- The forgotten promise -

[O3H]

~~~~via Crain's media ~~~
In 2004, a group of investors made; what was to be; a
reported $258 million bet; on the city's lower east side,
and the Kilpatrick administration and City Council
spent millions priming the area for redevelopment.


More than a decade later, and with New Far East Side
Development Co. LLC still controlling at least
45 acres of the area abutting Grosse Pointe Park,
the city has few options for getting back the property
it sold to the investment group the Duggan administration
says broke its promises of redevelopment.

--Today it still sits largely fallow, with nary a sign
of the roughly 3,000 homes that were proposed for the area.
It's one of untold numbers of grandiose redevelopment visions
that never got off the ground, for a host of reasons.

-- But it was also one of the largest and most ambitious in recent memory and,
to this day, the neighborhood struggles with blight,
disinvestment and decay, with nearly 150 violations
by New Far East Side Development totaling $41,000 accrued.

The total project area envisioned nearly 15 years ago
was bounded by Jefferson Avenue to the south,
Alter Road to the east, Warren Avenue to the north
and Conner Street to the west.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/proper...roken-promises



The city-- sold the group -- about 660 properties between
October 2006 and February 2009,
according to a memo provided to the City Council last month.
*** _ Another 481 properties were purchased privately.__***

Today, city records show the group still owns 530 properties,
having spent nearly $3.3 million on them.

The land is valued at just $735,000, according to city data.

This does not help Detroit get back on its feet financially !!

[hybridy]

Just a kwame kickback scheme...long range speculators sitting on land. Housing could’ve never have been built for a profit there. Look at Jefferson Village by Crosswinds...it’s still not done 15 years later...only 1/3 of homes were ever built.

[O3H]

NEW FAR EAST SIDE DEVELOPMENT CO., L.L.C.

Company Number B2313R
Status Active, But Not In Good Standing
Incorporation Date 19 May 2004 [[over 14 years ago)
Company Type Domestic Limited Liability Company
Jurisdiction Michigan [[US)
Registered Address 315 BURNS DETROIT MI 4821
Agent Name MELVIN WASHINGTON

Henry Cisneros partnered with Detroit developer Melvin Washington,
Chicago home builder Kimball Hill and nonprofit U-SNAP-BAC

https://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthread.php?9702-Henry-Cisneros-is-coming-New-Far-East-Side-Development

November 12, 2004,U.S. federal trademark registration was filed for FOX CREEK
by New Far East Side Development Co., LLC, Detroit, MI 48208.
The USPTO has given the FOX CREEK trademark serial number of 78515807.
The correspondent listed for FOX CREEK is IRA W. SCHLUSSEL
SCHLUSSEL & SCHEFMAN, 322 N OLD WOODWARD AVE, BIRMINGHAM, MI

This guy :-- Senior vice president, general counsel, HelloWorld Inc.
https://www.crainsdetroit.com/articl...a-schlussel-46

[EastsideAl]

315 Burns is the Whittier. I somehow doubt Melvin is hanging around there, since his rehab project there has stalled half done for years now. He's also the one who gutted the National and left it to rot before the city took it from him. And he was also involved in the whole Sam Riddle - Monica Conyers drama. His company did develop a bunch of federally subsidized housing complexes several years ago under earlier mayors.

[O3H]

One might think that the sandwiched area - between -
Conner Creek Industrial _and_ GrossePointPark is real NICE !!!!

https://www.niche.com/places-to-live...al-detroit-mi/

About 2,300 residents with a median home value of 85,000+
30% of the folks have advanced degrees, decent incomes, etc.
Cass Technical High School nearby , Renaissance High School

[Honky Tonk]

If I'm not mistaken, and I might be, isn't Washington the guy that owned the defunct Phoenix Development? They rehabbed that small building just West of the Jefferson McDonald's. They also owned that small strip of land the mansion used to be on, just West of Owen Park. @ one point there was talk of a two building residential being built on the land. During the Kilpatrick trial, he was supenoed to testify.

[313WX]

Just a kwame kickback scheme...long range speculators sitting on land. Housing could’ve never have been built for a profit there. Look at Jefferson Village by Crosswinds...it’s still not done 15 years later...only 1/3 of homes were ever built.

In all fairness, this type of stuff was happening all over the country before the subprime mortgage bubble popped.

[EastsideAl]

If I'm not mistaken, and I might be, isn't Washington the guy that owned the defunct Phoenix Development? They rehabbed that small building just West of the Jefferson McDonald's. They also owned that small strip of land the mansion used to be on, just West of Owen Park. @ one point there was talk of a two building residential being built on the land. During the Kilpatrick trial, he was supenoed to testify.

You're correct, he's the one.

[O3H]

Wonder why no one else picked up the pieces and moved forward ?

[313WX]

Wonder why no one else picked up the pieces and moved forward ?

The same reason so many other real estate projects prior to the Great Recession failed to get off the ground.

They were unrealistic.

[Towne Cluber]

In all fairness, this type of stuff was happening all over the country before the subprime mortgage bubble popped.

On the other hand, The Vinton with Kilpatrick’s involvement also turned out to be a scam. Today it is thriving thanks to Gilbert.

[pjbear05]

Just a kwame kickback scheme...long range speculators sitting on land. Housing could’ve never have been built for a profit there. Look at Jefferson Village by Crosswinds...it’s still not done 15 years later...only 1/3 of homes were ever built.

It'll get done when the Kwamepotamus gets out. Oh wait, before he pays restitution to Detroit, he'll owe Uncle Sam for back taxes on those kickbacks. Scratch that, keep dreaming, suckas.