"What about the neighborhoods?" Progress in Detroit Neighborhoods

[Lowell]

"What about the neighborhoods?" is the most common counter question poised when news of the booming 7.2 square mile 'green zone' of Downtown to New Center is touted when citing the rise of Detroit.

In bits and pieces there is neighborhood progress. So I thought I would start a thread that highlights that.

As with this opening story, these are not Dan Gilbert giant steps but in their totality I believe they are balancing the gain vs loss ratio, the point when the going down is being balanced by the coming up -- and hopefully going beyond to surpass it.

Making over Detroit, street by street
Louis Aguilar , The Detroit News May 1, 2017

Three years ago, Atkinson Street became a test case for a pair of successful millennials who wanted to see how much change they could create on one Detroit street by purchasing blighted homes and renovating them.

Their plan to focus on one street appears to be working and now city officials believe the pair’s work on Atkinson Street is a model that can be used to revive many Detroit neighborhoods....

So far, the team has fixed up 19 residential units in 10 properties. All but one of those properties were empty before the overhauls. In the sole occupied property, the resident was paying rent to someone who no longer owned the home, Alade said.

All of their properties are now occupied, with rents ranging from $500 to $1,500 a month.

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/new...eet/101140024/

[royce]

It's nice to see young black men investing in Detroit, but they are originally outsiders. The revitalization of other Detroit neighborhoods needs to come from people who actually live in the neighborhoods. Difficult when you have so many poor inhabitants. These young men have education and relied on family to help them finance their projects. That's the key to their success. Detroit needs more people like them to improve the neighborhoods. In the future, it would be nice to see them branch out to other neighborhoods or educate others to do what they're doing. It would also be very nice if they could get the financing from the banks. For the neighborhoods, this is a good start.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

Their approach is pretty much what I have thought for awhile is a great strategy. Concentrate on a compact area with good [[albeit rundown) housing stock that is near an area that already provides a stabilizing influence.

Atkinson, which abuts Boston-Edison, is perfect for that. Glynn Court would be another likely candidate but I think Atkinson is better suited, because it is on the south side of B-E and therefore closer to New Center and that area's progress.

[daddeeo]

It would be great to help educate renters and homeowners on simple repairs they can make to their homes.

[ndavies]

Why would a renter have any motivation to pay to fix something? this is why you want homeowners and not renters.

[daddeeo]

I was able to make repairs myself to a rental property I had [[in 70's) and was able to deduct it from my rent. Did painting and some plumbing. Owner was glad to oblige.

[ndavies]

You are definitely the exception to the rule. Most renters will just keep yelling at the landlord until it's fixed.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

I was able to make repairs myself to a rental property I had [[in 70's) and was able to deduct it from my rent. Did painting and some plumbing. Owner was glad to oblige.

. In the early 1980's I rented the third floor the house next to the Parkhurst on Parker. I painted the living room, dining room and kitchen, and stripped the paint off of two living rooms windows, restoring the beautiful oak. The landlady paid for the supplies. I wanted a nicer apartment and made it so.

[ekleezy]

I was able to make repairs myself to a rental property I had [[in 70's) and was able to deduct it from my rent. Did painting and some plumbing. Owner was glad to oblige.

Really depends on the landlord if you can do that or not. Last year in midtown I had a large hole in my bathroom ceiling after a pipe burst. After a month of not fixing the hole I offered to fix it myself and deduct it from rent but was told I wasn't allowed to do that. After I said I'd call an inspector they finally fixed it a couple days later.

[Dan Wesson]

I was able to make repairs myself to a rental property I had [[in 70's) and was able to deduct it from my rent. Did painting and some plumbing. Owner was glad to oblige.

. In the early 1980's I rented the third floor the house next to the Parkhurst on Parker. I painted the living room, dining room and kitchen, and stripped the paint off of two living rooms windows, restoring the beautiful oak. The landlady paid for the supplies. I wanted a nicer apartment and made it so.

I know of a few young ones that did just that. I had warned them not to "invest" to much of their sweat and equity into a project with the possibility of an abrupt diminished return.

The landlord would up the rent or send a notice to vacate due to a pending sale of property.

Life goes on, live and learn...

[masterblaster]

Detroit adds Russell Woods, Jefferson Chalmers, Banglatown to neighborhood redevelopment plans

The city of Detroit is seeking out planning and design strategies for Russell Woods, Jefferson Chalmers and Banglatown as it looks to expand its neighborhood redevelopment initiatives.

