D’s Next Decade cover_NONE CDB.qxp 8/18/2009 4:49 PM Page 1

RAINS ETROIT USINESS CVol. 25, No. 34’ D Fall 2009B www.crainsdetroit.com

The D’s next decade ideas, projects and places 10 that can create Detroit’s future

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Vol. 25, No. 34 ideas, projects and places ABOUT The D’s next decade 10 that can create Detroit’s future THIS ISSUE The D’s Next Detroit’s blueprint Decade was edited by he condo boom is stalled in Assistant Detroit — as it is in most ar- Table of contents Managing T eas of the country. Editor Jennette The city’s population is shrink- Smith. It was ing. Government operations are Population Transportation designed by teetering because of declining tax Assistant Anchor institutions in Small businesses and revenue. News Editor Midtown lead the way in an grassroots groups get on Jeff Johnston. The recession hasn’t been kind effort to attract 15,000 board for mass-transit It was copy to Detroit. But this is no time to new residents by 2015, planning, Page 23 edited by Copy write the city off. Page 2 Desk Chief As this special report suggests, Gary Piatek Detroit is reinventing itself, and Entrepreneurship and Copy that’s no easy task. Shrinking the city Editors Vic The debate has begun in Fledgling business owners In this fourth annual supple- crowd free classes at Doucette and ment about investment in the city, earnest about how to Mark Whitney. TechTown, Page 26 Crain’s editors and reporters iden- resize the city, Articles were strengthening its written by tified the 10 compelling ideas, pro- strongest and most Crain’s jects and places that are leading populated neighborhoods and finding reporters that reinvention. alternative uses for others, Page 9 Nancy Kaffer, Declining population? Anchor Waterfront Daniel Duggan, employers in Midtown have em- Public space Bill Shea, braced “15 by 15” — an ambitious improvements Sherri Begin Vacant space move ahead, project to attract 15,000 young, edu- Detroit developers are Welch, Ryan cated professionals to live in the Page 28 Beene, Tom getting creative in how greater downtown area by 2015. Henderson and they breathe new life Amy Lane, and Community gardens and plans into old buildings, editorial for larger-scale commercial farm- Page 13 Employment interns Gabe ing operations are hoped to be Could urban farms produce Nelson and among the solutions to vacant land change? Page 13 Health care, service Dustin Walsh. problems. industries expected to bring future jobs, Photographers Mass-transit enthusiasts believe Education were Crain’s Page 30 a privately funded light rail experi- The landscape is multimedia ment will lead to a larger rail sys- changing, and the reporter tem. Detroit Public Schools Nathan Skid, is in the midst of an Culture Nelson, Walsh Hundreds of would-be entrepre- neurs are undergoing “boot camp” overhaul, Page 18 Collaboration, and freelance smart photographer at Wayne State University’s Tech- financial Garrett Town. Going green decisions MacLean. Meanwhile, political change is Urban gardens begin to and growing under way in city government; the bloom, Page 21 an audience are state’s emergency manager is Work begins on a green key to survival for cultural assets, CRAIN’S DETROIT transforming the culture of Detroit business incubator, Page 31 BUSINESS ISSN # Public Schools. 0882-1992 is Page 22 published weekly, Detroit has a rare opportunity to except for the first week of July, the fifth reinvent itself and serve as a sort week of August, the of research lab for urban redevel- fourth week of WEB EXTRAS www.crainsdetroit.com/nextdecade November, the third opment ideas. The 10 topics we’ve BONUS MAP week of December and chosen are signs that some of that How the Detroit Science Center found a way to grow a special issue the A special pullout during tough times. fourth week of August transformational work has al- highlights assets by Crain Communications Inc. ready begun. in Midtown and Plans for a Detroit sustainability center to demonstrate at 1155 Gratiot Ave., technology and provide training for green jobs. Detroit MI 48207-2732. — Jennette Smith, the Woodward Periodicals postage assistant managing editor Corridor. Guest column: Why Detroit needs a customer service paid at Detroit, MI and mindset. additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS, Circulation The popular event that celebrates talent. Department, P.O. Box 07925, Detroit, MI Detroit and offers a chance to Cocktail parties and building tours 48207-9732. GST # experience a night in the D is back will run from 5-6:30 p.m., and the 136760444. Printed in U.S.A. for its fourth act. The Sept. 10 event, afterglow will run from 7-10 p.m. Entire contents planned in conjunction with this Tickets are $50 a person, and the copyright 2009 by issue, offers attendees the presenting sponsor is the Michigan Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved. opportunity to visit homes and State Housing Development Reproduction or use of mixed-use spaces that represent Westin Book Cadillac. It is organized Authority. For more information or to editorial content in any manner without great places to work and play, this year with a focus on showcasing register, see www.crainsdetroit.com permission is strictly followed by an afterglow party at the what Detroit has to offer young and click on upcoming Crain events. prohibited.

CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS FFALLALL20062009 Page 1 20090824-SUPP--0002-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 8/19/2009 4:27 PM Page 1

The D’s next decade | Population

NATHAN SKID/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS Kiana Doggan-German reads outside a NATHAN SKID/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS Starbucks in Midtown on the corner of Midtown residents Zach and Morgan Stotz enjoy an outdoor lunch on Willis Street. Woodward and Mack. United for growth

troit affiliate of CEOs for Cities, a Eventually, the institutions hope INSIDE Group aims for 15,000 nonprofit network of business, non- to align their development plans as profits and mayors dedicated to well. Safety first: building and sustaining the next gen- “What if there were only one plan Tackling young professionals in Midtown eration of great American cities. for development of crime, Page 4 that neighborhood Midtown area by 2015 instead of three?” Strength in numbers Schramm said. “If BY SHERRI BEGIN WELCH The four are leveraging much of we get more inte- CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS the research done by CEOs for Cities grated and coordi- and its CEO Carol Coletta in an effort nated in terms of to attract more young people to Mid- Home cheap f 15 by 15, a coordinated effort by our development home: Artists the three anchor employers in De- town. The initiative is focused initial- plans, we can have make their I troit’s Midtown area to bring 15,000 ly on Midtown but includes the broader economic mark on young, educated people to greater greater downtown area. impact.” neighborhoods, downtown by 2015, is successful, it They want to create the elements Schramm The institutions Page 6 could become a national model. that make for a vital region and at- are working to develop a broader The effort is the first nationally to tract young professionals: mass strategy around long-term capital de- put a stake in the ground and set transportation, retail development, velopment and leveraging those in- some measurable markers around its education, housing, public safety and vestments for additional commercial, goal to attract young people, and it is beautification. retail and residential development, one of the first such efforts with an- Each anchor employer is doing its Schramm said. chor institutions working collabora- own to improve the Midtown area, Henry Ford has invested $300 mil- tively, according to the Chicago- but by themselves, each institution lion in its Detroit campus over the based nonprofit CEOs for Cities. can only go so far, said Bill Schramm, past three years, with new inpatient Wayne State University, Henry Ford senior vice president at Henry Ford floors and 80 new beds, three new op- Health System and the Detroit Medical Health System. erating rooms and expansion of its Center in May began meeting to ex- Coordinating their efforts will give ambulatory clinic. plore ways they could work together them greater impact in further revi- “To the extent that we can contin- to spur more development in Mid- talization of Midtown, he said. ue to improve the environment in town to make it a place young people The group’s initial efforts are on and around our neighborhood, we find attractive. low-hanging fruit, including coordi- protect that investment,” Schramm Joining them at the table is the De- nating public safety efforts to make said. troit-based Hudson-Webber Foundation, the area safer, shuttle services for Attracting more young, educated the impetus for the effort and an in- better transportation, and workforce people to the area could also help the vestor in Midtown for more than 20 development to provide jobs for health system to offset the amount of years. WSU’s students at Henry Ford and The four are members of the De- DMC. See Page 4

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The D’s next decade | Population

From Page 2 uncompensated care it provides, he said. Between 2007 and 2009, Henry Ford saw its cost to provide uncom- Safety first pensated increase by $60 million across its entire system. Shared goals Collaborative tackles Midtown crime BY SHERRI BEGIN WELCH ner said. “We think part of what our own in- CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS As of late July, it had been six EB EXTRA vestments can do is help attract that W weeks since the first targeted effort young professional, whether physi- Wayne State University, Henry Ford was launched, and that neighbor- cian, nurses, scientists or technolo- Video: Health System, the Detroit Medical hood still had no reported street gists — attract them as residents as Crain’s Center and others working together crimes, he said. interviews Carol well as employees,” Schramm said. to lower crime in Midtown have The initiative had targeted four Coletta of CEOs “What we want to see is broader di- had early success only two months Midtown areas by late July, just for Cities, versification of the economic base of www.crains into the effort. two months into the collaboration. the residents of Detroit. It’s what’s The public safety initiative is one detroit.com/ Crime had dropped in those four ar- good for the city on a broader scale.” of the first areas the anchor institu- nextdecade eas by 30 percent, collectively, and The extent to which Midtown is tions are collaborating on in an ef- 10 percent overall in Midtown, lively and revitalized is the extent to fort to attract more workers and Hausner said. which WSU is lively and revitalized, residents to Midtown. “When you see the crime trends said WSU President Jay Noren. The security forces for the an- and you react to them, instead of “Everything we do that is of value chor institutions are meeting every just responding to crime … if you to the revitalization of Midtown is vi- two weeks to look at crime data gen- tal to WSU — Midtown is home to erated by WSU’s Center for Urban start to enforce even at the smallest WSU.” Studies. level of crime and start to arrest There are obviously areas where The department takes real-time people, crime will continue to go Henry Ford and DMC have elements crime data reported by WSU’s Po- down,” he said. of competition, he said. “But they lice Department and the Detroit Po- On behalf of the public safety col- have common interests, too,” with lice Department and overlays that laboration, the WSU Police Depart- Noren each other and with WSU. data on Google maps. ment in mid-July received a federal All three have a vested interest in “We all (previously) submitted stimulus grant of $637,000 to contin- revitalizing Midtown to attract stu- the same reports, but we never saw ue the joint efforts for at least three dents, patients, employees and other it mapped out,” said Steve Hausner, more years, Hausner said. visitors and customers. captain in charge of line operations It hopes to use a portion of the Ultimately, the premise of 15 by 15 for the WSU Police Department. grant to connect the closed-circuit is that people like to live near where “We could never (before) see the television cameras of the three an- they work, Noren said. And people patterns that were developing and chor institutions, along with the won’t choose to live in a neighbor- how much crime was occurring Michigan Department of Transporta- hood unless they feel it is safe. down to each street block.” tion cameras, those on local parking WSU, Henry Ford and DMC are Using the crime analysis data, structures, at Orchestra Place, and working with the Detroit Police Depart- the anchor institutions pick a tar- atop housing units and hotels. Com- ment to to reduce crime in Midtown get neighborhood in Midtown and bined, it provides a broad network (See story at right.). Just two months ramp up their enforcement in that of cameras focused on target areas, after its launch, the effort by late July area for the next two weeks, ticket- he said. had already had success, reducing ing loiterers and those with open There’s also talk of setting up crime in four targeted Midtown intoxicants as well as responding to portable cameras in high-crime ar- neighborhoods by 30 percent overall bigger crimes such as theft and as- eas, Hausner said. and in Midtown as a whole by 10 per- sault — as they are happening, “This could be very easily repli- cent. Hausner said. cated in other parts of the city,” he The anchor institutions are not as At the next meeting, the group said. far along yet in identifying other ar- assesses how they are doing in the “Hopefully, we can get the new eas of collaboration, but they are also target neighborhood. Crime in the chief (Warren Evans) to come to discussing how they can align their first target area decreased from 30 one of our meetings and show them shuttle services to give those work- reported incidents during the pre- what can be done with mapping ing, learning, playing and living in vious two-week period to no report- real-time crime.” Midtown more efficient, convenient ed street crime during the heavier Sherri Begin Welch: (313) 446- and expanded services, Noren said. enforcement target period, Haus- 1694, [email protected] The effort will have the positive side effect of orientating people to and internships for WSU students. College for Creative Studies, which is public transit in advance of the light Students who attend college and also collaborating on the public safe- rail planned for Woodward, he said. work in Midtown are more likely to ty effort, and the University Cultural Another area of collaboration live there. Center Association, which is providing among the anchor employers is in Other employers and groups in information to help the anchor insti- workforce development. The group is Midtown are contributing as well to tutions’ work be even more success- discussing how Henry Ford and DMC the goal of 15,000 young educated peo- can provide part-time employment ple there by 2015. They include the See Page 5

