Dan Gilbert’s Hudson’s tower was sold as a symbol of comeback for Detroit — a shiny promise of jobs, growth, and a Woodward Avenue reborn.

But behind the glass, there is a more complicated story. 

State officials approved over $600 million in tax breaks across several Bedrock projects, including Hudson’s. Locally, Gilbert also won a $60 million city tax abatement, with the Downtown Development Authority playing a key role in downtown financing.

But the returns are uncertain. A University of Michigan study projects the incentives could generate benefits through 2052. 

Critics say many promised jobs are simply relocations from GM’s headquarters and other Gilbert buildings, rather than net new opportunities for Detroiters.

Meanwhile, the flow of public money remains murky. 

To see if the subsidies are paying off, the Detroit Free Press is now suing the Michigan Department of Treasury to gain access to state records. Detroit Free Press reporter JC Reindel is helping lead the fight for information. He joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to discuss how this story asks a deeper question about public subsidies and if they serve Detroiters or developers.

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When people left Detroit, the city lost a lot of momentum for development. Over the past decade, encouraging growth has often meant putting money toward large development projects in the Downtown area, including District Detroit and the Hudson’s building. These projects include a lot of money from private developers and subsidies from city residents. 

Since Detroit began increasing its population gain, smaller projects have gotten less attention. But executive director of Building Community Value Chase Cantrell wants to change that by assisting small-scale developers. 

Cantrell spoke with Robyn Vincent about why small-scale development projects matter. Namely, he wants local residents to have more autonomy over what happens to the businesses, vacant lots, and homes in their neighborhood.

Building Community Value is offering in-person real estate development trainings for residents in Detroit, Highland Park and Hamtramck. Applications for the training close August 27th.

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The Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) has released the Get Housing Ready Guide.

It’s a checklist for local governments to attract more housing development and investment. The state still faces a shortage of 119,000 housing units.

MSHDA Director Amy Hovey spoke with WDET about what is causing the shortage, and how the guide can help communities address it.

The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Amy Hovey: In the state of Michigan, we’re still about 119,000 units short of where we need to be for our current population in the state. That shortage comes from a few different things. One, the amount of people that live in each housing unit has shrunk. Quite often there’s one or only two people in the home. So, even if your population is somewhat stagnant, like it is in the state of Michigan — if you have less people in each home, you’re going to need more homes. We’ve also had a big increase in second homes and short term rentals. It’s great that we have those. That has also led to a shortage of housing for people who live here permanently. So we need to create all kinds of tools to help with the development of housing. And this guide really just kind of highlights all the different things — whether it’s zoning changes, whether it’s financial tools, whether it’s planning, whether it’s knowing where you want the housing developed, and having land control and working with land banks. There’s lots of things that a local municipality can do to really be housing ready.

Bre’Anna Tinsley, WDET News: What is the biggest obstacle that local governments are facing right now concerning attracting these investments?

AH: The cost of developing housing is really the biggest obstacle. Often in our state right now, the cost to develop housing far outweighs what Michigan families can afford. So we need everyone to come to the table to reduce those costs. Some of the suggestions we have look at their land use policy. How can they allow for a more dense housing structure? Meaning, like row houses or multifamily even for sale homes that make it more affordable to develop. Also allowing for smaller housing to be developed, which matches really what new families are looking for and also what they can afford.

I also think if local communities prioritize the development of housing, making sure that they’re reviewing plans quickly, that they have pattern books of plans they’ve already approved in the past, that they’re coming to the table and trying to make the process as easy as possible and as short as possible to get housing developed. You know, the longer it takes, the more expensive it is.

BT: I notice that particularly in Detroit, that urgency to build more housing, especially more affordable housing, we tend to lean more towards multifamily units — not necessarily single-family homes. I’m curious if the policy changes that you’re suggesting will help allow more single-family homes to be built.

AH: I do think so. I think the reason why you see a lot of multifamily being developed, particularly in Detroit, is that’s where a lot of the subsidy is geared towards. At MSHDA, we get a lot of money from the federal government that is just for multifamily. We don’t get as much assistance for homeowner for sale development.

And so really, there’s a couple things. One, we need the state government to step up and put more funding towards for-sale. We need local governments to rethink their neighborhoods, to make it more affordable for developers to come and develop for-sale housing. For example, in this guide, we talk about the housing TIFs (Tax Increment Financing) under one of the financial tools and incentives. We have seen developers across the state use that housing TIF tool to develop single family for sale housing. And so if you’re a community that’s willing to approve these housing TIFs, you’re more likely to attract these single-family kind of neighborhood developers into your community.

Chinatown in Detroit was the destination for many Chinese immigrants who traveled to the city. Urban renewal and the construction of the Lodge freeway was then built through the neighborhood and Chinatown residents moved from Jefferson Avenue to the Cass Corridor. That’s where it existed up until Chung’s Cantonese Cuisine – a staple eatery in Chinatown for decades  — shuttered in 2000.

Now, new investments are being made into the area to revitalize what was once a cultural staple in the city. And to celebrate and continue those efforts, Michigan Humanities is hosting a fundraising event on Friday, July 18. And later this month, the Detroit Chinatown Vision Committee is hosting its first annual Block party.

Detroiter Curtis Chin is the co-founder of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop in New York City and the author of “Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese restaurant” — an appropriate title given his family owned the historic Chung’s restaurant in Detroit’s Chinatown neighborhood. He joined The Metro on Thursday to discuss the history of the neighborhood and it’s revitalization.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

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Detroit City Council recently approved changes to city ordinances to make the licensing process easier and less cumbersome for small businesses.

The changes, which were unanimously approved by the council, will reduce administrative burdens by cutting redundant licensing requirements that “do not protect health and safety”; allow businesses to renew their business licenses every two years instead of annually; improve the city’s permitting and licensing processes and more.

Hassan Beydoun, group executive of Economic Development for the city of Detroit, joined The Metro on Tuesday to elaborate on what these new resolutions mean for small businesses in Detroit.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

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