Tonight on The Detroit Evening Report, we cover Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s announcement she is running for governor; rising home values in Detroit; school closures amid frigid temperatures and more.

Subscribe to the Detroit Evening Report on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Jocelyn Benson running for governor 

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced early Wednesday that she is running for governor. The Democrat says her priorities will include: ensuring a government that works for all state residents, cutting costs, and protecting citizens’ rights and freedoms. Benson gained national attention in 2020, when she defended Michigan’s vote count during that year’s presidential election as Republicans made false claims of election fraud.  She was first elected as Michigan’s Secretary of State in 2018 and was reelected in 2022.  Current Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is term-limited and cannot run again next year. 

Detroit housing values rise

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan says home values in the city increased by an average of 19% last year. While assessed values rose, most homeowners will see a property tax increase of just over 3% under Michigan law. Duggan says the change can be seen in almost every Detroit neighborhood. 

“So there’s a relatively lazy story that says things are happening in downtown and Midtown, when 99% of our neighborhoods have seen 40% increases in their home values in just two years,” he said. “Anyplace else in America, the narrative would be ‘this is amazing!'”

Duggan says the value of all residential property in the city grew by $1.4 billion last year. He says it’s the second largest increase on record. 

Schools close amid frigid temperatures

Students across metro Detroit had another day off from school Wednesday because of the bitterly cold weather. Temperatures Wednesday morning started below zero.  School systems around the region said they didn’t want students endangered by standing at bus stops or walking to school. Wind chills as low as -20 degrees could cause frostbite on exposed skin within 30 minutes. A cold weather advisory expired at noon. Temperatures will rise into the lower 20s on Thursday, meaning most schools will return to normal operations. 

Stellantis to build new Dodge Durango in Detroit

The United Auto Workers union says its negotiations with Stellantis have yielded a victory for Detroit. Stellantis has announced that it will build the next generation of the Dodge Durango SUV at the Detroit Assembly Complex on the city’s east side. The union says a deal to do that was originally included in its 2023 contract, but that former CEO Carlos Tavares pulled back on that agreement. The automaker says it will also re-open its Belvidere, Illinois assembly plant to build a new mid-sized pickup truck. 

Ben Johnson accepts Chicago Bears’ top job

Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has been hired as the new head coach for the Chicago Bears.  Johnson has received national attention in the past three years as the architect of the Lions’ powerful offense. The team won a record 15 games this season — tied for the best record in the NFL. ESPN reported that Chicago interviewed 17 different candidates for the team’s head coaching job. The Bears finished the season with a record of five wins and 12 losses. The team failed to make the playoffs. 

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

This week the city of Detroit announced a new initiative to help residents gain clean ownership of property passed down to them from family members without a formal will or estate plan.

Subscribe to the Detroit Evening Report on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Detroit Heirs’ Property program targets residents whose homes were unofficially passed down through generations of family members, usually meaning the home’s current occupant is not on the deed and does not legally own it. Without a clear path to title and legal ownership, such homeowners often find themselves trying to resolve things in probate court, which can be a lengthy and cumbersome process.

A recent report from the group Detroit Future City found there are probably at least 5,525 such properties in Detroit. Those are homes where the owners listed on tax rolls are known to be deceased. Likely heirs’ properties tend to be concentrated in a handful of Detroit neighborhoods.

Being the current occupant of an heirs’ property comes with inherent disadvantages, according to Rob Lockett, executive director of LISC Detroit, one of the new program’s partners.

“You cannot access certain city services, (and there are) certain loan products you cannot access, without having clear identification of homeownership,” said Lockett. Those things range from city home repair programs, to being unable to tap into a home’s equity because you don’t legally own the property.

Promoting generational wealth through home ownership is an important focus for the initiative, said Anna Shires of Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis, another program partner.

“Property values are rising,” Shires said. “Everybody needs to be able to take advantage of that, and use that equity to really build that generational wealth.”

The Detroit Heirs’ Property program will build on, and work in conjunction with, the city of Detroit and the Gilbert Family Foundation, who have been doing similar work in the city for about a year now.