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Population | The D’s next decade

From Page 4 ful, said UCCA President Susan Mosey. UCCA is bringing together the arts insti- tutions, companies, residential develop- ments and small business in Midtown to help develop strategies for creating a safer and more attractive neigh- borhood, she said. Young people “provide vitality and energy, stim- ulate independent, small commercial activity, (and) are a powerful eco- nomic force in a neigh- borhood,” Mosey said. Mosey They tend to be inter- ested in a lot of city activity, with walkable neighborhoods and public transportation, among other things, she said. There are elements of all of that in other parts of the city, but the WSU and CCS campuses, all of the investment in Mid- town, the nearby cultural institutions and professional sports venues are attractive to younger adults. Other potential draws in- clude planned greenways and light rail in development for Woodward Avenue. “Everybody is working toward creating a neighborhood or place where there’s enough of all this activity that it really then becomes an attractor.” The elements are there in Midtown, Noren said. “I think the future revitaliza- tion of Detroit is centered in Midtown.”

Leading by example $:RUOG&ODVV&RPSDQ\ The 15-by-15 initiative is conceptually ahead of the rest of the country, said Colet- ,QD:RUOG&ODVV&RPPXQLW\ ta, who makes it her duty to keep track of the things U.S. urban areas are doing to re- vitalize their cities. $VWHUDQGLVDOHDGLQJSURYLGHURIKXPDQWLVVXH Many other cities have attraction and re- DQGWLVVXHEDVHGVHUYLFHVIRUSKDUPDFHXWLFDO tention initiatives for young talent, Coletta UHVHDUFK2XUVROXWLRQVHQDEOHUHVHDUFKHUVWR said, “but I’ve seen nothing as aggressive as GHYHORSPRUHHIIHFWLYHWUHDWPHQWVIRUGLVHDVH 15 by 15.” The effort “is the boldest attempt by a city )URPRXU86KHDGTXDUWHUVRQWKH7HFK7RZQ to put a stake in the ground to say these peo- FDPSXVRI:D\QH6WDWH8QLYHUVLW\ZH ple are important to us, and we want them KDYHDFFHVVWRRXWVWDQGLQJHPSOR\HHVDQG living in the core of our city,” she said. JOREDOO\UHQRZQHGUHVHDUFKRUJDQL]DWLRQVDQG The Midtown group may not get the full XQLYHUVLWLHV2XULQYHVWPHQWLQ'HWURLWKDV 15,000 people, but by laying claim to a spe- SURYLGHGD¿UPIRXQGDWLRQIRURXUVXFFHVV:H cific goal, they create an intentionality DUHSURXGWREHDVSRQVRURIWKH&UDLQ V around the goal “that is very impressive by all measures,” Coletta said. 'HWURLW+RXVH3DUW\ Detroit is positioned to become one of the first cities to get its anchor institutions 7ROHDUQPRUHDERXW$VWHUDQGSOHDVHYLVLWRXU working collaboratively, she wrote in a ZHEVLWHDWZZZDVWHUDQGFRP blog on the CEOs for Cities Web site. “One of the reasons I so admire Detroi- ter’s for taking this on is it’s a complex puz- zle (and) so ambitious,” she said. “If (you) can make this work in Detroit, it stands as a very important model for oth- ers around the country.” ZZZDVWHUDQGFRP Sherri Begin Welch: (313) 446-1694, [email protected]

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The D’s next decade | Population

Artist Mitch Cope and architect Gina Reichert stand in front of their home at Lawley Avenue and Klinger Street in north Detroit. The couple, who own the Design 99 experimental design store in Hamtramck, have persuaded several other artists to move into the neighborhood, where houses cost as little as $100. COURTESY OF MITCH COPE Affordable urban canvas Artists scoop up cheap houses to start enclaves

BY GABE NELSON Last year, Cope SPECIAL TO CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS and Reichert bought this house “People have With many Detroit houses selling for $1,900, named for less than a month’s rent in the sub- it the been staring at urbs, artists seeking studio space and “PowerHouse” and a blank urban canvas are buying prop- began to turn it into a property going erty and starting art enclaves. neighborhood art vacant here for Artists have historically been har- center. They bingers of urban redevelopment, mov- painted the siding 60 years. ing to rough-edged neighborhoods in in pastel colors search of low housing costs and plenti- and turned the We’ve always ful studio space. empty lot next If Detroit has anything, it’s cheap door into a garden. been surprised COURTESY OF MITCH COPE real estate. that there According to data from Farmington testing renewable technology in a most depressed neighborhoods. To get haven’t been Hills-based Realcomp II Ltd., the medi- house they call the “PowerHouse.” It that price, artists must agree to bring an price for a Detroit home was $6,500 was a foreclosed house that cost $1,900 the house up to code and live there at more in June, down from $10,000 a year ear- to buy. least three years, said Karen Schroed- lier. Although crime remains a reality, er, marketing manager for member people taking Some houses cost less than $1,000, the low cost of living in Detroit gives group Home HeadQuarters Inc. advantage of and artists taking advantage of those artists more time to get involved in The average home price in the low prices have caught the eye of na- their neighborhoods, Cope said. neighborhood has risen from under it.” tional media outlets, including The “People have been staring at proper- $40,000 in 2006 to about $60,000 today, New York Times, ABC News and CNN. ty going vacant here for 60 years. according to real estate database – Mitch Cope, artist At the center of attention has been a We’ve always been surprised that zillow.com. group of artists buying vacant homes there haven’t been more people taking No similar program exists in De- and redeveloping a neighborhood just advantage of it,” he said. troit, though organizations such as the north of Hamtramck. The first movers Leveraging art into neighborhood Russell Industrial Center have targeted were married artists Mitch Cope and development is hardly a new idea, but artists as tenants for new develop- Gina Reichert, who have purchased an increasing number of cities are us- ments. About 200 artists rent space to several foreclosed sites near Davison ing inexpensive real estate for that live or work at the 2.2 million-square- Avenue and Conant Street. purpose. foot building near I-75 and East Grand Cope and Reichert, who run the De- A nonprofit in Paducah, Ky., started Boulevard, said operations manager sign 99 experimental design store in a program in 2000 that offers artists Eric Novack. Hamtramck, have persuaded several $2,500 to move to the city’s depopulat- Occupancy at the former automo- artist friends to move into the neigh- ed downtown. More than 70 people tive plant has nearly tripled over the borhood. They sold a nearby house to have taken the offer, many of them past three years, prompted in part by one couple for $549 and encouraged buying property through the nonprof- the city’s reputation as a “blank can- two friends to buy another foreclosed it. vas,” Novack said. home for $100. Buoyed by the new residents, the Cope said Detroit’s artists could use “Artists are really keen on working neighborhood has become an arts dis- a program helping them gain access to with their own space,” Cope said, and trict with galleries, shops and restau- vacant space, though people like him Detroit’s inexpensive houses “can be rants. are doing it on their own. easily adapted into all kinds of In Syracuse, N.Y., an organization “The city can do things that grass- things.” called the Near West Side Initiative has roots groups can’t. There’s room for all He and fellow artists are experi- borrowed Paducah’s model, offering kinds of development — and that in- menting with architecture and design, artists houses for $1 in one of the city’s cludes artists,” he said.

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The D’s next decade | Population GLUEing together a region

help mitigate the environmental haz- Campaign asks young professionals ards here.” Sandra Yu, program manager at Detroiters Working for Environmental what it will take to make them stay here Justice, volunteered to roam the streets looking for more youths to BY DUSTIN WALSH “The things young people say they participate. SPECIAL TO CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS want for the cities are different from “I got involved because I wanted to what our leaders say we want,” she know what the people were think- If you listen to pundits outside of said. ing,” she said. “Most of the people re- Michigan — even outside of South- The effort, she said, will help ally love this city and want to stay to “The things east Michigan — Detroit is a cesspool GLUE make an argument for what see it change. I know I am.” of despair, corruption and doubt. the young people of the region need. Szurpicki hopes to use it not only young people Detroit and the region have many GLUE kicked off the campaign as an advocacy effort targeted at local say they want problems, but the area also is becom- May 14 with a party at Detroit’s Bu- and regional leaders, but also as a ing a haven for young entrepreneurs, reau of Urban Living. Attendees were multimedia public service announce- for the cities urban-reinvestment experiments and asked to participate in the campaign. ment. are different activists looking to turn the region’s Szurpicki has since collected 82 The program will last several shady reputation toward the sun. useable photos for the campaign. months, and GLUE plans on packag- from what our Sarah Szurpicki is one of them. She She said the biggest trends in re- ing a press kit next spring. Another is the co-founder and director of Great sponses, here in Detroit, were mass “I Will Stay If ...” party is scheduled leaders say we Lakes Urban Exchange, a Rust Belt re- transit, greenways and regional gov- for Sept. 17 in Pittsburgh. Szurpicki want.” vitalization project. The organization ernment. said parties are also being planned focuses on what young professionals “There was a real diversity in the for Buffalo and Cleveland. – Sarah Szurpicki, can do to advocate change in the re- responses and a lot that confirmed “I hope that certain themes start to emerge from this and start to become Great Lakes gion’s post-industrial cities. my own expectations,” she said. “Pro- GLUE’s newest project is the “I gressive ideas were coming out of it, so clear that no one can argue against Urban Exchange Will Stay If ...” campaign. For it, and that’s the whole point.” it,” she said. “And, we can engage Szurpicki collected photos of young Khalilah Burt, a development spe- people in this conversation about our residents of metro Detroit holding a cialist at the Michigan Land Bank Au- future.” poster and finishing the phrase, “I thority, participated in the campaign. Many young people said regional will stay if ... .” Her phrase was “I will stay if … we leadership is key. Szurpicki, a 2003 Harvard grad and consider vacant land an asset, not a “We see the importance of region- part of the Crain’s Detroit Business liability.” alism,” she said. “There’s this impa- 2009 class of 20 in their 20s, said the “A lot of comments are made about tience among young people when our effort is designed to show community Detroit’s vacant land and blight,” she leaders fail to do so. It seems silly to leaders what’s important to the re- said. “There’s a lot that can be done, us.” gion’s youth — something she says like urban agriculture or storm wa- For more information, go to they don’t know. ter management, that could really www.gluespace.org.

“There’s a lot that can be done,” said Khalilah Burt about the problems of vacant land and blight in the city of Detroit. The latest project by the Great Lakes Urban Exchange collects photos of young residents of metro Detroit holding handmade posters completing the phrase “I will stay if ... .”

COURTESY OF SARAH SZURPICKI

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Shrinking the city | The D’s next decade

“Mayor Bing has to lead a vision around land use in the city.”

– Deborah Younger, Detroit LISC

GARRETT MACLEAN Growth by shrinking?

