A Detroit neighborhood council wants roughly $40 million in community benefits from Bedrock and General Motors as part of the massive overhaul planned for the Renaissance Center, with the developers set to respond to the request next week. The Neighborhood Advisory Council unveiled recommendations to both the developers and the public on Oct. 6, covering everything from down-payment assistance to small-business grants to continued public access to the Detroit RiverWalk during construction.
The proposal comes as Bedrock and General Motors push forward with a $2.2 billion redevelopment that would demolish two of the Renaissance Center's five towers and convert the rest into housing, hotel rooms and office space, according to the Detroit Free Press. Bedrock and GM are scheduled to give their formal response to the council's requests at its next meeting on Oct. 13, the newspaper reports.
What the Neighborhood Council Is Asking For
The list of recommendations leans heavily on housing. It calls for a $7.5 million Community Wealth and Anti-displacement Fund, a $5 million down-payment assistance fund for Detroit residents, $5 million for the Detroit Affordable Housing Development and Preservation Fund, and a $5 million Home Repair Fund, per the same Free Press account.
Workforce and small-business provisions make up another chunk of the ask. The recommendations include $6 million for skilled-labor training and apprenticeship programs in Detroit, $3 million in grants for Detroit small businesses, and $3 million for a community development financial institution revolving loan fund, the Free Press reported. The council also wants at least 100 paid internships and year-round youth employment opportunities, continuous RiverWalk access throughout construction, and a requirement that 40% or more of the project's goods and services be procured from Detroit-based businesses, with 15% coming from women-owned businesses.
Earlier Affordability Plans
Earlier plans detailed by the Free Press called for 934 new housing units overall, with 205 reserved as affordable housing for households earning no more than 80% of area median income.
The requests arrive through the city's Community Benefits Ordinance process, which the City of Detroit says requires developers to proactively engage with the community to identify benefits and address a project's potential negative impacts. The Renaissance Center and east riverfront project falls under that process, according to BridgeDetroit, which also reported that residents and local advocates have voiced concerns and skepticism about the project generally.
Public Subsidies Fuel Resident Pushback
The benefits request lands against a backdrop of residents challenging how much public money is going toward a privately led redevelopment. Bedrock and General Motors are seeking tax breaks and other public subsidies worth $548 million over 30 years, the Free Press reported in mid-September, a figure the Detroit News separately described as the developers having nearly doubled their ask for taxpayer funding. The requested incentives include roughly $300 million captured through Michigan's Transformational Brownfield program, about $134 million through a 30-year Renaissance Zone, and more than $39 million through a 12-year commercial rehabilitation tax break, according to the Free Press's reporting. Detroit's Downtown Development Authority has also agreed to reimburse developers as much as $75 million for demolition, streetscape and pedestrian improvements, a commitment that Axios reported the DDA approved to support the redevelopment. The Free Press noted the project is still expected to generate $301 million in additional tax payments for the city over those 30 years.
Community activists argued against the incentives at a public hearing on Sept. 29, the Free Press reported, and a representative from Detroit People's Platform said at that hearing that the proposed housing needs deeper affordability and more units larger than studios or one-bedrooms. Project valuations have also varied across coverage: CBS News Detroit described the plan as a $2.2 billion redevelopment, while the Free Press has elsewhere described a $1.6 billion redevelopment of the five original towers paired with a separate $600 million buildout of a 30-acre east riverfront site.
GM, Bedrock and the Riverfront Vision
Bedrock, founded by chairman Dan Gilbert, and General Motors have framed the project as an effort to transform the Renaissance Center into an open waterfront destination, including a pedestrian promenade connecting downtown to the riverfront, according to a press release from Bedrock. General Motors has owned the Renaissance Center since 1996, while the towers remain anchored by a Marriott hotel in the central tower. Gilbert has pledged $1 billion toward the redevelopment, with General Motors contributing $250 million.
With Bedrock and General Motors due to respond to the Neighborhood Advisory Council's full list of requests on Oct. 13, it remains to be seen how much of the $40 million in community benefits the developers will commit to funding. The council's recommendations were developed from community input gathered through the city's benefits process, though the precise scope of that outreach was not independently detailed beyond the broader reporting on the proposal.
