Neighborhood council signs District Detroit community benefits deal

Detroit — A group of area residents who secured community benefits for the $1.5 billion District Detroit project held a ceremony Monday to sign a letter in support of their agreement with the developers.

“I’m very proud of this agreement,” Jonathan Kinloch, a member of the Neighborhood Advisory Council, said Monday of the agreement with Olympia Development and The Related Cos. “I’m very proud of the process. You had a number of us who came together who did not know each other. We had no clue the direction we were going to go in, but we talked, we listened to the various suggestions from each of the members.

"But we more so listened to the community.  We not only listened to the members that came to the NAC and gave testimony," he said. "All of us are from Detroit and know the historical issues related to development and the lack of access, the lack of individuals having the ability to benefit from these millions of dollars that are being spent on projects that receive millions and almost billions of dollars in public resources.”

The package, valued at $167 million in community benefits, is expected to be referred by the Detroit City Council on Tuesday to its planning and economic development committee, which meets on Thursday. The city requires a community benefits agreement as Olympia Development and The Related Cos. seek incentives for its mixed-use development project.

“We just hope that with the signing of this document that the City Council take into the strongest consideration the hard work and the discussions we had with the developer to bring about this agreement," said Kinloch, who is also a Wayne County commissioner and Brush Park resident.

Plans for the District Detroit include 695 mixed-income residential units, 1.2 million square feet of commercial office space, 100,000 square feet of retail and 467 hotel rooms across the 10 properties in and near downtown Detroit, according to the developers. They are seeking nearly $800 million in local and state tax incentives and reimbursements.

In the community benefits package, Olympia Development and The Related Cos. have pledged affordable housing; workforce development; education; transit and parking benefits; local business incubation; cultural placemaking; and green space creation.

The benefits package was passed 8-1 late last month by the Neighborhood Advisory Council. Those eight members and one who was not in attendance at the meeting have since signed an agreement with the developers, said Chris Jackson, chairman of the NAC. Barbrie Logan, the lone member of the advisory group to vote against the deal, did not sign the agreement. At the time of the vote, Logan said the city could have sought more benefits.

Jackson said that one of the most historic features of the agreement is that the developers have pledged to spend at least $100 million of the development budget with disadvantaged Detroit-based businesses.

The Ilitches, owners of the Red Wings and Tigers sports franchises and the Fox Theatre, have faced years of criticism after the opening of Little Caesars Arena in 2017, with some arguing the family's long-promised development in the 50-block District Detroit has been slow to materialize. Several of the parcels of land targeted for development are Ilitch-owned parking lots.

“I know there had been some significant promises broken previously, but with this new project I’m pretty confident we can move forward and get this done,” said NAC member Deirdre Jackson.

cwilliams@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @CWilliams_DN