FACTORS IN THE EQUATION Some say city could do more with less MAKING IT Land bank HAPPEN A land bank authority is a public BY NANCY KAFFER to provide the tools and data needed body that’s a repository of vacant, CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS to reshape the city, and policy pieces Tough choices: abandoned and tax-reverted that would enable such a project are How do you properties. The land bank has the he facts are well known: De- falling into place. decide which ability to speed up the title-clearing troit, once home to more than But the public dialogue that will neighborhoods to save? process, bundle parcels and set T 2 million people, literally shape De- Page 12 prices — municipalities must sell now holds about troit’s future has yet even derelict property at fair market 850,000. Revenues BILLS TO PAY to begin in earnest. value. Property cycled through a land have dropped with Costs for maintaining city “There’s a lot of WEB EXTRA bank is also automatically eligible for residency, leaving an streets and providing city conversation that brownfield tax credits. Detroit’s land services: bank was created last year and inconsistently popu- needs to happen, and should be up and running by the end lated city with high Department 2008 budget a lot of data that needs of this year. taxes and poor ser- Public Works $164 million to be collected, but Master plan vices. Lighting $143 million there’s no doubt in A city’s master plan guides its The city has as Sewers $138 million my mind — I think many as 78,000 vacant once collected, the land-use policies. The city’s current Water $151 million master plan was approved in 1992 parcels and 18,000 data will prove out Police $160 million and focuses on attracting new foreclosed properties. the point that we have development and boosting About 5 percent of the Fire $151 million to go in this direc- redevelopment. Few changes have region’s state equal- Total $907 million tion,” Bing said. “We been made in it in the past decade. Video: ized property value is Miles of city streets: 2,700 have a mass of land Federal funds Crain’s inside the city limits, City cost per mile for street: that’s already vacant interviews Mayor The federal government has compared with 50 per- $336,000 and underutilized, Dave Bing, distributed millions to U.S. cities cent in 1960. Cost per city block $33,600 and pockets that are www.crains through its Neighborhood Stabilization More than 20 years healthy. We’ve got to detroit.com/ Sources: McKenna Associates, AAB Program. The government is also ago, the late Marie make sure the deci- nextdecade making weatherization funds Development Strategies L.L.C. available. Farrell Donaldson, sions that we make who was city ombuds- will enhance those Data man, floated the idea of mothballing pockets that are healthy.” Groups such as Detroit LISC and some Detroit neighborhoods — at the the Detroit Area Community Indicators time, not a popular idea, but a con- System have been compiling Waiting for a mandate information about the city’s cept that’s gained traction in recent years. During the spring mayoral Advocates say Bing must start the demographics, neighborhoods and conversation. housing stock. campaign, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing became the first elected official to “Mayor Bing has to lead a vision publicly embrace the idea of shrink- around land use in the city,” said ing the city. Deborah Younger, executive director Community groups, nonprofits of Detroit Local Initiatives Support Corp., and foundations are quietly working See Page 10

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The D’s next decade | Shrinking the city

From Page 9 troit Public Schools’ emergency finan- said. “Since there is no plan — we’re cial manager, Robert Bobb, has an- working off this old master plan and an umbrella organization that sup- nounced 29 school closures as he’s at- nobody is taking a leadership role in ports community development and tempted to balance the district’s saying, ‘let’s sit down and map this nonprofit organizations. “The con- budget. thing out’ — what I’m seeing is a lot versation is starting to get some legs Advocates say those choices must of good people doing a lot of hard now ... but there has to be some artic- be informed by the plan for Detroit’s work, but we’re all doing it in some- ulated vision, and we’re looking to future shape. Bing agrees. what of a vacuum, somewhat in isola- the mayor to set that vision.” “I think there has to be a lot of con- tion.” The mayor says first he must win versation and collaboration between re-election in November — “I think it the public school system and what’s Resizing by attrition “What I’m would be a mistake to start the con- going to happen in the shrinking of versation, start planning, not know- Detroit,” Bing said. “If you leave In the absence of a plan, Detroit is seeing is a lot ing if I’m going to be here for the next them or us out there making deci- shrinking nonetheless, said Dan of good people four years,” he said — but he marks sions independent of each other, we’ll Kildee, Genessee County treasurer shrinking Detroit as one of his top make a lot of mistakes. There’s dupli- and a nationally recognized expert on doing a lot of priorities. cation of effort, duplication of costs, land use — but not with purpose. hard work, but “We’ve got to change government and neither of us can afford to be in “Design matters, just like anything to accommodate the downsizing of that boat, quite frankly.” else,” he said. “And in this case, (it we’re all doing the city,” Bing said. “We’ve got to Right now, advocates of resizing means) figuring out ways to integrate downsize government so that it’s rea- say, that’s exactly what’s happening. open green space, managed green it in somewhat sonable in terms of what we can and Kurt Metzger, director of the De- space, residential and commercial of a vacuum.” can’t do in terms of services for what- troit Area Community Indicators System, corridors, coming up with a plan that ever the circumference of city is go- has tracked Detroit demographics for integrates those different land uses in an intentional plan rather than what – Kurt Metzger, ing to be.” years, first with the U.S. Census Bu- Factors outside city government reau, then at posts with Wayne State you see right now — which is largely Detroit Area underscore the need for movement: A University and the United Way of South- an accidental distribution of those Community ballot proposal to institute election of east Michigan. sorts of land use.” Indicators System Detroit City Council members by dis- Detroit is full of organizations do- The key elements of community re- trict will likely appear on the Novem- ing work that could assist a resizing design, Kildee said, are political and ber ballot; a charter revision commis- project, but it lacks coordination community will, a plan, and the tools sion that could effect the same change among groups, he said. to implement the plan. will be elected that month. And De- “It’s the usual Wild West,” Metzger See Page 11

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Shrinking the city| The D’s next decade

From Page 10 The current system, Kildee said, protection, quality of life and quality “The realization or understanding puts tax-foreclosed properties up for of the schools, along with providing that a smaller Detroit could actually auction, where they’re often ac- adequate and timely city services.” mean a better Detroit, that you quired by speculators. shouldn’t measure the success of the “If the property is sold at public Manifesting destiny auction, the new owner may want to community based on an abstraction, Detroit’s community advocates which is census data” is critical, he liquidate the value,” he said. “The land bank allows the com- aren’t waiting for the dust to settle in said. “You should measure the debate. success based on what life munity to make decisions about the land as the owner “Some of us are trying to do the data is like for the people who gathering and all that so we can hand live there.” of the land. ... Our theory is that we take that owner- it off to the city at any point,” Younger Transparency is crucial, said. “Housing data, neighborhood Metzger said. ship seriously. Rather than auction it to the highest strategies ... a coalescence of some of “There needs to be some the stakeholders is happening any- larger plan that says, ‘this bidder, we make a decision about best use of that land way, we’re combining data and shar- is the way we’re going ing resources so we can hand (our about it,’ ” he said. “There and how does it contribute to a more sustainable land- work) off to the city. A lot of the under- has to be some kind of lead- lying work can be done now.” ership, which obviously scape, more sustainable neighborhoods?” Younger said LISC is prepared to has to come from the city, “You should launch a pilot program that flips the with the message that this That theory has critics, measure he said. concept of “mothballing” by focusing is the process we’re going on the city’s most viable neighbor- to go through; it has to be “It’s philosophically dif- success based ferent from previous ap- hoods, not its most distressed. fairly open, and people Take East English Village, or the have to recognize that it’s on what life is proaches, and it’s an ap- proach some people object Boston-Edison Historical District, happening.” like for the where there are 188 vacant or fore- Bing’s first steps, Kildee to,” he said. “But in this case we don’t have to won- closed houses, Younger said. said, should be the launch people who live “We would like to work with the of that public dialogue, der how well the speculator there.” market has worked. Just groups on the ground to get control of bringing the community the 188 houses,” she said. “Then they into a discussion about the drive around Detroit. It hasn’t worked.” can control the destiny in Boston- new design for Detroit and – Dan Kildee, Edison. If we don’t save Boston-Edi- its implications. Genesee County son, it can be difficult to save Univer- “The other thing, which Resizing at a crossroads Land Bank sity Hill.” I know has been initiated, When Donaldson pro- Federal funds like dollars for is to take the steps to posed resizing in 1993, weatherization can be paired with strengthen the capacity of the Detroit then-Mayor Coleman A. Young called private or other public resources to Land Bank authority to become a ma- the idea ridiculous. make the neighborhood more viable. jor player in acquiring abandoned It’s a path subsequent mayors have “The biggest things about those properties, so properties don’t slip followed — until Bing. houses are energy values,” Younger through the city’s fingers,” he said. Whether Detroit will be resized said. “If you can do upgrades, boost hinges on the outcome of the Novem- energy efficiency at the same time, Land is power ber mayoral election. Voters will the homes become affordable. But choose between resizing-supporter there have to be other strategies.” A sustainable design assessment Bing, the top vote-getter in August’s A plan piloted in Boston-Edison or team fielded by the American Institute primary with 68,623 ballots cast in his East English Village could be replicat- of Architects estimates that the city’s favor, and Tom Barrow, who finished ed in other neighborhoods, she said. needs require just 50 of its 138 square in second place “We’re building the plan while miles. But in Detroit, determining with 10,302 votes. we’re flying it,” said Younger, who who holds title to land is a legendary “I want to not is also a mayoral appointee to the problem. shrink the city; I Detroit Land Bank Authority board. “For a city to control its destiny, it want to grow it,” “This allows us to work out the has to own its real estate,” Younger Barrow said. Bar- kinks in how we finance real estate, said. “No land-use plan can work row said people how properties move through the without owning land.” who call for resiz- land bank, what the disposition poli- The Detroit and Wayne County Land ing the city have cies are going to be. ... Obviously, Bank authorities are critical to the vague plans and lessons learned aren’t exactly the success of resizing the city, Kildee haven’t demon- same, but once you figure out how Barrow said. strated what cost you move a piece of property from a “To achieve the redesign, it’s real- savings would result. REO (real-estate owned) clearing- ly important to create a mechanism Barrow said he doesn’t expect De- house through the land bank, fi- to regain control of abandoned prop- troit to reach its postwar population nancing, attracting a developer... erty in an efficient way and deter- heyday, but said he believes some for- it’s the same model. mine its use consistent with that mer residents would like to return. “We’re trying to develop strategies plan,” he said. “I just have to fix the problems so we can support whatever vision Land banks can streamline the that caused them to leave. I think the city articulates.” process of assessing and repurposing people left for fundamental reasons: Nancy Kaffer: (313) 446-0412, properties, Kildee said. a lack of feeling safe, a lack of police [email protected].

