United States that we may have visited, there’s always this emphasis on getting the public closer to the water. And that’s something that we sort of lack here. I mean, there are some assets that you’re trying to, but this is a really great opportunity, and I guess to some extent it was challenging to get this accessibility and to get the site in general. So what partnerships and collaborations have been essential to making this whole project happen?

Marie: Well, honestly, Paul, the bulk of heavy lifting for this project happened long before I arrived on the scene. So DTE purchased the property from MichCon in 2001, and I’ll do a fast track on history. And so when they acquired it, Jerry Anderson was the CEO at the time, and Jerry had a vision for this property. He wanted this, I mean, people didn’t even know it was there. People didn’t even think about it. So he wanted to take this beautiful piece of property along the Huron River. The only one of its kind in Ann Arbor for sure, and he wanted it to be a mixed-use development. But his biggest passion was that at least half or a large portion of it be devoted and stick to public accessibility. So just so you know, there’s an easement along that 1200 feet, a public access easement, so people will always have access to that river.

It just belongs to the community. So then in 2019, here’s a really interesting factoid for you. In 2019, DTE put quite a bit of money into shoring up the Huron River from that property, and they put in what was called an NAPL cap. And NAPL stands for non-aqueous phase liquid barrier. There you go. Everyone needs to know what an NAPL cap is. So this NAPL cap, which is a barrier that’s built to protect anything from leaching into the water at the time in 2019, was the largest NAPL cap in the country. And it may still be, I just don’t know if it is now. But anyway, so DTE did that. And then when that was complete in 2019, they brought in Roxbury Group who is the master developer and owned the property to say, all right, implement this vision of this mixed-use property. Then they got a Brownfield TIF for the remediation of the property. And in 2022, the Lower Town Riverfront Conservancy was established to manage the public piece and to build the park. So I mean, it takes a village to do a project like that. I hate to use a common term, but it’s so true. You had DTE, you have Roxbury, the state of Michigan, the city, the county, Amtrak, O’Neill Construction. Everybody I feel like has played a role in bringing it to where it’s at and taking it where it’s going.

Paul: Yeah. What’s interesting is I’ve had this experience in my past career in other cities and then even here with the ACM development out at the arsenal of democracy back years ago, the waterfront was not considered as valuable to us all, and lots of uses were put right on the waterfront that we wouldn’t do today. And so there is a lot of creativity, what you’ve mentioned, the creativity of saying, look, this site had a use in it, that there’s things in the ground that as we’re doing our new development, we don’t want to add to environmental problems. So creating that barrier is a very creative solution to protecting the river and protecting it for all of us. But it’s an added expense. And where I’m going with this is that’s why there are certain tools and incentives that are put in place by the state government or local government to make this kind of development happen.

So you’ve mentioned a Brownfield TIF — that’s a tax increment financing tool based on the fact that we’re trying to remediate a site that had environmental challenges in the past. So sometimes the public go, well, why are they using these kinds of tax benefits to make something happen? Without this, the project wouldn’t happen, you wouldn’t be able to move forward with the project. So this is really one of those kind of creative uses of that economic development tool. So as somebody that’s been doing this for many decades, that’s why we put these tools in place so that a site like this has a chance for a new future.

Marie: It’s really a but-for —but for those tools would not be happening.

Paul: Exactly. And that’s the beauty of how a public-private partnership can make a project happen. Incentivizes Roxbury group to want to come and make the investment that they’re making at this site. 

So you talked about this earlier, but maybe share a little bit about what the long-term goals are of the Conservancy in terms of enhancing recreation and environmental amenities in the Lower Town district. How do you see this site, the park, all the activity that you’re trying to create, how is that going to support local businesses and new residents?

Marie: So I mean, the vision to make this section along the Huron River available to the public forever, and I want to go back and make one comment, and that is that DTE is going to manage that NAPL cap in perpetuity. That’s forever. And they will check it and make sure that that place is always environmentally conscious, if you will. But I’m excited because everybody, I mean when you think about what it does, I’ll just say for economic development, making this accessible and available to everybody, I mean, it increases the foot traffic for all the local businesses. They’re very excited about what this means to them. And we want to make sure that this project is additive. We’re not a closed environment. This thing will be successful based on partnerships, by inviting the community and the businesses and the residents and everybody to have input into what it becomes and how it’s used and how it can benefit them.