-Reporting by Sarah Cwiek, Michigan Public

Other headlines for Friday, Jan. 17, 2025:

• Longterm Oak Park Councilwoman Carolyn Burns resigned from her post last week due to health issues, The Oakland Press reports. The City Charter dictates that the position must be filled within 30 days and also allows for direct appointments by other council members. The deadline to apply to fill the vacancy is Friday, Jan. 17 and the chosen applicant will serve until the November 2025 elections.
• The Yemeni coffee shop chain Qahwah House celebrated their anniversary this week by giving back to the community, offering eight “lucky” customers at each store location free coffee every day for a month. Qahwah House opened its first location in Dearborn in 2017 and now has over 20 locations across seven states.
• The Anti-Freeze Blues Festival returns to The Magic Bag in Ferndale on Saturday, Jan. 18, featuring the Bobby Murray Revue, The Woodward Horns, Raye Williams and more.
• No. 1. seed in the NFC Divisional Round, the Detroit Lions, will face the No. 6 seed Washington Commanders Saturday night at Ford Field. The last time the two played in the postseason was back in 1999. Kick off is at 8 p.m.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

Owning a home has been a symbol of achievement in this country for generations. It’s the most common way to accumulate wealth, but home prices surged during the pandemic and haven’t come down.

The cost of buying a home has made younger generations look at homeownership differently. Sixty percent of Americans don’t believe homeownership is worth the return on investment it once was, according to a Harris Poll. 

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Today on The Metro, Thomas Sugrue, professor of social and cultural analysis and history at New York University, joined the show to discuss this trend and why the demand for homes is outpacing the supply.

“A lot of folks who have the good fortune of buying houses and getting mortgages on them when interest rates were low are hanging on,” Sugrue said. “They’re not letting go of their houses, because ultimately it would cost them to get new higher interest rates and move elsewhere.”

With all the additional costs that come with homeownership, there are a lot of homeowners in the city that may be better off renting, says Anika Goss, CEO of Detroit Future City — an organization working to create more opportunities for residents to become homeowners.

“There are a lot more costs than just the cost of the home itself that goes into ownership — the maintenance costs, taxes, all of that,” Goss said. “But at the same time trying to find and trying to create pathways for long-term renters — so that people who are renting, you know, for five years, 10 years, or a lot of people who rent like that, they should probably be owners at this point.”

Use the media player above to hear to hear the full conversation, and other stories from “The Metro.’

More stories from The Metro on Jan. 13, 2024: 

• The Detroit to Traverse City passenger rail study has entered its second phase. Transportation Specialist with Groundwork Center Michael Goldman Brown joined the show to discuss the project and what’s been done so far.
• This March marks five years since the COVID-19 pandemic caused officials to shut the country down. While COVID-19 is still here, there are other viruses getting the attention of physicians this season as well, including Norovirus and the H5N1 Bird Flu. To discuss this, Wayne State University infectious diseases professor Dr. Teena Chopra joined the show.
• The Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded the city of Detroit $346 million to prevent basement flooding. Mayor Mike Duggan says some of the grant money will be used to repair outdated sewer infrastructure that led to severe flooding for many residents. Professor of Environmental Law and Interim Dean of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law Nick Schroeck joined the show to discuss.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

“How do you interact with your homeless neighbors? And whose responsibility is it to address housing and homelessness?”

• Healthy Roots Dolls is a Detroit-based business that creates dolls with kinky, coily and curly hair for Black children of color. Healthy Roots Dolls CEO Yelista Jean-Charles joined the show to discuss the company’s mission.
• Overdose deaths in Michigan decreased more than 6% from 2022 to 2023. To learn more about the decline, producer Sam Corey spoke with Steve Norris, director of overdose prevention and recovery support for the Alliance of Coalitions for Healthy Communities.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced last week that he will not seek reelection in 2025, ending a 12-year run that saw Detroit exit bankruptcy and begin the climb back to stability.

Anika Goss, CEO of Detroit Future City, joins Created Equal along with journalists John Gallagher and Darren Nichols to discuss what has happened over the last decade of Duggan’s leadership and what awaits the city’s next leader. 