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The D’s next decade | Shrinking the city Neighborhood planners cautiously eye another D: Density

BY NANCY KAFFER “What are the most productive land “We are organizations that work CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS uses? Where is there infrastructure to every day in neighborhoods,” DeSan- support density?” she said. “There are tis said. “Our thinking is we need to It’s hard to talk about resizing De- some places where the housing stock humanely, fairly and strategically troit without addressing which may not be worth preserving but start to devolve neighborhoods that neighborhoods are “good” and which (there) still might be areas to densify, are very, very low density and re-pur- are “bad,” and it’s all too easy to envi- particularly around the waterfront.” pose them, shore up neighborhoods sion a nightmare of legal entangle- Many Detroit neighborhoods have that have more density, more institu- ments and forced relocations. strong community development cor- tional assets, more anchors, and pro- Advocates of resizing say that’s the porations, with missions ranging vide people with incentives and sup- wrong picture. from construction port to move from lower-density to It’s hard to say what indicators of affordable hous- higher-density areas.” might be used to determine which ing to after-school That work, she said, must be in the neighborhoods to de- or re-densify, but programming. context of a larger plan. advocates say the discussion — and Such groups can “It can’t be a plan put together just the criteria — must be transparent. be key to the resiz- by the city, funders or CDOs. It has to Some of the city’s largest founda- ing discussion, be a collaborative plan that takes into tions — the Skillman Foundation, the said Maggie De- account the data and dynamics that Next Detroit Neighborhood Initiative, De- Santis, president of are in play in neighborhoods, and troit Local Initiatives Support Coalition the Warren/Conner where the CDOs are,” DeSantis said. Development Coali- and the Knight Foundation, among oth- DeSantis “We see multiple roles (for communi- ers — have been pursuing a strategy tion. ty-development organizations), like a of targeted investment for years, but DeSantis is part of a Futures Task two-way informational kind of role, each uses its own set of criteria. Force convened by Community Devel- bringing information from the com- Deborah Younger, executive direc- opment Advocates of Detroit to envision munity to the city and helping resi- tor of Detroit LISC, said any land-use the role of CDCs in Detroit’s future. dents of Detroit understand the pros plan must take into account infra- Part of the group’s yearlong mis- and cons.” structure, housing stock and best use sion, she said, is to tackle CDCs’ role Nancy Kaffer: (313) 446-0412, of land. in resizing. [email protected] $ETROITS"EST+EPT3ECRET

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Vacant space| The D’s next decade

“I see (the farm) Transformers? as a way to ... deal with the blight.” Projects set example of giving old buildings new life

BY DANIEL DUGGAN – John Hantz CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS GARRETT MACLEAN hough the city of Detroit is buildings, but that’s certainly not the Financier Hantz sees known for the sheer volume of end of the list. Bank space used for a T vacant space around town, it’s nonprofit, an automotive building urban farms as way also become a place where developers used for a design school, a printing and investors have practically patent- building used as a music school and a to produce change ed the art of creative reuse for commer- bookstore as a fruit stand are just cial real estate. a few. Financier John Hantz begins his Many projects involve creating Some of the current developments workday commute to Southfield residential lofts in old commercial and recently completed projects: from Detroit’s Indian Village. He starts his day passing by some of the city’s most devastated areas. 71 Garfield Doubletree Fort Shelby He’s seeking to change that. Ⅲ Was: A largely vacant apartment Ⅲ Was: A vacant downtown hotel, 525 Hantz wants to put some of the building. W. Lafayette. city’s blighted areas back to pro- Ⅲ Is: Under construction as combined Ⅲ Is: A $90 million hotel geared to ductive use through for-profit ur- housing and business travelers. ban farming. studio space Ⅲ Developer: MCP Development L.L.C. He has been buying property on for artists. The Doubletree Fort Shelby Detroit’s east side and plans to $8.3 million Eastern Market in the CBD open shop with a 77-acre, noncon- project, with 20 residential Ⅲ Was: A Borders Inc. bookstore, 1012 tiguous farm growing food, trees units and 20 and energy products — provided Woodward Ave., in Detroit’s Campus studios, will Martius. tax structure changes fall into finish 71 Garfield Ⅲ place. construction by Is: Planned as a fresh food market Hantz plans to commit $30 mil- the end of the year. It is part of the organized by the Eastern Market Corp. Sugar Hill Arts District. as a farm stand, selling fruits and lion over the next 10 years to bring vegetables in the Central Business the farm to fruition, with the end Ⅲ Developers: University Cultural Center District. Association, Zachary Associates and goal of 5,000 acres, said Matt Ⅲ Developer: Eastern Market Corp. Allen, Hantz Farms senior vice The Jonna Co. president. Chief among the unfinished Argonaut Building Iodent Lofts business for the project is an alter- Ⅲ Ⅲ Was: A vacant 760,000-square-foot Was: An eight-story 1920s art deco ation of the city’s existing tax building at 485 W. Milwaukee Ave., toothpaste factory, 2233 Park Ave. structure. At almost 82.97 mills, once a GM design facility in Detroit’s Ⅲ Is: A luxury apartment development Detroit’s commercial tax is the New Center area. Also was a planned with eight of the 11 units now leased. highest in Southeast Michigan. residential development. Ⅲ Developer: Harrington Inc. For Hantz, urban farming is one Ⅲ Is: Renamed the A. Alfred part of the answer to a complex Taubman Center for Design MidMed Plaza question. Land reuse, Hantz said, Education. Soon to open as a must incorporate for-profit opera- $145 million expansion Ⅲ Was: A vacant building at tions. campus for the College for 4265 John R St., developed “I see (the farm) as a way to an- Creative Studies. as a residential loft building. chor, deal with the blight and, in Ⅲ Developers: Jones Lang Ⅲ Is: Developers essence, attract new residents.” LaSalle, Larson Realty Group, repositioned the building in response to slow residential The farm should spur addition- GM Land, Preservation Development Co. al development, he said, from oth- See Page 14 er farming ventures to residential Argonaut Building

projects that could benefit from BUILDING PHOTOS the farm’s proximity. BY DUSTIN WALSH/CDB For the full version of this story by Crain’s reporter Nancy Kaffer, see Crain’s Detroit Business Aug. 24 edition.

CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS FALL 2006 FALL 2009 Page 13 20090824-SUPP--0014-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 8/18/2009 4:02 PM Page 1

The D’s next decade | Vacant spaces

A $180 million project turned a mothballed downtown hotel into the Westin Book Cadillac, the go-to space for high-end events in Detroit.

Studio One Willys Overland Lofts Ⅲ Was: A Vernors plant, 4501 Ⅲ Was: A vacant Willys-Overland Motors Woodward Ave. car dealership, 417 Cass Ave. Ⅲ Is: A mixed-use, $145 million Ⅲ Is: Starting occupancy for the development with 155 apartment units residential lofts built into the old space. and 30,000 square feet of retail space. Ⅲ Developers: DeMattia Group, Midtown Ⅲ Developer: Prime Development Co. Development Group Wonderstruck Studios (planned) Ⅲ Was: The temporary casino for MGM MidMed Plaza Grand Detroit. Was an IRS building before that. From Page 13 Ⅲ Is: The site of a $86 million digital sales, making the project a commercial effects and animation studio office building. It is now 58 percent Studio One announced in February. The venture is occupied, with Barbara Ann Karmanos run by Michele Richards and her Cancer Institute as a tenant. The Shops in the Kresge Wonderstruck Studios L.L.C. Ⅲ Ⅲ Owner/developer: MidMed Lofts L.L.C. Ⅲ Was: A Kresge retail store and Developer: Not yet announced. (John Peabody) corporate offices for the company, Ⅲ Broker: Third Coast Associates 1201 Woodward Ave. Ⅲ Is: Developed by Detroit real estate MSU Community Music Center investor Dennis Kefallinos for small retailers, with 120 small retail spaces. Ⅲ Was: A printing press plant, 3408- Ⅲ Developer: Boydell Development 3414 Woodward Ave., later owned by the American Red Cross and vacant for 25 years. United Way Ⅲ Is: Soon to open as an extension Ⅲ Was: Office space in the First building for Michigan State University’s National Bank building (right), 660 music education college. The initial Woodward Ave. redevelopment cost is $2 million. Ⅲ Is: Soon to open as a 46,000-square- Ⅲ Developer: Professional Property foot, two-floor space for the United Way Management for Southeastern Michigan. Ⅲ Broker: Roxbury Group Westin Book Cadillac Ⅲ Was: A mothballed downtown hotel, 1114 Washington Blvd. Ⅲ Is: The go-to space for high-end events in Detroit. The developer of the $180 MSU Community Music Center million project has restarted marketing for residential units above the hotel. Ⅲ Developer: The Ferchill Group First National Bank building

BUILDING PHOTOS BY DUSTIN WALSH/CDB AND FROM CRAIN’S FILES

Page 14 FALL 2006 FALL 2009 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS CDBmagazine.qxp 8/12/2009 4:15 PM Page 1

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The D’s next decade | Education

Education overhaul DPS leaders push for smaller, fiscally stable school district

BY RYAN BEENE tions as the next decade rolls along. schools and consolidated students CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS But a number of major near-term into 40 others. The closure shrinks challenges remain, and business and the district’s footprint by more than 2 ducation leaders are pushing for academic leaders say the jury is still million square feet, or 11 percent, and fundamental change to the K-12 out on the ultimate makeup of public is expected to save the district $14 E landscape in Detroit. Their goal: a education in Detroit. What they agree million per year. smaller, more fiscally sound public on is the critical need to improve fi- Complicating the issue is the school district and more school op- nancial management and quality. strengthening ideological movement “The challenge is: What kind of to shrink the city (See related story on 21st century teaching and learning is Page 9), Bobb said. going to take place in Detroit for “Implementation also goes back to “The challenge is: What kids?” said Robert Bobb, emergency the question of the size of the city — financial manager for the Detroit Pub- you don’t want to build a new school kind of 21st century lic Schools. “Whether those kids are or invest heavily in a school in a teaching and learning is in the Detroit Public Schools, charter neighborhood that could end up be- schools, private schools or parochial ing consolidated,” he said. going to take place in schools, what we have to be con- Bobb has not yet been a part of any Detroit for kids?” cerned about is how are we educating discussions with Detroit officials children and let others stand on the about exactly how to shrink the city, sidelines and debate.” and the concept did not factor into — Robert Bobb, the 29 schools already closed this DPS emergency financial manager A shrinking district summer. The DPS will be a much smaller district in 2020 if the plan Bobb has Financial reforms set into motion goes forward to re- The reforms and cuts are part of ef- spond to an enrollment decline from forts to right the foundering financial about 176,000 students in 1996-97 to ship that is the DPS, which Bobb says 83,777 students in the upcoming acad- is the first step in shaping the future emic year. of the district. The district is shopping to state of- “Some of the key drivers (of the ficials a massive school consolida- DPS’ next decade) are, of course, to tion, closure and investment plan, ex- balance the budget and reduce the pected to cost hundreds of millions of overall cost and control our expens- dollars. The plan is to close about 60 es, but at the same time find some schools, build new schools and reno- ways in which public education is vate others, according to Steve funded in Michigan in a much more Wasko, chief communications officer robust way,” he said. “There should for DPS. be an opportunity to re-look in a Details are still being worked out, statewide way (at) how public educa- Wasko said, adding that the plan tion is funded. would require state and city approval “But it’s not just a revenue issue. and that its timing depends on avail- We must control our expenses, as ability of funding. well.” The plan “isn’t perfect,” Bobb said, Since 2002, the district turned a “but at least our facilities would be $103.6 million budget surplus into a available for 21st century teaching $305.1 million deficit as of June 30, ac- and learning. We have that plan, but cording to DPS records. to implement it over the next 10 years After being appointed by Gov. Jen- would be very difficult.” Already, the district has closed 28 See Page 19 NATHAN SKID/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

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Education | The D’s next decade