So it needs to benefit all, but I’m sure you’ve traveled all over the world. It seems like every large city has a river running through it, and they use it and it’s vibrant and it enhances the quality of life for everybody there. It’s a way to attract residents. I mean, if you’re a family, I know that Michigan’s big priority right now is to bring people to Michigan and keep ’em here. And so quality of life is everything. Having these types of assets available in a downtown is what people are looking for. That’s where we want to raise our families.

I get really excited about health and wellness. The B2B folks will appreciate that Ann Arbor will now be a destination along that trail, whereas before it was Ypsilanti where B2B stops, Dexter did and Chelsea did, but Ann Arbor didn’t really have a spot for them. And now this will be it. And so we’ll have bike rentals on the property. So anybody who’s visiting, you want to jump on a bike and do part of the B2B, you can do that. And then fostering tourism and investment, we want to bring people in. We want people to enjoy this forever.

Paul: Well, it’s interesting that, and I want to say this in the right way, I don’t want to disparage any projects that have happened in the community before, but one of the things that I’m excited about is this is a high-quality development that matches the quality of life structure that we have in Ann Arbor, if that makes sense. You can have developments, subdivisions around the core city, but this is the kind of development that is sort of a signature that I would imagine as we market the community, which is a key role for SPARK in subsequent years, this be something that will be highlighted in the marketing of the community. One of the things that’s really important for the listeners to always remember is while the State is very much working on the notion of keeping and growing the population, we are one of the places in the state that is growing in population. So the fact that you’re adding to the housing stock is also a very important thing. Right now, it’s not very articulate, but the point I’m trying to make is we need more housing stock of a variety of types for people, because one of the things that will stifle our future is if we don’t increase the housing stock in the community. What will happen is prices will rise and it becomes a difficult situation in other sort of tech-based economies, which we have become. So I’m looking forward to being able to communicate to the country and the world, this is the kind of asset you’re going to find if you come and decide to live here and work here. 

Well, you’ve got a very deep background in nonprofit and for-profit leadership that probably provides a very unique perspective on this project and other things that you may have been involved in. How have your experiences informed your approach to managing the conservancy and leading this transformational project?

Marie: I feel really lucky and privileged to have been able to work in both sectors and to understand them, the perspective that each has. And for me, it boils down to approach and definition of sustainability. And so I like to think that I bring a business mindset for the community benefit. So I think each sector can learn from the other, and we each need a piece of the other. And so that’s what I bring to this project. I’m all about building this park so that it’s not a drain, and so that it’s not a challenge, and that we can always keep it beautiful, vibrant, and sustainable. We’re not going to ask for any additional monies. We’ll fundraise our way to success. And because we’ll have a combination of earned revenue from the pavilion and events that happen there and contributed revenue just like any nonprofit, and I think all nonprofits, if they can, should combine those two sources. It really helps for fluctuations in the economy to be able to have both at your disposal.

Paul: Yeah, that’s a really good point because a lot of times people, investors, communities focus on the creation of the asset. What you’re describing is, well, what happens next? How do we sustain that asset into the future? And it’s a really important part of it. And the experience that you and I have had, similar experiences where there has not been as much attention paid to the sustainability side. And then you go down the road five or six years into a project and it’s, oh, we’re having difficulty moving forward. So thinking about how you’re going to sustain the asset at the very beginning is really critical. And it sounds like, well, everybody should think that, but there are plenty of examples where people build things and then they said, well, I built it and then not support for the ongoing of the project. So it was fun. 

A couple of questions here in our talk this morning. Your tenure at the Ann Arbor Arts Center, you really had a lot of significant accomplishments there, particularly as we all had to navigate the pandemic, but probably that was even more difficult for an arts-based organizations because you’re looking for the patrons who aren’t able to come anymore and there’s all these other needs in the community, and you were able to manage that. How did those experiences help you as you took on the leadership at Conservancy?

Marie: So I would say anybody that has worked in a nonprofit that survived the pandemic would have the same answers to that. And that is the importance of a good team that we learn from each other, the absolute necessity and value of community engagement and partnerships because people knew that we were all struggling and they were there to help. They showed up in any ways that they could, and I could talk for hours about that very particular subject, but I won’t kill you with that. And that change is really vital and essential. We should always be thinking about change and nobody should be afraid of change. The pandemic brought with it a lot of heartache, but it also brought opportunities for changes in a way that nobody would’ve thought of. So pushing that envelope of change is really important. And I think that we all rest on our laurels, so I won’t do that. The last thing I would say, and I felt this way, I’ll always feel this way. I’m a finance person, right? Financial literacy and nonprofit management, any management is so important. So I can tell you at the Art Center, every person knew how to do a budget and was accountable for it. So that goes back to my sustainability. So I will build a part that will last.