Subscribe to Created Equal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Goss discussed how Detroit’s rate of Black homeownership has increased to its highest level since the housing crisis and the percentage of vacant land in the city has decreased over Duggan’s mayorship. However, she says there are still large income gaps within Detroit’s middle class, rates of educational attainment continue to decrease, and the city is facing the loss of the Black middle class to the suburbs.   

Gallagher pointed out that although Duggan’s leadership has correlated with an improvement in the city’s economy, there were many local grassroots efforts in place to promote economic recovery prior to Duggan’s first term. Gallagher also discussed how the economic improvements were often focused on Detroit’s downtown and Midtown areas rather than Detroit’s neighborhoods.

Nichols discussed how last year’s NFL Draft in Detroit was a culmination of the good press and excitement Duggan had built around the city. Nichols suggested that some of Duggan’s success could be attributed to his skills as a campaigner who spoke directly to city residents and presented himself as a fresh voice for change. He believes that the next mayor will have to similarly humble themselves and address the whole city. 

Nichols also said he believes housing and poverty rates will be the most pressing issues for the city’s next leader to address.  

“We can build affordable housing, but do those people have the finances to be able to do that? Do they have the credit to be able to do that? We have to keep in mind our realism as to what Detroit’s poverty rate means for affordable housing,” he said. 

Use the media player above to listen to the full conversation. 

Guests: 

• Anika Goss is the CEO at Detroit Future City.
• John Gallagher is a journalist, senior business columnist for the Detroit Free Press, and author of the book, “Reimagining Detroit: Opportunities for Redefining an American City.”
• Darren Nichols is a journalist and contributing columnist at the Detroit Free Press 

Listen to Created Equal with host Stephen Henderson weekdays from 9-10 a.m. ET on 101.9 WDET and streaming on-demand.

Community members gathered in Detroit’s North End neighborhood on Tuesday to celebrate the completion of a new $7.3 million mixed-use affordable housing project.

Subscribe to the Detroit Evening Report on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

“The Beauton” will feature 29 new units, including 10 micro studio units, 15 studio units, two one-bedroom units and two two-bedroom units — with rents based on 50-120% of area median income (AMI), and over half of the units at or below 80%. Rents for the micro units will be as low as $700 per month, and affordability is guaranteed for the next 12 years under the agreement.

“North End has seen a lot of new investment that can bring rent pressures for existing residents,” said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan in a statement.  “The Beauton will bring 29 more units of much-needed affordable housing to North End to help make sure residents of all income levels can live in a growing and thriving neighborhood.”

Led by Detroit developer Charles Dickerson, the project was made possible by funding from several sources, including $1.5 million from the Detroit Housing for the Future Fund (DHFF); nearly $2.5 million from Capital Impact Partners; $1.5 million from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and additional support.

DHFF is a private investment fund aimed at directing funding to create and preserve affordable housing in Detroit. The fund is anchored by a $15 million commitment from JPMorgan Chase of the fund’s total $58 million raise and a $10 million guarantee from The Kresge Foundation.

Including The Beauton, the DHFF has funded 13 projects totaling 435 new or preserved affordable units in the city.

“Projects like The Beauton exemplify the power of partnership and the impact of the Detroit Housing for the Future Fund in creating affordable housing solutions that meet the needs of our residents,” said Julie Schneider, director of the city’s Housing and Revitalization Department.

Call 313-656-4233 for leasing information.

Other headlines for Friday, Nov. 15, 2024:

• A 3-year-old sloth bear named Jagger has found a new home at the Detroit Zoo. This is the first time a sloth bear has been in the zoo in decades, according to zoo officials. Officials also say that she’ll be spending the next few days getting acclimated to her new home before stepping outdoors.
• The 21st annual Detroit Tree Lighting ceremony is taking place from 4-9 p.m. next Friday, Nov. 22. The free event kicks off the holiday season with stellar performances by national and local musical acts and figure skaters. There will also be food trucks, and unique lighting attractions across Downtown Detroit.
• Tickets are still available for Dave Chappelle and Killer Mike’s Still Talkin’ That Sh*t tour stop at the Fox Theatre tonight at 8 p.m.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.