Riverfront Bet Aims to Draw Talent to Detroit’s Core
Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock development firm received approval for up to $300 million in Michigan state tax credits to support a $1.6 billion redevelopment of Detroit’s Renaissance Center complex. Gilbert plans to demolish two of the seven interconnected towers that have anchored the riverfront since the 1970s, replacing them with apartments, a riverfront park, an entertainment district, and a promenade linking the Detroit River to downtown. Gilbert will invest $1 billion in the project and General Motors, the Renaissance Center’s former anchor tenant, will contribute $250 million. The tax-credit program requires projects to include affordable housing units.
Gilbert, co-founder of Rocket Mortgage, argues that Detroit needs a vibrant waterfront to compete for young, educated workers who typically consider three or four cities when relocating. Bedrock CEO Jared Fleisher said the firm expects a long-term payoff as the development attracts mobile talent, which in turn draws employers. Detroit has posted three consecutive years of population growth after six decades of decline, driven largely by young professionals moving to the downtown area. The riverfront site has seen multiple failed redevelopment attempts since the 1970s, though the Detroit Riverwalk promenade built in the 2000s succeeded.
Gilbert has already invested $6 billion in downtown Detroit properties and received hundreds of millions in public financing, work widely credited with revitalizing the city’s core. Critics question whether the benefits extend beyond downtown to Detroit’s 200 neighborhoods, many of which face vacant storefronts, empty homes, and deep poverty. Urban studies professor Andrew Guinn at Wayne State University noted that some residents view the public subsidies as unfair when community centers and schools in outlying neighborhoods remain underfunded. The city still contends with weak public schools and inadequate public transportation that may limit the appeal to new residents.
The post Riverfront Bet Aims to Draw Talent to Detroit’s Core appeared first on Propmodo.
