For decades, the businesses on the block of Broadway Street between Swift Street and Moore Street have sat nested against the sidewalk — presumably right up against the property line. The block is home to Sic Transit Cycles in the former Anson Brown Building — the oldest commercial building in Ann Arbor which was built in 1832; the former office of Dr. Daniel Kellogg, a renowned physician; and Northside Grill, which used to house the Cloverleaf Dairy Farm.
In 2023, Jim Koli, the owner of these buildings, wanted to renovate and make changes to the parking lots behind the Northside Grill. To do this, he needed to survey the land. The survey revealed something that would consume the next three years of his life — his businesses stand on top of about 20 inches of city property and encroach upon the city’s public right-of-way. $78,000 in legal fees later, the issue has still not been resolved.
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Koli rejected the claim he is on city land and asserted that Anson Brown, the original builder, did not pass the property line, but at some point in the future, the city made a decision or error that extended the city’s claims to the land…