Today
03:35 AM
Detroit Riverfront Conservancy embezzlement probe that might top $40 Million
This scandal has been percolating for while but these staggering numbers and the allegations against the CFO, his firing, and the resignation of the CEO are new. All very disappointing if proven true.
https://www.freep.com/story/news/loc...0/73927880007/
"The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy’s CEO has resigned and its chief financial officer has been fired amid a criminal investigation into what the organization says is more than $40 million in missing money.
"Financial officer William A. Smith was fired after a Friday vote by the board of the nonprofit, a news release from the organization said. The board also hired Ryan Sullivan, CEO of Great Lakes-focused development and advisory firm Watershed Horizons, to replace CEO Mark Wallace on an interim basis. Wallace will stay on to help the transition."
"Financial officer William A. Smith was fired after a Friday vote by the board of the nonprofit, a news release from the organization said. The board also hired Ryan Sullivan, CEO of Great Lakes-focused development and advisory firm Watershed Horizons, to replace CEO Mark Wallace on an interim basis. Wallace will stay on to help the transition."
Attachment 43186
Mark Wallace [left] and William Smith
Mark Wallace [left] and William Smith
"The leadership change comes as the FBI investigates alleged financial mismanagement at the organization responsible for redeveloping more than five miles of riverfront with hundreds of millions of dollars in public, private and philanthropic funds. Conservancy Board Chair Matt Cullen has said an independent audit found “evidence of financial wrongdoing” by Smith.
"The audit found the losses amount to more than $40 million, Friday’s release said. The organization says it will “explore all legal avenues to protect the interests of the riverfront, including a potential civil lawsuit against Smith.”
"The audit found the losses amount to more than $40 million, Friday’s release said. The organization says it will “explore all legal avenues to protect the interests of the riverfront, including a potential civil lawsuit against Smith.”
https://www.freep.com/story/news/loc...0/73927880007/
Yesterday
10:20 PM
Yesterday
04:12 PM
A look back at Detroit’s “black liberation” movement from the 1960’s.
The Inner-city Voice began in 1967 as "Detroit's Black community newspaper" but evolved to become the official voice of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers in 1969.The League grew to 80 central members and a seven-person executive committee: General Baker, Kenneth Cockrel, Mike Hamlin, Luke Tripp, John Watson, John Williams, and Chuck Wooten. The League was an attempt to use the principles of Black liberation and Marxism-Leninism in order to gain political power.
Attachment 43492
Attachment 43492
April-22-25
10:45 AM
Train station, parking deck considered for land next to Michigan Central
This will be huge for the city and Corktown.
The presentation shows the transit hub could be built immediately south of a city-owned Department of Public Works yard. It says that Michigan Central, Ford’s nonprofit that operates the 30-acre Michigan Central campus, is “working with [[the) city to develop [[a) plan for DPW relocation and redevelopment [[of the site) as a new model of urban mixed-use communities.” Michael Frezell, a spokesperson for MDOT, told Crain’s in an email that the presentation is “very preliminary.”“While locating an intermodal facility at the Michigan Central campus is an option, we are still in the exploratory phase, and it is still too early in the process to determine an exact location,” Frezell said.
https://www.crainsdetroit.com/transp...chigan-central
The presentation shows the transit hub could be built immediately south of a city-owned Department of Public Works yard. It says that Michigan Central, Ford’s nonprofit that operates the 30-acre Michigan Central campus, is “working with [[the) city to develop [[a) plan for DPW relocation and redevelopment [[of the site) as a new model of urban mixed-use communities.” Michael Frezell, a spokesperson for MDOT, told Crain’s in an email that the presentation is “very preliminary.”“While locating an intermodal facility at the Michigan Central campus is an option, we are still in the exploratory phase, and it is still too early in the process to determine an exact location,” Frezell said.
Funding for the project is “being worked out with MDOT,” said Sam Krassenstein, director of infrastructure for the city of Detroit. He added that the city is not directly contributing funding to the project, and that no official funding commitments have been received either at the state or federal level. It also hasn’t been determined how much would come from American and Canadian sources.“We’re still figuring out what we are trying to build here,” Krassenstein said.
The presentation was prepared in advance of a visit by Federal Railroad Administration officials to Detroit in mid-October. At the same time, Amtrak officials toured the Michigan Central property with Michigan and VIA Rail Canada officials, Amtrak spokesperson Marc Magliari previously told Crain’s.
Ultimately, the rail connection between Chicago, Detroit and Toronto is meant to, among other things, “link three major North American economic epicenters,” the presentation says, and address what it calls a “lack of Chicago-Detroit-Toronto rail service and limited transportation options between Michigan and Ontario.”
Officials estimate a cross-border ridership of some 66,500 in 2029, which would be the first year the connector would be in operation, under the most current timeframe. The October presentation expects things like environmental clearance to take place this year and to start finalizing funding and final design throughout next year. Construction would begin in 2027.
Krassenstein said Monday that those timelines are still the goals for the project.
"It's really exciting to see the whole idea of trains coming back toward the station into Corktown and try to connect a bunch of different things at once," Krassenstein said.
The presentation was prepared in advance of a visit by Federal Railroad Administration officials to Detroit in mid-October. At the same time, Amtrak officials toured the Michigan Central property with Michigan and VIA Rail Canada officials, Amtrak spokesperson Marc Magliari previously told Crain’s.
Ultimately, the rail connection between Chicago, Detroit and Toronto is meant to, among other things, “link three major North American economic epicenters,” the presentation says, and address what it calls a “lack of Chicago-Detroit-Toronto rail service and limited transportation options between Michigan and Ontario.”
Officials estimate a cross-border ridership of some 66,500 in 2029, which would be the first year the connector would be in operation, under the most current timeframe. The October presentation expects things like environmental clearance to take place this year and to start finalizing funding and final design throughout next year. Construction would begin in 2027.
Krassenstein said Monday that those timelines are still the goals for the project.
"It's really exciting to see the whole idea of trains coming back toward the station into Corktown and try to connect a bunch of different things at once," Krassenstein said.
April-21-25
02:06 PM
RenCen plan would demolish 2 towers — but it hinges on public money
Two of the 39-story office towers — 300 and 400 — on the Detroit riverfront are slated for demolition, freeing up more land for public space along the water.
One of the remaining towers, the 100 tower, is slated for residential conversion into some 300-400 units; while the other 200 tower is expected to undergo an overhaul as spruced-up office space for new tenants, Kofi Bonner, CEO of Bedrock, said in an interview with Crain's. The 1,300-room Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center hotel tower, the state’s tallest building at 73 stories and 727 feet, would also be carved up; reducing the hotel to some 850 rooms on the lower levels and reserving the top levels for what Bonner described as high-end residential space.
The vision would create a new Wintergarden-like structure providing better riverfront access for the hotel for events, plus additional commercial space, a GM spokesperson said.
"We really wanted to open up the RenCen complex to the riverfront and provide a pathway to downtown, connected to downtown," Bonner said in an interview. "It's 5.5 million square feet, and it's 5.5 million square feet of two use types [[office and mall-like retail) that aren't as ... prominent in the marketplace as they were when these buildings were built."
"We really wanted to open up the RenCen complex to the riverfront and provide a pathway to downtown, connected to downtown," Bonner said in an interview. "It's 5.5 million square feet, and it's 5.5 million square feet of two use types [[office and mall-like retail) that aren't as ... prominent in the marketplace as they were when these buildings were built."
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