From Page 18 Public Schools might be for them to hit the goals and strategies implemented by the restart button on their education system district in recent years. nifer Granholm to take over the finances of and start from scratch.” “It is my hope that when Mr. Bobb does the DPS earlier this year, Bobb and his Van Beek says Bobb has “failed” thus far leave … that we have in place a plan that team have cut millions of dollars in spend- to make good on his pledge to balance the whomever comes in they have to acclimate ing, restructured vendor contracts and budget. themselves to that existing plan,” he said. closed schools. “But that just demonstrates the dire “Because when you’re constantly chang- Layers of bureaucracy and administra- straits the DPS is in,” he said. “(Bobb) has ing like that, none of the plans ever develop tive staffing have been slashed, with Bobb done a pretty good job of taking hard lines any traction, and without sustainability, laying off or not renewing the contracts of with the DFT (Detroit Federation of Teachers) there cannot be, at least in my mind, mea- 786 administrators, according to a June and with the board, and for the most part surable progress.” statement, saving about $15 million from he’s done creative and innovative solutions Bobb intends to leave the district, when the current budget. to the problems the Detroit Public Schools his term expires in February, with a clear But the district still faces a roughly $259 has had.” plan to ensure academic improvement, million budget deficit, which could contin- which must be accepted and followed by ue to grow, and it is considering the possi- Academic overhaul whoever ends up heading the district in the bility of filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, the future, he said. Chapter 11 equivalent for municipalities. There is one consensus among the stake- Possibilities for his frequently men- Bobb said bankruptcy is a possible op- holders in Detroit’s public school complex: tioned “21st century teaching and learning” tion, as it would allow the district to re- Academic quality must improve. concept include longer school days, more vamp contracts, including its collective Keith Johnson, president of the Detroit computer-based learning, flexible options bargaining agreement with the Detroit Fed- Federation of Teachers, has no illusions for high school students such as offering ca- eration of Teachers, and lower its debt load. about the status of academics in the DPS. reer certification classes through the Michael Van Beek, education policy di- He called “an embarrassment” the fact that, schools, and more advanced placement rector for the Mackinac Public Policy Institute, depending on the school, only 6 percent to course enrollment. said bankruptcy may be the only real op- 30 percent of 11th-graders in non-magnet Johnson agrees. tion for the DPS to fix its balance sheet and, DPS high schools passed the English Lan- “So much of (high school curriculum) in turn, its educational system. guage Arts portion of the Michigan Merit right now is predicated on college prep, but “It very well may take complete failure Exam and only 1 percent to 15 percent we also have to realize that many of our stu- and bankruptcy in order for the DPS to be passed the math portion. dents don’t have the attitude nor the apti- rebuilt in a positive way,” Van Beek said. Johnson said the abysmal figures are a “The best-case scenario for the Detroit product of too many changes in academic See Page 20

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The D’s next decade|Education Envision-healthy-vibrant- From Page 19 livable-sustainable- tude or desire to go to college — that does- n’t mean that we don’t educate them in oth- welcoming-communities er ways,” he said. High school curriculum needs to include Now make them happen with University training opportunities for skilled trades of Detroit Mercy’s Master of and other non-college curriculum options Community Development degree. that will still prepare students for life after high school and life beyond their own For James Ribbron, a Detroit urban plan- neighborhood, Johnson said. ner and 2008 MCD Program graduate, But Paul Kersey, director of labor policy UDM’s Community Development program with the Mackinac Public Policy Institute, met his needs and kept him “current on a said the DPS must remove the ability of the lot of new ideas in planning.” DFT to shape curriculum within the district. “I would argue that … if you want to “Having a Master of Community Develop- save the public schools as we know them … ment degree provides the opportunity to without characterizing everything, you’re work on projects which are fulfilling and going to need to suspend, not just the col- beneficial to the city,” explains Ribbron. lective bargaining agreement, but suspend “The MCD Program helped us look at our the teacher’s union itself,” Kersey said. community, assess it from every direction Johnson dismisses criticisms that the DFT’s collective bargaining agreements and devise new ways to compete in this impede progress to improving education global society.” quality, calling it “a mindless excuse” for For information on the MCD Program and slow reform. “Teachers have to be on the ground floor available scholarships, visit www.udmercy.edu/mcd of defining our profession and identifying or contact our the criteria for improvement,” Johnson We want great things for you. 800-635-5020 Admissions office at . said. Competition Detroit’s roughly 60 charter schools, serv- ing thousands of students, are likely to grow as the DPS shrinks, charter experts say. The floodgates were opened by the recent legal opinion of Michigan Attorney Gener- al Mike Cox, at the behest of State Superin- tendent for Instruction Michael Flanagan. The opinion says that because the district’s enrollment fell below 100,000 students last year, it can no longer be considered a First Class School district, removing the charter school cap in the process. Currently, only Bay Mills Community College and Wayne County Community College District have the immediate ability to issue addition- al charters. But Bay Mills has no immediate plans to open additional charters, according to a statement released July 24. No matter what the timing, officials say coordinated planning from all stakeholders is essential to defining the makeup of DPS and charter schools in the city. “That is a huge challenge, and it’s a chal- lenge that requires all hands on deck in or- der to solve it,” said James Goenner, execu- tive director of the Center for Charter Schools at Central Michigan University. “The key is leadership. From the gover- nor to the mayor to leaders in the various educational systems, can we come together and say: ‘We don’t care what legal struc- ture your school is established under, we care if you can deliver results for kids.’ ” Ryan Beene: (313) 446-0315, [email protected]

Page 20 FALL 2006 FALL 2009 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS 20090824-SUPP--0021-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 8/18/2009 3:56 PM Page 1

Going green | The D’s next decade

GABE NELSON/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS Mark Covington, founder and chairman of the Georgia Street Community Collective, stands in front of one of the five community gardens the group oversees near Gratiot and Harper avenues on Detroit’s east side. A flowering of ideas

mand for organic local produce ris- of produce at farmers markets last Urban farming es, an increasing number are look- year. The collaborative currently ing to grow their plots into com- provides produce to several local mercial enterprises. restaurants, but many more are in- puts down roots The state’s 250 farmers markets terested, Atkinson said. have trouble meeting consumer de- “Right now, we’re not even close BY GABE NELSON mand, said Susan Smalley, director to meeting the demand that we of Michigan State University’s C.S. have, mostly from restaurants and SPECIAL TO CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS Mott Group for Sustainable Food Sys- other wholesale providers of food. here there were once houses, tems. It’s definitely an opportunity,” she there are now flower and veg- “People want good, fresh, locally said. W etable gardens. grown food. I think fresh, high- One group hoping to support its “I think fresh, Unlike many other metropolitan quality food can be grown in De- community through agriculture is areas where real estate prices or de- troit, and compete,” Smalley said. the year-old Georgia Street Communi- high-quality mand for prime sites has pushed Leading Detroit’s community ty Collective, which has turned sev- food can be agricultural operations to the garden movement is the Garden Re- eral vacant lots into gardens near fringes, Detroit is moving in the op- source Program Collaborative, an um- Gratiot and Harper avenues on De- grown in posite direction. Decades of decay brella organization that includes troit’s east side. Detroit, and in many neighborhoods have re- The Greening of Detroit, the Detroit Mark Covington, the group’s sulted in 40 square miles of vacant Agriculture Network, the Capuchin founder and chairman, started the compete.” land — almost 30 percent of the Soup Kitchen’s Earthworks Urban Farm first garden in his childhood neigh- city’s total. Put together, it would and Michigan State University’s borhood last spring after losing his Susan Smalley, MSU form a plot larger than Manhattan. Wayne County Extension. job as an environmental cleanup Families and neighborhood The GRPC’s membership of small specialist. groups are transforming much of growers in Detroit has doubled The gardens grow dozens of the abundant empty space into gar- over the past two years to include plants, including pumpkins, dens and farmland, bringing natur- about 800 gardens covering about jalapeño peppers and strawberries. al beauty to blighted areas and pro- 100 acres, said Ashley Atkinson, di- Covington, 37, said he takes pride viding a source for increasingly rector of urban agriculture and in the zucchini, which have grown popular locally grown produce. product development for the Green- nearly as large as the former semi- Many of the city’s gardeners — ing of Detroit. pro football player’s arm. with about 100 acres of tracked About 50 gardens participate in Covington said the gardens have growing space — consider their the GRPC’s Grown in Detroit col- work community service, but as de- laborative, which sold about $15,000 See Page 22

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The D’s next decade | Going green Group to build incubator for sustainable technology

BY GABE NELSON Peggy, residents of Troy, bought the dows to maximize natural light, and CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS warehouse in late 2007. They aim to plan to regulate its temperature us- begin renovating it in September and ing a geothermal heating system. The creators of the Green Garage in to begin recouping their investment “If we’re going to be the state Midtown hope to harness the city’s as early as next summer by renting known for alternative-energy tech- engineering ingenuity to solve envi- space in the building. nology, then we need to have build- ronmental problems and seek to turn Tom Brennan said the 11,500- ings that exemplify that,” Long said. relics of Detroit’s industrial past into square-foot building will eventually The group also hopes to break environmentally sustainable signs of provide space for 25 employees. ground next month on a project to its future. Among the volunteers designing turn a dilapidated alley next to the More than 40 volunteers, many of the garage with sustainability in garage into a plant-filled pedestrian “If we’re going them professional engineers, are mind was Laura Long, an architec- walkway. working to renovate a former Model tural designer at Norr L.L.C. in Detroit. Efforts to overhaul the 220-foot al- to be the state T showroom near Wayne State Univer- Long said many architects and en- ley arose as a partnership between known for sity into an incubator for sustainable gineers pay lip service to green ideals the Green Garage and nearby Motor technology. The garage, on Second when designing buildings but don’t City Brewing Works. The pub plans to alternative- Avenue between Canfield and Pren- consider the building’s total impact add a new entrance in the alley. tis streets, will provide office space on the Earth and the neighborhood. To fund the $50,000 project, the Uni- energy tech- and resources for green businesses, Not so with the Green Garage, she versity Cultural Center Association has nology, then said owner Tom Brennan, a former said. secured $20,000 from the Troy-based partner at the Southfield office of The group’s creators plan to reuse Kresge Foundation and $20,000 from we need to Chicago-based Accenture Ltd. 90 percent of the building’s existing the Novi-based Americana Foundation. have buildings In 18 years as a business consul- materials, as well as to use materials DTE Energy Co. has pledged $10,000 for tant at Accenture, Brennan flew salvaged from other buildings. energy-efficient street lamps. that exemplify about 1 million miles around the They’ve designed the garage’s win- John Linardos, owner of Motor world — a “huge carbon City Brewing, said the pro- that.” footprint,” he said. ject will go a long way to- Peggy and He loved the work, but he ward making Midtown a de- Tom Brennan – Laura Long, realized the consumption of own the sirable place to live or visit. Norr L.L.C. modern American life could- Midtown He said the city’s efforts to n’t last forever. warehouse revive its economy will “We’re operating as if that hinge on these types of pro- there are no limits to the volunteers are jects. WEB EXTRAS Earth, and we’re discover- transforming “It’s going to help further ing that there are,” he said. into our efforts to develop this as the Green Video: “If everybody in the world a walking neighborhood,” Garage, Meet the consumed what (Americans) he said. “Without the city folks behind the an incubator consume, we’d need five to for being safe and walkable … Green Garage seven Earths. For our chil- you’re never going to get it project. sustainable dren, in our lifetimes, this technology. past where it is.” News: Group will need to get reconciled.” Gabe Nelson: (313) 446- eyes buildings to house Detroit Brennan and his wife, NATHAN SKID/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS 0417, [email protected] Sustainability Center. www.crains detroit.com/ nextdecade From Page 21 hood’s gardens. culture, the average Michigan farm Combined with rising demand for grossed $665 per acre in 2007, but already worked wonders for the local products, the city’s struggles Smalley said small farms are typical- neighborhood, bringing people to- could make the “grown in Detroit” la- ly more productive by necessity. gether and replacing trash-covered bel a valuable marketing tool, Cov- Atkinson pointed to the example of lots with natural beauty. ington said. Eliot Coleman, a Maine vegetable But he’s also looking for ways to “Can you imagine somebody say- farmer who claims to produce turn gardening into a source of in- ing, ‘we got all these tomatoes in this $120,000 in annual revenue at his 1.5- come for neighborhood development crate from Detroit?’ ” he asked. “I’ll acre Four Season Farm. If a quarter of projects. He plans to open a corner ship them to you,” he laughed, “right Detroit’s vacant land were used that store and community center in an across Eight Mile.” productively for agriculture, revenue abandoned house near the garden. Agricultural economics re- for farmers could total $500 million. Covington said he’s considering searchers from MSU have teamed “There’s definitely the possibility starting more gardens to supply local with some of the city’s urban farmers of a significant income,” Smalley restaurants and stores with Detroit- to project exactly how profitable De- said. “If the farm was well-managed, grown produce. He also imagines troit’s agricultural enterprises could somebody could probably make a liv- opening a deli in the corner store that become. ing for their family doing that.” would serve food using fresh vegeta- According to the most recent esti- Gabe Nelson: (313) 446-0417, bles and herbs from the neighbor- mates from the U.S. Department of Agri- [email protected]