The city announced Wednesday it issued a request for proposals to create a framework in the neighborhoods for economic growth, following similar projects already underway in Livernois-McNichols and the East Riverfront area. Detroit is looking for a "diverse group" of planning and design companies to work on these three latest studies, it said in a news release.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...-banglatown-to

http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/loca...49820446-story

It's too bad for Russell Woods that the adjacent Dexter-Davison commercial strip is about 2/3rds demolished. It could have been an additional draw for investors, entrepreneurs, and potential residents to the neighborhood like Jefferson-Chalmers has.

[Lowell]

$2 million from Kresge supports 17 projects in neighborhoods across Detroit
April 17, 2017

The new grants, reflecting the foundation’s deepening commitment to city neighborhoods, will fund, for example, the creation of a new community hub on Grand River in the Grandmont Rosedale neighborhood and conversion of a blighted five-block stretch of the Morningside neighborhood into an agricultural greenway. The grants support renovation of an abandoned duplex into an art center in central Detroit and a Southwest Detroit program to promote the conversion of vacant second floors of commercial buildings into needed residential spaces.

In addition to the creation of community gathering spots, green spaces and conversion of abandoned properties to new uses, efforts under the Kresge Innovative Projects: Detroit umbrella will make neighborhood streets and sidewalks more walkable, bring artists and community organizations together for collaborations in parks, and engage youth in neighborhood revitalization.

http://kresge.org/news/2-million-kre...across-detroit

[Wesley Mouch]

The health of the neighborhoods is a function of the health of the City. Bless these guys for their efforts -- and everyone who makes Detroit better!

[masterblaster]

Cooley Reuse Project nears campaign goal to save historic high school

A group led by Preservationist Nicole Pitts and her husband LaMar has raised nearly $900,000 and hope to take property control of the 322,000-square-foot school soon.

https://detroit.curbed.com/2017/5/4/...ct-high-school

-Phase One of the project would include stabilizing the property; repairing the roofand renovating the kitchen, theater, and library.

-Phase Two includes restoring the pool, basketball courts, and gun range.

-Phase Three, they’d lease and develop the space for community, co-working, and more.

-School sits on 17 acres

[masterblaster]

REGENT PARK NEIGHBORHOOD - Northeast side

Christian-based non-profit, Lifebuilders, has rehabbed 30 Regent Park homes as well as offered afterschool programs and summer camps

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/new...ark/101357652/

-This spring, the nonprofit is renovating 13 homes, five of which are funded with money from a $500,000 Wayne County grant.

-an interested developer has stepped in to speed up the process and help renovate more than 100 homes starting as early as this fall.

-The group purchased Tracy W. McGregor Elementary School on Edmore. The school had been abandoned for over 10 years before LifeBuilders bought the building and adjacent property it will turn into a park with sports fields, picnic pavilions and walking trails. Bringard-Boulder Park is scheduled to open June 10.

-LifeBuilders also plans to renovate the closed school into a 16,000-square-foot Head Start facility

[archfan]

Cooley Reuse Project nears campaign goal to save historic high school

They've obviously been busy raising money, but I've tried searching several times to find out how they were doing. It's good to see that they're moving forward.

[MSUguy]

Street sweeping is back

http://www.detroitmi.gov/News/Articl...x-Year-Absence

Road improvements for the 2017 season.

http://www.detroitmi.gov/News/Articl...eets-This-Year

[Lowell]

Island View neighborhood always seemed to me a prime recovery area [pluses being proximity to downtown, Belle Isle and adjacent to the stable Indian Village] so it was nice to see this announcement today.

A new mixed-use project in Detroit's Islandview/ Greater Villages district on the east side typifies a push to create more affordable housing in the city's neighborhoods.

Developers were starting work this month on the $23 million Parker Durand project, a four-story structure named for the two streets near the heavily traveled Kercherval and Van Dyke streets.

With 92 apartments on the upper three stories and retail on the ground floor, the Parker Durand aims to deliver a jolt of economic development to a neighborhood that spans Indian Village mansions, trendy shops and a large amount of vacant lots and run-down buildings.

https://freep-mi.newsmemory.com/?pub...56d911_13411ae

[Lowell]

And I like this. Much needed.

The entire Parker Durand project will be rent restricted, with 19 units renting to those who earn no higher than 50% of the area media income, scaling up to units for renters making no more than 120% of area media income.

Area median income in metro Detroit is now about $58,000, so units will rent to people earning roughly from $30,000 to $70,000. That means most renters could be working Detroiters, typically police officers, nurses or teachers, said Marcia Ventura, senior vice president of Invest Detroit.

[JonWylie]

They've obviously been busy raising money, but I've tried searching several times to find out how they were doing. It's good to see that they're moving forward.

https://www.opencooley.com/?fbclid=I...ccpRelcPuR-RbE