Fitzgerald neighborhood developer/Duggan slowplaying and running game.

[brizee]

Dislike talk of "2 Detroits"? This would be the kind of shit you DON'T want to pull.

This is my neighborhood. I live right on the other side of Wyoming.

The City of Detroit’s monumental project to revitalize a northwest neighborhood has fallen more than a year behind schedule, lost a portion of its federal funding and has generated allegations that city officials are exaggerating the level of community input on the project.

Conflicting accounts have left some community activists and residents unsure of the project’s progress. After questions from the Free Press, city leaders pushed back its expected completion date until December 2020

Announced that 115 vacant houses and about 200 empty lots would be rehabilitated over the next 2½ years

To date, more than a year after the project was announced, the developer has not fully renovated a single house — although three houses are expected to be finished this summer.

Beautification of the 200 vacant lots has not started yet either.

The developer, Fitz Forward, did not specify a number of jobs to be created in its proposal. However, part of its workforce development plan — demolition of homes through deconstruction that would preserve some materials for reuse — is no longer happening.

after project delays reduced a $1.6-million federal grant by $274,000, the city took an unusual step: It fixed the shortfall in federal money by withdrawing cash from its general fund for the developer to help cover costs

Construction of a bike path between Detroit Mercy and Marygrove College that links to the city's growing network of bike lanes and greenways, including the Dequindre Cut, is expected to begin this summer. It was originally supposed to start in December last year.

Another issue causing some confusion among residents is the availability of side lots — vacant parcels the Detroit Land Bank offers citywide for $100 to homeowners who live next to them.

When Nash approached Fitz Forward about buying the lot, the developer was noncommittal. Nash said he was told he might be able to buy a side lot from Fitz Forward at a later time for $2,000 to $5,000 — the cost of their renovations; much more than the Land Bank’s typical $100 price tag.

This is a horrible fucking look. One of the foundations in the architecture of your reelection campaign and it's looking like a make it up as you go Ponzi scheme.

PS. What happened to those apartments on 7 Mile/Livernois?

PPS. Or that restaurant at the old Brewster Rec announced FIVE years ago?

[Shai_Hulud]

That sounds bad. Admittedly things happen, but "beautification of lots" should be the sort of thing that happens in weeks and would prevent people from getting restless.

[NSortzi]

Well, for what it’s worth, the 7 Mile and Livernois project seems to be under construction. I haven’t been by there recently but there were a few articles put out in the last month or so stating construction has begun.

[1953]

I follow neighborhood development in Detroit closely and think that this "news story" is a bit of a stretch. Things are only delayed a small fraction -- in this kind of project, all sorts of things can push back a deadline -- changes in funding, staffing, priorities, etc. etc. If there's any red flag for me in this article, it seems like a pretty green and inexperienced development team is on the ground, and maybe not getting all the support it needs from an overstretched Platform development team, which has plenty of experience to get this done right.

[Danny]

Turning a ghetto hood into a neighborhood again,

YAY Duggan

Can Kwame do that?

[brizee]

https://detroit.curbed.com/2019/6/13...t-fitz-forward

The project will be renovating less than half of the homes initially promised.

Late.

The bloom is off Duggan. He's really pissing me the fuck off lately.

[Johnnny5]

The numbers don't appear to add up on this one. 12-15 million dollar project including federal funds and donations from Kresge and other sources. Why is the developer concerned with the "thin margins" on these homes? It's apparently what they agreed to do. Is the 12-15 million going to improvements other than the homes? If these homes are actually being sold at a small profit is the rehab cost actually included in that total?

[Luke09]

Escalating wages because of a lack of skilled labor is hurting development across the country.

[Gistok]

Escalating wages because of a lack of skilled labor is hurting development across the country.

Amen to that... I have a good friend who owned his own carpentry business in metro Detroit, but could not get/keep skilled help. He closed it down earlier this spring to work for a larger company. But that company demanded 10-12 hour workdays [[also demanded some weekend work), including some work out of state [[where they were willing to pay much more $$$ to that company than for comparable work in metro Detroit).

My buddy worked for them for a few months before tiring of 12 hour work days... and started his own company back up. Now he has his brother and 2 nephews who just turned 18 to work for him, with the ever increasing demands.

Also, the price of cement has gone up by 1/3 in cost in the last 18 months.

[hybridy]

The Fitzgerald Revitalization Project is winding down. Why did it fall short of expectations?

https://detourdetroiter.com/fitzgerald-revitalization-project-detroit/

Total investment from public, private and philanthropic sources was expected to be as much as $15 million. And that investment is noticeable — in many ways, Fitzgerald looks revitalized.

But the centerpiece of the plan — renovating over 100 homes in two years — has fallen well short of its considerable ambitions. Fitz Forward, the development team composed of Century Partners and The Platform, only managed to renovate 13 homes, none in the past two years. Now, it’s relinquishing its option to purchase the remaining homes owned by the city in favor of a plan that gives residents the ability to buy as many as 40, addressing one of the project’s main criticisms that residents were being locked out of home appreciation.

Who's following the money?