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TRACKING TRANSIT Transportation | The D’s next decade Here’s a breakdown of the four largest transit projects in Southeast Michigan: Regional Ⅲ Proposal: $10.5 billion system of 406 miles of improved buses and routes, light rail and commuter trains, built as ridership dictates over 25 This artist’s years. Light rail on rendering Detroit’s Woodward shows the Avenue and high-speed concept for a rail linking Ann Arbor and light-rail Detroit are independent station along subsets. Woodward Ⅲ Organizer: John Hertel, Avenue in CEO of the Regional Highland Park. Transportation Coordinating Council’s Detroit Regional Mass Transit effort. Hertel reports to elected leaders of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties and the mayor of Detroit. More than fares Ⅲ Timeline: Completed by 2035. Ⅲ Funding status: Likely a cal support. combination of local, state Transit backers seek “(Small business and residents are) and federal capital funding the backbone of the whole thing,” said and operational subsidies. support for public funding Carmine Palombo, director of trans- Estimated annual base portation planning for the Southeast operating costs would be BY BILL SHEA Michigan Council of Governments, the re- $293 million. CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS gional planning agency that funnels fed- eral transit dollars locally and has tran- Woodward Avenue ngoing efforts to bring mass transit sit projects of its own in the works. Ⅲ Proposal: Private plan to metro Detroit have the expected “Who’s going to cover the operating proposing light-rail route in O backing from prominent business shortfall? That falls on the citizens and the heart of downtown and political figures, major corpora- Detroit, while the city businesses. It’s less sexy and glamorous tions and institutions, but proponents “(Small wants to extend it several — but it’s the thing that makes it work.” increasingly are turning to small com- miles. It’s industry gospel both that Detroit business and panies, grassroots organizations and in- Ⅲ Organizer: M1 Rail Inc. is the largest U.S. city without a signifi- dividuals for support. residents are) and the Detroit cant mass-transit system, and that mass- That’s because all the efforts will Department of transit systems require operating subsi- the backbone Transportation. eventually require public funding to dies, such as direct taxes or taxes subsidize their operational costs, and Ⅲ Timeline: M1 Rail collected on business in a specific area of the whole expects construction to such aid is likely to come in the form of along a transit route, because fares don’t begin next year and for the local or regional taxes. Federal and state thing.” cover expenses. line to be running about funding won’t be enough to keep the That’s certainly not lost on those trying 18 months later. The city trains and buses running. Carmine Palombo, to bring transit here to boost economic project is contingent upon And it won’t be easy to persuade vot- SEMCOG development and relieve congestion. federal funding. ers to approve new taxes amid a reces- Ⅲ Funding status: sion, magnifying the need to garner lo- See Page 24 Privately based M1 Rail is funding a $120 million, 3.4-mile, 12-stop line from in local matching funds by October 2010. Washtenaw-Livingston Department of Hart Plaza to New Center; are secured. Ⅲ Funding status: Costs Rail Line commuter rail Transportation and the Legislature in January route. business organizations is set up its governance and Ann Arbor-Detroit estimated at $60 million to $100 million, for which Ⅲ Organizer: Great Lakes planning different project annual operational aspects. subsidies. DDOT’s $371 Ⅲ Proposal: 48-mile high- funding will be sought Central Railroad, owned million Detroit Transit speed commuter rail line from $8 billion set aside by Farmington Hills-based Ⅲ Timeline: Late 2010. Options for Growth plan contractually operated by for high-speed rail Federated Capital Corp., runs the line to the state Amtrak, with stops in Ann projects under the leases the track from the Ⅲ Funding status: fairgrounds at Eight Mile Arbor, Ypsilanti, at Metro American Recovery and state and is providing Backers seek federal help Road, but the city is Airport, Dearborn and Reinvestment Act of passenger cars. A for the $30 million project sorting out construction Detroit. 2009. coalition that includes the and have some and operational funding Ⅲ Organizer: Southeast cities of Ann Arbor and commitments from MDOT, issues. The city plans to Michigan Council of Howell, Washtenaw Ann Arbor Downtown seek federal grants once Governments. Ann Arbor-Howell County, local government Development Authority an estimated $225 million Ⅲ Timeline: Initial startup Ⅲ Proposal: 27-mile agencies, the Michigan and others.

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The D’s next decade |Transportation

23077 Greenfield Rd. From Page 23 Suite 107 Organizers of a privately funded $125 mil- Southfield, MI 48075 lion project adding a light-rail line on Wood- ward Avenue between Hart Plaza and New For questions please call Center have been meeting with elected offi- Melissa Weber cials and small-business owners and plan to 248.559.0700 ext. 106 hold public meetings this summer. It’s a key element, but separate, from a www.theprofgroup.com $10 billion three-county regional transit plan being developed by transit czar John - Preferred Building Services, LLC Hertel for the elected executives of Wayne, Oakland, Macomb counties and Detroit. - Professional Building Maintenance, LLC The M1 Rail will eventually be turned over to the public authority that runs the - Professional Grounds Services, LLC three-county system, a plan already ap- - Professional Plantscaping Services proved by the Legislature, along with an $8 million annual operating subsidy. Money - Colman-Wolf Sanitary Supply Co. also would be captured from development along the route. So far, the project has been funded by We continue to prove how our $30 million in private donations, including some major business leaders, and advertis- • experience • reputation ing sponsorships of the line’s stations, $9 million from the city’s Downtown Develop- • reliability • alliance ment Authority, $35 million from the Troy- • dedication • and ethics based Kresge Foundation, $4 million in in- kind donations, $15 million in federal New Market tax credits and $32 million in financ- strengthen the success of great collaboration. ing. The project is now linked to the Detroit De- partment of Transportation’s $371 million pro- posal to extend light rail from New Center to the Michigan State Fairgrounds at Eight Mile Road — a plan that relies on using M1 Rail’s expenditures as the required local Make no little plans. match for potential federal funding. Hertel likely faces the most daunting funding challenge. He has been campaign- ing at every level — from Washington, D.C., to local Rotary clubs — to garner support. “I’ve been totally and happily surprised that I’ve not had one small business make a negative comment about mass transit,” he said. “The response is, ‘How fast can we get it and what can I do to help?’ ” Advocates say that for every $1 invested in transit, at least $4 ends up invested in new economic development around the system. What’s not optional for planners is gain- ing the support of small business and the communities involved. It has to happen, along with support of advocacy organiza- tions such as Transportation Riders United and Detroit-based Metropolitan Organizing Strate- gies Enabling Strength, a nonprofit that teach- es residents and clerical leaders how to orga- nize people and raise money to change public policy, especially mass transit. “Ultimately, you’re going to have to have Real Estate Development popular support because you’re going to need a funding mechanism,” Hertel said. Project Management “Active citizens and the business communi- ty — if you have those people on your side, Business Attraction and Economic you have a real good chance of getting that Development Services www.roxburygroup.com local funding mechanism approved.” Bill Shea: (313) 446-1626, [email protected]

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The D’s next decade | Entrepreneurship FastTrac’s fast start Budding entrepreneurs Nancy Cappola, director of pack program’s classes TechTown’s Soft Landings Center, BY TOM HENDERSON is working with CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS the Chinese government to A new Detroit entrepreneurship approve a formal program has set up a structure to relationship grow new companies and provide between the “The demand several years of support. center and exceeds our The FastTrac to the Future pro- Jianxing gram hit the ground running in the University. expectation.” spring. NATHAN SKID/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS On May 17, Crain’s broke the news — Judy Johncox, about the program — a collaboration Success swells Soft Landings Center involving Detroit’s TechTown, the Ew- TechTown ing Marion Kauffman Foundation and TechTown’s Soft Landings Center by the National Business Incubator As- the New Economy Initiative for South- program has been a victim of its sociation as an official soft-landings east Michigan — which is intended to preliminary success. center for foreign companies. It is create 400 new companies in metro The center is designed to offer one of 14 such centers designed to Detroit over the next three years. temporary space and services to es- spur cross-border trade in the Three months later, more than tablished foreign com- world. The others are 1,500 would-be entrepreneurs have at- panies looking to ex- “We’re offering in Wales, Australia, tended one of three all-day confer- pand operations here or mature, profitable Hong Kong, France, ences on the ins and outs of starting a to find partners or joint Finland, Belgium, San business. Follow-up free classes on a ventures. It launched overseas businesses Jose, Boston, Balti- variety of topics are under way at last September with more, New Brunswick, TechTown, the Wayne State University- N.J.; Dansville, Va.; about 3,500 square feet an easy entrée affiliated tech incubator and busi- Grand Forks, N.D.; and on the first floor of the ness park. into the U.S.” Athens, Ohio. Wayne State University-af- On June 24, 421 would-be business Also in July, Nancy filiated tech incubator owners attended the first all-day con- – Nancy Cappola, TechTown Cappola, a former ference, at WSU’s McGregor Memori- and business park. deputy director of busi- al Conference Center, with each at- But an agreement soon was ness development for Wayne Coun- tendee choosing four of 12 offered signed with the Mexican govern- ty, joined TechTown as director of sessions, which included topics such ment’s Ministry of Economy that the Soft Landings Center. as intellectual property, how to get turned the entire space over to an Already, Cappola has a memo- funding, writing a business plan and organization called TechBA Michigan randum of understanding awaiting profiting from social media. to provide working space to about final approval by Chinese govern- They also got to meet mentors from 30 tier-two and tier-three auto sup- ment officials for a formal relation- organizations such as Ann Arbor Spark pliers seeking either to establish ship between the center and Jianx- and Troy-based Automation Alley. beachheads in the U.S. market or to ing University in Zhejiang province. On July 25, 390 more attended the find local suppliers for their own “This is a vast continent and second conference. operations back in Mexico. therefore quite challenging for Two weeks before the last of the all- There are other U.S. TechBA sites even large overseas businesses to day sessions on Aug. 18, more than in Arizona, Texas and California, as figure out where they should be lo- 800 already had registered to attend. well as sites in Madrid, Spain, and cated,” said TechTown’s executive “Those are phenomenal numbers Montreal. TechBA, a business accel- director, Randal Charlton. by any standard,” said Randal Charl- erator, claims to have created 3,600 “We’re offering mature, prof- ton, TechTown’s executive director. jobs and $56 million in investments “We knew there would be a de- itable overseas businesses an easy in 321 companies. mand, but the demand exceeds our entrée into the U.S. and telling expectations,” said Judy Johncox, The Soft Landings Center re- them that in particular Detroit of- TechTown’s director of business ser- launched this month in 6,000 fers a two-for-one. You’re on a bor- vices. square feet of space, much of the der with Canada, and we have a Robbie Hardy, a consultant with wait a result of a required build-out trade agreement with Mexico,” he Charlton the Kauffman Foundation whose on the second and third floors. said. In July, the center was certified — Tom Henderson See Page 27

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The D’s next decade | Entrepreneurship

