Gardenview Estates progress

[Goose]

GMan,

The urban planning and development world has learned a lot from the failures of Herman Gardens, Jeffries, etc. The goal here is to have a mix of incomes and that is being accomplished.

Rents are based on market rents and the subsidies used to plug the gap that exists between the ability to properly maintain and manage to a high standard and the rents residents can afford to pay. All apartments are built to the same standards, regardless of the level of subsidy. This way the amount of money someone is paying in rent is indistinguishable from others, and as families incomes rise [[or fall) there's no need to move. If you know of a way to create high quality, sustainable, well managed affordable housing without government subsidies or tax credits, please tell me how that can be done. And conversely, if you're against government subsidies, please tell me how you plan to ensure that folks who can't afford market rents can find quality, affordable housing.

not sure what the income gap differential would be, but there is a difference not only in income, but in social pastimes, interests, tastes, etc etc that someone making say $30,000 has and can afford, vs. someone making $70,000 has and can afford, despite each living in their income equalized affordable housing.....

[Junkin4Life]

Any new progress in Gardenview Estates

[Junkin4Life]

any new pics?

[BVos]

I don't have pics off hand, might be able to post some sometime this week.

Phase 3, the northeastern corner of the site at Joy and the Railroad Tracks, is going full steam ahead with construction. About half of the buildings are fully framed in and the rest will be framed in in the next month or two. Interior work and site grading is going in at a rapid pace as well.

Phases 1-2C are at or very near 100% occupancy with virtually no turn over. No problems filling the units at all. There's a wait list to get in. These are high demand units from the market rate units to the public housing units.

Lots of great things in the works. Look for more construction to start in the Spring of 2012.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

Great update on this project. Looking forward to any pics. I seem to recall a number of the resident naysayers claiming that there would be no demand for these units.

[Junkin4Life]

Wow we're really making progress.!!! I know the will be beautiful. There's no doubt

[Junkin4Life]

.... Along with the facelift of M-39 aka Southfield Fwy

[Danny]

You all wait and see. Gardenview Estates will look like Herman Gardens within 5 years. What a beautiful ghettohood for low-income families.

[louis]

It is odd that with 50% of Detroit housing being abandomed, our government is building more. You would think that the last thing they need in Detroit is more housing.

yes there is lots of housing for sale in detroit, but how much of that is sustainable? if i were a newcomer to the city, a decrepit old house wouldent exactly be my first choice. however this project is in kind of an awkward spot i would expect this sort of thing to be built just outside of the inner city where land is cheap but it will mostlikly rise in value

[Jowlska]

I looked at the Detroit Housing Commission website and saw that you may qualify as "low income" and be eligible for public housing if you have a family of 1 and make under $39,000 per year. I'm not sure I would want to live in public housing, but I would probably qualify for it at my income level. It seems like 95% of the city's residents would qualify to live in public housing.

[Hamtragedy]

There's a very similar project going up on Buffalo and Charles on the east side of Hamtramck, near Mound, which also replaced some projects. Construction has moved substantially over the summer.

[BVos]

Sorry I wasn't able to post some pics. Crazy week!

Low income at the level you describe Jowlska would actually be moderate income. You wouldn't qualify for public housing, but would qualify for tax credit housing which is a program where the state and feds kick in money to subsidize the construction costs in exchange for the rents being lower over the life of the development.

Hamtragedy, that's the Emerald Springs project you are talking about, also a Detroit Housing Commission project. That's the former Charles Terrace [[often nicknamed the Buffalo homes) Homes. Amazing progress going on there too.

[animatedmartian]

There's also some low income houses being built near Cass Tech on Temple and some on Oakman by the Michigan Bell building. Crazy lot of low income development in Detroit that seems to go unnoticed.

[Goose]

drive down wayburn off warren and see whats happened to subsidized housing that is less than 10 years old... there are tons of repos... most most sold for 80-110K are now worth 10K if they are lucky

what about the large number of vacant new construction homes on fairview and lilliebridge just south of jefferson, unfinished brand new homes sitting with deteriorating tyvec wrap

there are people making big money building these subsidized homes... all a waste of money, will never be worth what they are spending....

http://g.co/maps/zgsgr

[BVos]

Here's 2 pics of current construction activities. I'll find some showing completed construction.

[BVos]

Some pics of completed work. These pics are meant for construction monitoring, not a magazine so I appoligize in advance that they're not the greatest. But they give you a good idea of what's being built and the level of quality.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

Thanks for the updates and pics. Looking pretty good. I like the brickwork, as it makes the buildings look much more substantial, and makes the buildings look more Detroit-like since the D has so many brick homes.

[GoGrixdale]

This makes sense:

Mabey the goal is to have mini neighborhoods like Gardenview and tear down the remaining homes around these enclaves.

I see Gardenview as a transitional not transformational development. If I had to lay dollars to doughnuts I'd bet that this could be just the Alkaseltzer for stomaching 'Rightsizing'.

Mixed income housing can work al-la Elmwood I,II & III. But there has to be a plan if and when it doesn't.

And even IF a generation from now [I give it more than 5 years Danny] the development tailspins into social decline, the net result will still be worth every dime. We will again have policeable 'Projects'. This would be a good thing.

Since the Kumbaya demolition of the PJ's it's been hard to maintain solid neighborhoods. Everyone just moved in with grand-ma and sectioned 8'ted the house the next door when the neighbor got fed up and left. ...and ta-da ...more neighbors left.

Abolishing the projects was no less haphazard than the abolition of slavery in America. There was no foresight or matriculation plan.

[royce]

I believe the Mae Jemison school is slated to close at the end of this school year. It looks like the senior housing is being built. No sign of the market rate housing, however. The area just to the east of the development is in pretty bad shape, with many abandoned homes. Perhaps this will become the much needed parkland that the site could have been.

Finally, isn't it a shame that the decision was made to put a huge pond and berm along the Southfield Fwy., side? This area could have been used for additional retail. Given its size, a multi-screen theater or a strip mall could have gone there. I guess they'll throw some fish in the pond and allow the local kids to spend their summer days fishing.

[designforall]

Here's 2 pics of current construction activities. I'll find some showing completed construction.

Hi there,

I'm working on a documentary about design for all and one of the vignettes is about Herman Gardens. I am looking for images of Herman Gardens over the the last 70 years. These images are interested and I was wondering if it would be possible to get permissions and a high-res images of your photos. Email me and I can give you more details - mngo.radicalmedia@gmail.com