DETROIT (WXYZ) — Detroit City Council voted 8-1 to approve a $616 million Transformation Brownfield incentive for the District Detroit plan during their meeting on Tuesday, a week after members delayed the vote.
Olympia Development, owned by the Ilitch family, and Related Cos., which is owned by billionaire developer Stephen Ross, announced the $1.5 billion investment for 10 buildings surrounding The District Detroit in November. It came as several buildings that were announced in 2017 sit unfinished.
Council heard more than 100 public comments during the hearing on Tuesday, and then asked questions to developers about the plan. They were writing changes as they went, but council then delayed the vote until after regular business was conducted.
Related: Years after announcing 686 new apartments, little work has been done on District Detroit housing
Additional tax incentives were also approved in the District Detroit proposal.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan released the following statement after the meeting Tuesday:
“Today, City Council voted for a future where all Detroiters who want a good paying job can find one. Our young talent shouldn’t have to leave Detroit for Atlanta or Chicago or Miami to pursue their dreams. With today’s vote, many more of those dreams will be achieved right here in a growing and vibrant city. Thank you to Detroit City Council and to the members of the Neighborhood Advisory Committee who worked so hard to reach an agreement that will benefit all Detroit.”
During last Tuesday's meeting, about 100 people gave public comment, according to our partners at Outlier Media and the Detroit Documenters. People spoke for and against the plan, with some saying the residents of the city are more important than lining the pockets of billionaires, while others said the construction is necessary for the city's growth.
Similar arguments were made again Tuesday as public comment went on for nearly two hours.
"The things that poor people need, we don’t have the money because they’re giving more money to rich people." said Elena Herrata, who opposed the project. "It’s taking money directly away from Detroiters to give it to the district project. This makes no sense."
Throughout the afternoon, a committee representing developers spoke about their intention to include affordable housing, opportunities for "disadvantaged businesses" and investment into residents of the city. However, some residents said they had concerns that those dollars and opportunities would not reach those who need it most.
"I think in the largest majority Black city in the nation, we should be striving for and fighting for racial equity. When we think about development, especially tax incentivized development, it should benefit all of the people," said Theo Pride, who also opposed the project.
Pride says right now, most jobs in the city are occupied by suburbanites and while the District Detroit project is set to bring thousands of additional construction jobs, only a small percentage of Black Detroiters have construction jobs currently. Pride also says the threshold used to determine what constitutes affordable housing will still exclude many of the Detroiters who need to access affordable living spaces most.
"When you develop anything, you’re going to get jobs, people need to build stuff. You’re going to have some economic stimulation. That’s not the issue, the issue is who does it benefit," Pride said.
While many opposed the approval of the project, many were also in support.
"We have to develop and the city has to build, which creates jobs, creates revenue. The city can’t survive just off housing revenue," said Maurice Hardwick, who spoke during the council meeting. "Our kids need us to invest in our future and get in the building plans."
Some say the addition of the thousands of jobs could mean more Detroiters stay in the area to work long term.
"For a local person, like me, who goes to Wayne State and is dorming at Wayne state, I think it’s important to see the city grow and also just expand on what Detroit can be," said Ahmed Eoudi, who is a freshman at Wayne State University.
Eoudi says the job market is currently lacking in the city and the project can provide a way forward for students like himself to land long term careers.
"I have three older siblings and all three of them have moved to other major metropolitian cities just because there’s more income, more growth and more job opportunities there," he added.
The plan calls for office, retail, hotel and housing space across 10 properties. Four of those will be renovated historic buildings and six will be new buildings, according to Ilitch Companies. In all, it's expected that there will be 695 residential units, four commercial office buildings and two proposed hotels.
Of the proposed buildings, one of them — 408 Temple — is a renovation that was first announced in 2017.
Another proposed plan includes reusing the Fox Theatre Office Space and turning it into a hotel, with the Ilitches saying it will not alter the theatre.
Some council members shared concerns during the meeting about the lack of specificity of the plan's language and probability that developers deliver on promises to invest in Detroiter's futures. After some back and forth and small changes to the deal's language, council members voted to move the project forward anyway.
The details of each proposed building for this phase of the mixed-used projects are below:
Four residential projects
- 2250 Woodward Ave. – New construction on proposed mixed-use
- 2205 Cass Ave. – Proposed residential building part of the Detroit Center for Innovation
- 408 Temple St. – Proposed rehabilitation of brown brick and terra cotta building formerly known as the American/Fort Wayne Hotel
- 2210 Park Ave. – Planned rehab of neoclassical-style Detroit Life Building
Proposed office projects
- 2200 Woodward Ave. – Proposed mixed-use that includes first-floor office and retail space
- 2305 Woodward or 2300 Cass – Two locations under consideration for the space
- 2300 Woodward Ave.
- 2115 Cass Ave. – Proposed business incubator part of the Detroit Center for Innovation
Proposed hotels
- 2455 Woodward Ave. – Previously announced hotel at Woodward and I-75 Service Drive next to Little Caesars Arena
- 2211 Woodward Ave. – Proposed adaptive reuse of Fox Office Building that will not alter the theatre
In 2021, we reported on the promises the Ilitches made in 2017 about six residential buildings, calling it at the time the "largest single announcement of new apartment units, affordable units and redeveloped historic buildings in more than 20 years."
Renovation and construction was expected to start on them in 2017 and 2018, but in that time, none of them had opened and construction had only started on the Eddystone. Since our 2021 report, construction has finished on The Eddystone with residential units and a new restaurant open inside the building.
The District Detroit has also gone through a Community Benefits Ordinance where meetings were held for residents in the area to have a say in the project.
Developers will now have to take the plan to the Michigan Strategic Fund for another vote. That vote is expected at the end of April.