From Page 26 North Carolina-based Silk Road Partners L.L.C. mentors and coaches executives of startups and emerging companies, de- scribed the FastTrac turnout as “extraordi- nary,” both in numbers and quality. “Just look at the education level,” she said. Based on surveys of the first two all-day sessions, 25.8 percent of attendees had some college, 31.2 percent had a bachelor’s degree and 27.7 percent had a master’s degree. “I taught a session on the anatomy of a startup the first day, and the room was packed. You couldn’t move. The energy level was just terrific,” she said. “This program should be able to prove to the world that Detroit is a great center for innovation. I had one guy who wants to put wind turbines on the side of buildings downtown. You know how the wind gets channeled in the tall buildings? He wants to take advantage of that. “I feel like we’re on the ground floor with this, that people will look back and say they were there when this was just starting. This is ground zero for the next generation.” The strong interest in starting new busi- nesses creates a positive buzz that can spread, organizers say. “The nice thing about working with TechTown is there’s this kind of can-do at- titude, the spirit and the way people have buckled down and got going instead of just hand-wringing,” said Monica Doss, direc- tor of the FastTrac program at Kauffman. “This reminds me of where we were in the Research Triangle when I worked there in the mid-1980s,” said Doss, referring to the area in North Carolina now regarded along with Route 128 in Boston and Silicon Valley as the hotbeds of entrepreneurship in the U.S. “There was no entrepreneurial culture there then,” said Doss. “There were a lot of smart researchers, but it took a couple of big layoffs to get the whole community say- ing, ‘We need to remake ourselves.’ And that’s what we’re seeing in Detroit.” Not surprisingly, given recent layoffs and downsizings, 22 percent of attendees at the first two conferences had automotive backgrounds, with 21.4 percent coming from service backgrounds, 8.4 percent edu- cation, 4.7 percent engineering and 4.6 per- cent medical. Attendees were split fairly evenly by gender, with 49.7 percent male and 42.7 per- cent female (7.6 percent didn’t specify). After each of the sessions, those who still wanted to pursue their entrepreneurial dream could sign up for the free classes at TechTown. One of those was Audra Carson of De- troit, an analyst at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, who envisions running a compa- See Page 28

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The D’s next decade | Waterfront River’s invitation Waterfront improvements aim to spur private development

BY DANIEL DUGGAN AND SHERRI BEGIN WELCH CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

etroit’s riverfront will continue to transform over the next five D years with public projects that are in the pipeline. The pace of private investment in the riverfront district has slowed with the economy, but plans to bring aesthetic improvement and ease ac- cessibility to the river are to be fin- ished or expanded. Current public space improve- ments will serve as a foundation for renewed private development on the water once the economy rebounds, said Faye Alexander Nelson, presi- dent and CEO of the Detroit Riverfront COURTESY OF THE DETROIT RIVERFRONT CONSERVANCY The RiverWalk is among the public riverfront projects expected to encourage private Conservancy. “The riverfront investment. “Before the economy went goofy, is serving as a there were a number of very promis- County Port Authority’s $15 million to the river, people who might not ing mixed-use projects on the hori- project to build a new public passen- have had any interest in coming to catalyst right zon” for the riverfront, she said. ger ship terminal and dock. the city,” she said. now.” Two of the six major residential de- The Dequindre Cut, a linear, be- Since its inception in 2003, the De- velopments that were in the planning low-street-grade park from Gratiot troit Riverfront Conservancy has – Faye Alexander process in 2007 are still moving; one Avenue to Jefferson Avenue, will be raised $100 million of public and pri- has been reconfigured as an office/in- extended several blocks south to con- vate funding and obtained land-use Nelson, Detroit dustrial building. nect with the RiverWalk path. agreements with public and private Riverfront Progress on the RiverWalk has The investment will draw develop- owners allowing it to complete 80 per- Conservancy continued, along with planning for a ers when the economy turns around, cent, or nearly three miles, of the $7.5 million second phase of the Tri- Nelson said. RiverWalk on the east riverfront be- Centennial State Park. Construction “The riverfront is serving as a cat- also continues on the Detroit/Wayne alyst right now to bring people down See Page 29

From Page 27 Other classes include one geared trained some 300,000 would-be busi- ny that buys scrap tires and recycles toward those far enough along in the ness owners in the past 15 years. It them into the rubber used on synthet- startup process to have a business has other programs in New York, ic football surfaces and as padding plan, and a class on how existing Kokomo, Ind., and Charlotte, N.C. for playground surfaces. small companies can grow their busi- “We all recognized Detroit is a spe- “Entrepreneurship is really what ness. cial situation,” said Doss. capitalism is built on, to be able to Classes are scheduled through the But this won’t be a three-year-and- pull yourself up by the bootstraps end of the year, with most of them out effort for Kauffman. Doss said offi- and make something that’s for the still enrolling students. Attendance cials from the foundation, TechTown greater good,” she said. “I feel like it’s at one of the three all-day sessions is and the New Enterprise Initiative will time to finally take the plunge.” not mandatory. For information, call sit down soon and discuss longer-term The first class, called FastTrac (313) 483-1322, send an e-mail to Rene economic programs. New Venture, for those wanting to Kelly at [email protected] or go “We’ll sit down and say, ‘Whew! run tech companies, began July 7 to the FastTrac link at www. We came out of the gates with guns with an enrollment of nine. techtownwsu.org. blazing. Now, let’s step back and de- A two-week class on the basics of The local FastTrac program, fund- velop another outreach strategy.’ ” starting a business, with an enroll- ed in part by a $5 million grant by the Tom Henderson: (313) 446-0337, ment of 19, began on July 14. A sec- New Economy Initiative, is the [email protected] ond class on business basics, with an largest of a national effort by the Intern Gabe Nelson contributed to enrollment of 27, began on Aug. 11. Kauffman Foundation, which has this story.

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Waterfront | The D’s next decade . Congress St. t. P Dequindre Blvd. People MoverCobo Cut

Hall Washington Jefferson Ave. GreenWay Randolph St. Woodward Ave Woodward Joe Louis P Beaubien St. P Woodbridge St. Arena Cobo P Renaissance Arena Center Rivard St. Franklin St. GM World P St. Antoine P Headquarters P Joseph Campau S Hart Chene St. P Wight St. Atwater St. Carousel Atwater St. Plaza Port Bike rental P P Authority GM P St. Aubin St. Atwater St. under construction Plaza = Complete Rivard Tri- Plaza Centennial = Temporary Riverboat tours State Park & Chene = Coming soon Harbor Park

COURTESY OF THE DETROIT RIVERFRONT CONSERVANCY From Page 28 Three residential projects on the tween Gabriel Richard Park near riverfront remain stalled: a condo “The the Belle Isle bridge and Cobo Center, project once planned by General Mo- riverfront will and two of four planned pavilions on tors Co. and Houston-based Hines In- the walk. terests adjacent to the Renaissance come back. A $50 million grant from the Troy- Center, the @water Lofts project to be Maybe based Kresge Foundation — its largest developed by Dwight Belyue, and grant ever to a single project — an- the Chene East project to be devel- sooner than chored the capital campaign. oped by former football star Jerome The conservancy launched the Bettis and developer C.J. Betters. people think. COURTESY OF THE DETROIT RIVERFRONT CONSERVANCY River Days Festival, installed a per- An artist’s rendering of the $15 million To the west of the riverfront dis- But this is manent carousel near GM Plaza and passenger ship terminal now under trict, construction continues on a last year opened the RiverWalk Café construction for the Detroit/Wayne $15 million passenger ship terminal what the city and Wheelhouse Detroit, a bicycle County Port Authority. being built along the riverfront for needs, rental shop. the Detroit/Wayne County Port Au- Last year more than 2 million peo- be developed by Dave Bing, has been thority. creating a ple visited the riverfront for events placed into a blind trust while he is The 21,000-square-foot terminal such as the Target Fireworks, Red mayor. Pre-construction sales con- will be able to handle most Great connected, Bull Air Race and River Days. tinue on that project. Lakes vessels. In July, a $7.1 million walkable Over the next five years, the con- The for-sale lofts originally grant from federal stimulus funding servancy plans to commission pub- planned at the Globe Trading Co. was awarded to the port authority area.” lic artwork and to launch a project building have been reconfigured, for an offshore wharf to serve cruise that highlights the river’s history, said Mark Wilcox, president of the ships and other deep-draft vessels in – Mark Wilcox, from its role in the lives of the Detroit-based Urban Development Co., the Detroit River. American Indians and French set- which is developing the 60,000- Also among the new projects in Urban tlers to how it figured into the un- square-foot building. the riverfront district is a new math Development Co. derground railroad and Prohibition Adjusting to the market, he said, and science charter high school days, Nelson said. the project has been converted to scheduled to open in September 2010 The conservancy has launched the market-rate rental units and will be with 108 freshmen. second phase of its capital campaign financed by the U.S. Department of New Urban Learning, the nonprofit to raise the remaining $38 million Housing and Urban Development and parent of the school, plans to add needed to complete the east river- through historic tax credit programs. one grade each year with students front project and is securing the final Wilcox plans to start the 12-month in grades nine through 12 by 2013. land control agreements it needs to construction by the end of the year. The school will accommodate up to complete the east RiverWalk. “The riverfront will come back,” 450 students. Nelson said private-sector gifts he said. “Maybe sooner than people The Thompson Educational Founda- will be a part of the second cam- think. But this is what the city tion and Community Foundation for paign, but public dollars will play a needs, creating a connected, walka- Southeast Michigan are funding the much larger role in completing the ble area.” $15 million renovation of the Albert east riverfront and in funding the The nearby Detroit Elevator Co. Kahn-designed former Franklin Furni- RiverWalk development on the west building, which was originally ture warehouse on Franklin Street riverfront. planned as a residential develop- in Detroit’s Riverfront Development On the commercial side, there is ment, is now going to be built out as District to house University Prep very little construction, but some space for commercial use. Science and Math High School. projects continue to be in the plan- After sales stalled on the plan for The new school will be linked with ning stages. 24 condos, the Detroit-based De- the University Prep Science and In 2007, there were six major resi- troitist Group shifted to more of a Math Middle School, which moves dential developments set to take oc- commercial plan, said Ron into its permanent facility at the De- cupancy by 2009. Two are still on the Lewarchik, managing director. He troit Science Center this September. drawing board, but no construction hopes to attract artists, architects Daniel Duggan: (313) 446-0414, is taking place. and entrepreneurs to the low-price [email protected] The Watermark, a high-end condo spaces similar to the business plan Sherri Begin Welch: (313) 446- minium development originally to at the Russell Industrial Center. 1694, [email protected]

CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS FFALLALL20062009 Page 29 20090824-SUPP--0030-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 8/19/2009 3:57 PM Page 1