Paul: Yeah, I think it’s one of the interesting, having worked many places around the country before I came here, one of the things that’s interesting about the character of the Ann Arbor community is the sustained support for various nonprofit institutions and being committed to them and to the community. So I’m thinking about the Art Center, I’m thinking about UMS, I’m thinking even about ourselves at SPARK. I mean, we just celebrated our 20th year, those kind of initiatives to reach that age is really based on the support that you get from the community. So I think it’s an interesting attribute about this community compared to others, that there is that sort of commitment from the community for whatever initiative that we are pursuing. People are in for the long run. I think that’s really, really important. 

So last question. I mean, probably you’ve touched on a lot of these points already, but I guess I want to ask you as we close, what excites you the most about the project itself and its potential to further enhance Ann Arbor’s position as a destination for residents and visitors?

Marie: Well, I am excited about the opportunity to build a world-class site that’s accessible to the public forever and welcoming every single person to that space and watching how they use it. I mean, I didn’t mention phase three because I really think that we want to take a pause after phase two and organically understand how the community wants to use this space before we decide what phase three will look like. It’s probably some type of a play area or waterpark feature or something like that. But I want to see who comes, why they come, and really design phase three for them. So I’m really excited about that. And as our very favorite person, one of my very favorite people, Susan Pollay says, I’m looking forward to filling the donut hole of connecting lower town to Central Ann Arbor because this hole has been there for a hundred years now.

And I’m excited for that to fill out and for people to be excited and come and explore it. And I’m excited for people to look at the website and say, what’s going on this week? Oh, there’s yoga in the park. Oh, there’s a poetry slam, whatever. And then Paul, I’m going to close with a plug that I have for SPARK, and that is this: I’ve a couple of times visited South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, and I was part of the Startup America program several years ago. And I think about, why doesn’t Ann Arbor have this? And I know that you all have been working very hard on that with a2Tech360. And so I have this hope and dream that we partner and that we provide the new performance piece of that, and it can really grow into that thing. We’ll call it Mid by Midwest or whatever we want to call it. But I want to partner with SPARK and really make that something that lets us stand out, not only in the state of Michigan, but in the country.

Paul: Well, that’s a tremendous opportunity and we would welcome it. I mean, the history of SXSW is that it started with music, went to film, and then added the tech component to it. So at the beginning, people didn’t know about it. Or if they do in Austin, it’s really a lot of tremendous opportunities for people working in various technologies to get together. But then as the week goes on, blended into all that is the film festival is all the music opportunities. So we started the opposite way. We started with the tech, and what we found in the last iteration in September, there were probably 24 separate events in a 10 day period. We produced about eight of them. But other community partners came in and said, well, we want to be a part of that. Our aspiration — we’re not the size of Austin, so let’s start there — but our aspiration is to do what you described, that it would have multiple dimensions to it inside the platform. So it’s very heartening to hear that you think that there’s a great opportunity. What we thought all along it is not shamelessly talking about ourselves. I mean, Bill Mayer, who you may know on my team, and when six years ago when we first thought about this, all it was going to be was the parade of homes for tech companies. But what we found is a lot of people then were like, oh, can we be a part of that? And one of the challenges honestly, is what are the venues in town where we can do various things? And so I’m excited about you creating an asset where we can take advantage of this. And we do it in September as everybody who lives here knows September and October are the most beautiful months here.

And take advantage of what the Conservancy is building is going to be a real opportunity for us. Plus, you talked about how you’re going to have the potential space for conference sessions. And so what a lot of people may not know about us who are casual listeners is we produce 150 more events a year for various elements of our community. So this would give us another place where we could do that, which would be really valuable to us at this moment. 

So really good conversation today. Marie, thanks for taking the time to talk with us today. I think at some point in the next year or 18 months, we’ll bring you back so we can get an update on where the project is. So again, thank you for taking the time to talk with me today.

Marie: Well, this was really fun, Paul. Thanks for inviting me and I look forward to future conversations.

Paul: And I want to thank our audience for listening and learning more about those leaders and organizations working hard to create the Ann Arbor Region’s economic future. These conversations are brought to you by Ann Arbor SPARK. For more information about Ann Arbor SPARK, you can find us on the web@annarborusa.org. We’re also on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. And Marie, what is the web address for the conservancy?

Marie: www.lowertowna2.org.

Paul: Great. So we want to make sure people check that out as well. So again, thank you and have a great day.