Cohens To Sell 46-Acre, $21 Million Island Estate
By Karen Gould

A plan to subdivide the 46-acre Hedgecliffe estate into 61 lots has been presented to the city’s Master Plan Committee and will go to the Planning Commission in October. The lots extend to M-185 below the bluff. The existing house is on Lot 1, in the lower left of the parcel. Hubbard’s Annex is to the right, Annex Road at top.

Rita Sue and Elliot Cohen say they will sell their 46-acre estate behind Hubbard’s Annex and have hired a real estate firm to develop a 61-lot subdivision. They also will consider selling the property in part or whole, said Brad Conkey, of Integra Realty Resources of Birmingham, who made the surprise announcement during a Master Planning Committee meeting Wednesday evening, September 7.

The Cohens own the largest, privately-occupied land parcel on the Island, named Hedgecliffe.

While committee members, working on a new master plan, were discussing how to handle density issues, employee housing needs, and barn ordinances in the Island’s future master plan, Mr. Conkey asked the committee if he could speak, because he knew the proposed subdivision site plan was information they would like to know about. He said he will be presenting the proposed plan to the Planning Commission Tuesday, October 11.

Mr. Conkey said the Cohens have owned the property for 50 years and have always loved the Island, but had some problems this summer and decided it was time to leave the Island.

Mrs. Cohen had approached the City Council in July asking for more lenient requirements for motor vehicle permits. She said their exterminator could no longer bring necessary equipment to their cottage in a truck, they were no longer allowed to tow their trailer, packed with summer provisions, to their home, and were no longer able to use a motorized portable platform on their property. Tightened motor vehicle enforcement now requires most provisions and supplies to be transferred to horse-drawn drays for transportation.

“We love the Island, which is not a very easy place to get to, but please stop making it so much harder,” she had said during the July 20 meeting.

In another issue, the Cohens have been upset over frozen water pipes last winter, which they say was caused by city negligence. They made the decision to sell their property after the city sent the Cohens a bill for the pipe repair, Mr. Conkey told the Town Crier later. The couple refused a later offer by the Department of Public Works to replace the lines with above-ground plastic pipe.

The Cohens did not attend the September 7 meeting.

The proposed subdivision is directly west of Hubbard’s Annex and extends from the shore road to Stonecliffe Road. Initial plans that Mr. Conkey presented show 61 wooded lots, but Mr. Conkey said the Cohens now are considering eliminating three of them to include an area for a barn and an equestrian center. At least 29 of the lots are in two tiers on the Island’s bluff with views of Lake Huron and the Mackinac Bridge.

Mr. Conkey explained that the idea is to have one entrance site from M-185 for the water view homes with an access road leading to a back easement for the upper homes. He also said the homes would not be visible from the road.

The estimated lot price range is approximately $150,000 to $750,000, he told committee members.

Mr. Conkey told the Town Crier after the meeting that the subdivision proposal was decided because it would be the easiest way to sell the property, since few people would be able to afford the entire estate.

Nevertheless, he said, “everything is for sale. If someone wants to buy half of it or all of it, it’s for sale. I’m sure there will be interest in it.”

Estimated value of the entire parcel, he said, is about $21 million.

The Master Planning committee next meets Wednesday, September 21, at 4 p.m. at City Hall.