The D’s next decade | Employment Changing economy

However, initiatives that could fur- Service-based jobs ther affect employment include light rail along the Woodward corridor, which could lead to new investment in most likely to grow housing and retail and also bring con- struction-related jobs, and nationally BY AMY LANE guaranteed health insurance coverage CAPITOL CORRESPONDENT that could support Detroit’s health care institutions “and lead to expan- here’s a lot hanging in the balance sion of health services throughout the in Detroit’s employment outlook. NATHAN SKID/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS city,” Metzger said in an e-mail. T National health care changes, Dennis Drabik trains recently for a Health care is one area where job de- the development of a light-rail route, new job at Barbara Ann Karmanos mand is already ongoing. The Detroit evolving auto industry transforma- Cancer Center. Health care is one tion, the potential for entrepreneurial area job sector with ongoing hiring. Medical Center, for example, expects growth, and even the development of continuing demand for positions such urban farming are factors that may WHERE THE WORK MAY BE as physicians, staff nurses, certified play into the city’s employment mix. registered nurse anesthetists, pharma- An employment forecast for the cists, therapists, medical technolo- Arnold Weinfeld, director of public Detroit area* through 2016 shows policy and federal affairs for the Michi- gists, imaging technologists, and nurse service-providing industries adding practitioners, said Janet Hash, DMC gan Municipal League, said “any com- 151,490 jobs. Here’s a partial munity, whether it’s Detroit or a small breakdown: manager of staffing and recruitment. Another major Detroit employer, community, first needs to look at what Administrative and support services: assets it has to build on.” 30,860 DTE Energy Co., anticipates hiring about 300 people over the next four to Detroit’s higher education institu- Professional, scientific and technical tions, health care industry, technology services: 23,220 five years to replace retiring workers in occupations such as cable mechan- companies such as Compuware Corp., Ambulatory health care services: incubators like TechTown, and the 15,540 ics, overhead line workers, techni- cians and nuclear maintenance work- city’s arts and cultural community all Hospitals: 7,020 ers. The company will also be looking could provide areas of growth, he said. Social assistance: 6,530 In addition, Weinfeld said, turning to fill positions in areas such as fi- “Any commu- Nursing and residential care centers: nance and auditing, said Kathleen large tracts of land into space for ur- 6,000 nity, whether ban farming “has strong possibilities” Herwick-Rubens, director of corporate Food and drinking establishments: human resources. for the future of Detroit, potentially 9,090 it’s Detroit or Dana Johnson, chief economist at bringing processing, distribution and *Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Monroe, St. Clair a small retail jobs. and Lapeer counties. Comerica Bank, said making precise For the Detroit region overall, as in Source: Michigan Department of Energy, projections on where job growth is go- community, Michigan, data points to the engine of Labor and Economic Growth ing to emerge is difficult. “Our econo- first needs to future job growth lying in services. my is just so dynamic that it’s really State employment projections show vices — which spans everything from hard to foretell the future,” he said. look at what some of the largest numbers of future accountants and architects to adver- However, Johnson cited two items assets it has jobs coming from sectors that span tising and scientific research. that he said are important to Detroit’s many of service occupations, includ- Jobs in ambulatory health care ser- future prospects: educational im- to build on.” ing employment, health, business vices, a sector that includes doctors, provements and elimination of the support and even restaurants. chiropractors, dentists, optometrists city income tax. – Arnold Weinfeld, Manufacturing jobs are expected to and outpatient health care providers, “If Detroit is going to become a suc- Michigan Municipal continue to erode, and where there is are projected to grow by 15,540. cessful city with a growing labor force, hiring it’s likely to be to replace work- Hospitals are expected to add 7,020 it absolutely has to develop a better ed- League ers who have left rather than add sig- jobs, while projections call for 6,530 ucational infrastructure,” Johnson nificant numbers of new jobs, said new jobs in the area of social assis- said. And the income tax, he said, “dri- Konrad Lepecki, economic analyst at tance, which includes day care and ves away people. It’s just a job-killer.” the Michigan Department of Energy, La- services to the elderly and disabled, Weinfeld said quality-of-life issues bor and Economic Growth. and a 6,000-job boost at nursing and are even more critical. DELEG’s current long-term em- residential care centers. “If Detroit offers quality-of-life ployment forecast for the Detroit Food and drinking establishments amenities, has the kind of services, area, through 2016, shows service- are expected to see 9,090 new jobs. has the kind of deep and growing arts providing industries adding 151,490 Kurt Metzger, director of the Detroit and culture communities, has enter- jobs through 2016. Additions include Area Community Information System, said tainment venues … people will live 30,860 new jobs in administrative and that he expects the regional employ- there based on that,” Weinfeld said. support services and 23,220 in profes- ment forecast from the state “will play Amy Lane: (517) 371-5355, sional, scientific and technical ser- out to a great extent in Detroit.” [email protected]

Page 30 FALL 2006 FALL 2009 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS 20090824-SUPP--0031-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 8/19/2009 4:38 PM Page 1

Culture | The D’s next decade

The science of being self-supporting After closing for a while in the 1990s when it lost state funding, the Detroit Science Center this year expects to earn 90 percent of its budget — and soon, 100 percent of it, in line with its goal to be completely self-sustain- WEB EXTRA ing and not reliant on public support or philan- How they did thropy, said President and CEO Kevin Prihod. it: Read the The center began its strongest push to increase whole story, earned revenue about four years ago when Prihod www.crains detroit.com/ (right) came on board. nextdecade “I think the handwriting was on the wall,” he said. “The institutions that thought the usual suspects would save us were doomed.” NATHAN SKID/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS Art of collaboration Cultural institutions look to each other to weather tough times

BY SHERRI BEGIN WELCH CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

ith leaner operations in place, Detroit arts institu- “In a city like W tions are seeking collabora- Detroit, where tions, larger audiences and more in- dividual gifts to sustain them. the population Faced with diminished corporate support and little, if any, public sup- has been de- port, the institutions have been creasing for a forced to cut staff and programming. Now they are searching for new long time, the ways to sustain their operations for arts organiza- the long term. The importance of sustaining the tions have institutions goes beyond the value of the artistic and cultural awareness played a major and education they offer, said Maud role in bringing Lyon, executive director of the Cultur- al Alliance of Southeastern Michigan. people back to “In a city like Detroit, where the the city.” population has been decreasing for a long time, the arts organizations have played a major role in bringing – Maud Lyon, people back to the city,” she said. Cultural Alliance of Southeastern Collaboration Michigan By collaborating, arts organiza- tions say they can not only operate more efficiently in some areas, but also increase their opportunities for To increase attendance, the Detroit Institute of Arts used intensive visitor more earned revenue and more indi- research to guide it in revamping its galleries. It also collaborates with the vidual gifts. Detroit Symphony Orchestra to accommodate rental customers. The organizations have done joint

NATHAN SKID/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS See Page 32

CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS FFALLALL20062009 Page 31 20090824-SUPP--0032-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 8/19/2009 3:59 PM Page 1

The D’s next decade | Culture

From Page 31 learns of the things it can bor- efficient use of available dol- nancial goals,” DiChiera said. programming and marketing row from arts organizations lars, Beal said. But partner- The DSO and DIA also refer in the past, but it typically last- through the online “Sharing ships among the arts groups are customers interested in facility ed only as long as the grant Resources Clearinghouse” the not a panacea to the sector’s his- rentals to each other when one funding it, Lyon said. Cultural Alliance launched. toric reliance on public support. can’t accommodate them. “What we’re talking about The economic depression has Certainly, given the times, (now) is collaboration that is Sharing resources brought the real issue of the arts organizations would be permanent and structural” in broken operating model to the negligent if they didn’t explore Partnerships are enabling forefront, Beal said. every possible collaboration, not only programs, but also the Wright Museum to contin- marketing and administrative DiChiera said, “but you have to ue programming that might be careful because sometimes areas, Lyon said. otherwise be cut. Attendance The Cultural Alliance is lead- what appears to be a savings Detroit nonprofit Black Fami- Arts groups are focusing becomes too complex to really ing the effort, convening dis- ly Development produces a series more than ever on the wants cussions about where joint ef- be effective.” of programs and needs of their audiences to The labor-intensive nature of forts could work and exploring around the ensure their product and pro- more than a dozen proposals performing arts, with perform- history of the grams are of value and people ers, stagehands and backstage put forth by its 89 members African- will pay for them, Lyon said. from Southeast Michigan, near- technical staff needed for each American That implies the need for performance, also makes col- ly half of them in Detroit. culture; mu- more audience research — The alliance is exploring how laboration difficult sometimes, seum Presi- something the Cultural Al- DiChiera said. it could set up a sales force that dent and liance also may head up — but would market its member insti- CEO Juanita also a stronger intent in mak- Endowment drives tutions for group ticket pur- Moore has ing sure the product or perfor- Beal said solving the funding chases, Lyon said. invited it to mance that arts groups are of- It’s talking with arts groups Moore puzzle also needs to include dis- produce the fering is aligned with what the cussions about building endow- about a model for shared facili- programs at the museum to community needs and values. ty management of buildings ment funds. continue programming at a For example, the DIA’s rein- Over the past 20 years the and grounds, something that lower cost. stallation of its galleries was would be housed at the alliance DIA’s public support has gone The museum also is talking done only after intensive visi- from $17 million out of a but benefit many arts groups. with the Motown Historical Muse- tor research that has put the Arts organizations of all $22 million budget to $8 million um about a joint Motown exhibi- museum at the forefront across out of a $32 million budget in sizes are looking for opera- tion held concurrently at both the world. tional collaborations. For ex- 1999 and just under $1 million institutions. Each would host a How the DIA’s artwork is or- of the DIA’s $34 million budget ample, Mosaic Youth Theatre re- part of the timeline so visitors ganized, how the artwork la- cently purchased a Detroit last year, Beal said. would likely be interested in at- bels are written, the hours the The DIA in February shaved building and received a brown- tending both, Moore said. museum is open, the colors of field tax credit from the city to $6 million from its budget by “We could market it together the galleries — all were deliber- cutting 20 percent or 56 mem- renovate it. Part of the plan and use the resources of both to ately designed to align with au- may include the Sphinx Organi- bers of its staff, reducing pro- get it done,” she said. dience feedback. grams and other moves. zation joining Mosaic at the new To increase earned revenue “Arts institutions that pro- It’s only through generous in- building. and encourage more individual duce programming that’s im- dividual gifts that the museum Collaboration may come donations, the Wright Museum portant to their staff and board has been able to sustain its opera- harder to the larger institu- is planning more exhibits that but does not appeal to the pub- tions to this point, Beal said. tions because they have more have broad appeal, such as the lic are going One answer to fixing the bro- inflexible costs. King Tut exhibit from last year to have a ken operating model is build- At the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the National Geographic harder time for example, fixed costs associ- exhibit planned for this fall. raising fund- ing endowment, he said. ated with keeping the museum The National Geographic ex- ing to sustain “Everyone can’t wait to tell running and the artwork at a hibit, which opens Nov. 1, uses those pro- you that you can’t do that in regulated temperature and hu- the story of the Lucy human grams,” Lyon Southeast Michigan, but we’re midity are 40 percent of the mu- fossils to show common ori- said. in this bind because there’s a seum’s annual budget of gins. The Michi- long tradition of not building $28 million for fiscal 2010, said The DIA’s Beal said collabo- gan Opera The- endowment in this area.” DIA Director Graham Beal. rations can bring value but atre and the Now is the perfect time for DiChiera But that isn’t keeping the must be implemented with DSO are con- arts and cultural organizations larger institutions from explor- care. sidering jointly marketing to and all nonprofits to deepen ing more collaboration. “The crucial thing about col- people who patronize both or- their relationships with donors Rather than buying display laborations, whether combin- ganizations, in the hopes of cut- to better position them for the cases, staff of the Charles H. Wright ing certain kinds of depart- ting costs and increasing atten- economic recovery, said Kyle Museum of African American History ments or running some dance for both, said David Caldwell, president of the Michi- ran next door to the DIA for the programs together, is that each DiChiera, founding general gan Nonprofit Association. proverbial cup of sugar, said institution has to bring some- manager of the MOT. “Prepare, prepare, prepare Tony Spearman Leach, chief thing to the table that is excess Ticket sales, which totaled so that when the opportunity to communications officer. to (them), otherwise you’re just about 40 percent to 45 percent raise endowment funds is It’s also borrowed a limou- compounding the degree to of the MOT’s roughly $13.5 mil- there, you can execute,” he sine from the Detroit Symphony which your institution is lion in revenue last year, “are a said. Orchestra to shuttle an impor- stretched,” he said. critical part of helping us re- Sherri Begin Welch: (313) tant visitor. The museum It’s right to look for the most main vital and reaching our fi- 446-1694, [email protected]

Page 32 FALL 2006 FALL 2009 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS CDBmagazine.qxp 8/12/2009 9:31 AM Page 1

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