I actually commented on a piece written by Crain's about the Mid project last year and I pointed out that this project was never planned on actually being developed due to the "Team" that they had that was absolutely lacking in any high rise development experience at all. This was a project that Mohammad Qazi, the owner of Cigna Health, announced that smelled real fishy like a tax dodge to offset his 2020 profits and whaddya know not 2 weeks into the new year ...Huh....
This has NOTHING to do with construction costs.

Informative. Be nice to see a follow up to your point from Crains.

Sorry, I should have said 2019 - He purchased the property in Sept of 2018; plans were announced in April 2019; By way of resumes for the development team (project coordinator; project manager et al) none showed any history of doing high rise projects - something that one NEEDS in order to not fail dramatically;
Mohammad Qazi, although he has an impressive school pedigree he has no development experience; <~~ Given all of this information and then looking at how well Cigna has done for him financially and then, of course, the ridiculous timeline he announced & it became blatantly obvious what the real move was here.

Excellent points. And of course we’ve seen such things before - ulterior reasons and speculation covered up with hype. I think you’re on to something regarding this project., something Crains should further investigate and report on to give this story more complete information, not necessarily refuting the labor issue but clearing up concern in this project and for others as well. It’s seldom a credible news source outright lies, but what causes concern for the report are pieces left out and not explored (or information reported on without addressing the lack of credible support) which gives the news it’s bent feeling. I know the labor issue to be true from other sources of mine, but is this particular issue you mention an even greater factor here and labor as just a handy excuse at the moment? This requires follow up. Thank you for bringing it to the attention of all.

It is good that Detroit's poverty rate has plummeted by 10%. We are on a better path. But, that 51% requirement does seem a bit unrealistic for all these super projects. Hiring Detroiters first is fine, but it needs to be st least a little bit realistic and attainable.

If the poverty rate continues to plummet, for if project backups are preventing job formation that will further lower the poverty rate, something probably should be reexamined.

Rise Up!
&
CHEERS!!!

~Sean of Detroit

Is the poverty rate plummeting because people are coming out of poverty? Even is this economy the answer is no. Wages aren’t there to make the case. Is the poverty rate plummeting because those living in (and near) poverty are still moving out (an improved economy would only accelerate such) while the more affluent are moving in - at least downtown? Yep.

The percentage workers part is in the contracts so that the city government can get a kickback in the form of fines for not meeting it. Both the city and the developers know it's not an attainable target, at which point the "fines" become a cost of business just like "bribes" were 20 years ago!

The State and City need to refocus around current business and educational circumstances. Would be interested to see some stats around the details of ongoing unemployment in the City of Detroit: Who is unemployed? Is there any chance that the presently unemployed can fill the skilled trades roles which remain unfilled and which situation is driving up construction costs? We need to think beyond the next quarter and the next election and build this community. Leaders, please, lead. Now.

Surprise, surprise surprise

Please elaborate.

This project from the start was never realistic and the developers have zero know-how........ These so called "want to be developers must somehow get reimbursed for these "proposals" (they get to keep a fraction of the public monies/funding awarded?) I'm still waiting for a real developer to come in and build affordable priced housing for the market and not look to get rich overnight, condos priced 250 - 350k would sell like hot cakes in a lumber jack camp

I believe That is what the Pullman Parc project is aiming at doing. The condos they’re selling start in the mid 200’s and go up from there. Middle class housing in the city is incredibly hard to find which is a large barrier for people.

Scaled back projects are typical here. Look at what the Fisher or the Ren Cen might have been so panic and total despair aren’t called for. But residents in these areas to create a more affluent core is essential to a vibrant metropolis and were are still in ICU when it comes to such. What can be done to bring down the cost?

1st REMOVE the residency requirement for labor and replace it with a preference over big fines. This market shows such a plan is NOT needed and hurts progress overall.

2nd A LOT of this sits at the state’s door for its very poor school improvement plans over the years, where focus was taken out of Voc. programs to push a college only agenda - more segregated thinking over much beeed diversity.

Let’s get creative to draw people into this state for construction labor both home grown and from other states? Possibly tax incentives to get more firms to come in from other states and to incentivize the hiring of home grown labor.

And drive the rents up would help. That will require more government spending on infrastructure, things like transit and amenities will drive up demand. It’ll also get more people from the suburbs going back and forth to drive up commercial demand downtown. Transit plus works class art museum, world class science center, works class events - we’ve got everything we need to do this. We have to choose to get it done.

If you want to drive up rents in Detroit, not just downtown, you have to fix the schools so that anyone coming into single family housing feels safe to send their kids to public school with the expectation they will receive as good an education as a family in Rochester Hills. Downtown, like in most cities, is mainly DINKs but a city is built upon families.

I agree the state of Michigan needs to fix its schools in general and Detroit in particular but if you look at how all major cities do it they use magnets and local elementries just as Detroit does. Renaissance and Case are among the best high schools in the state. Add Chavez as a charter. Then of course many in high density areas send their kids to private UofD and Ligget (right in the GPS). Yes I agree with you but big cities all over this county don’t compete for those middle class suburban families when it comes to schools. They maybe be our largest subgroup filling up the suburbs but with rare exception will you find them in major cities at all. I’d love to see that change and develop county wide (or larger) districts but I’m not hopeful. This has to be a state initiative not a local one - it just doesn’t work locally.

I should not have to pay for private schooling when I move to a district, just to get a decent education. It's only in the US that that seems to be acceptable, of the three countries I lived in for any length of time at least, dual standards depending on your wealth went out as an acceptable concept decades ago in many countries.
Private schools will almost always outperform public ones as they can filter their students and by the very nature of the parents paying they tend to be more involved. I moved from one suburb, which I really liked, to another to get better schooling, it would be a very hard sell to move somewhere expensive with worse public schools, unless you truly are only targeting the rich who can afford both.

I did not say you should have to pay for private schooling. I said it is a choice. I choose it myself though the Ann Arbor schools are excellent. Renaissance, Cass and Chavez are publicly funded schools with excellent reputations as well.

The duel standards depending on your wealth exists with the public schools as well. Most of our best high schools are in affluent communities with little to no housing options and often less transit options for those living at or near poverty. These schools are also NOT open as school of choice to their neighbors and to add to the situation many of these school are getting more money per student than the poor districts.

In the core of a city generally you are only targeting the rich who can afford both and often even those who can afford multiple homes. Out from there in the neighborhoods you are targeting more middle income families - and again Renaissance, Cass and Chavez are public and will be in the same league as any public school to which you moved and dare I say it, the house within Detroit could be more affordable not less.

You were fortunate to be able to make such a move for better schools. Such isn’t an option for all people living at it near poverty, unless you’re advocating that all state paid for schools must be open to all state resident children.

The point is, is education holding the city back? To some extent yes, but to some extent it’s holding the whole state back, the horrible job we’ve done with public education in Michigan.

"1st REMOVE the residency requirement for labor and replace it with a preference over big fines"

If I'm not mistaken, the requirement is only for projects that seek City/Gov funds. So I'm wondering why not 1st have Developers build without using any city/tax dollars?

Is there something you see wrong or unrealistic about that, EMP?

I think it’s a fine idea except Detroit isn’t there yet. It’s still in ICU so without incentives we don’t see the financing of these projects happen. The financing piece is difficult and that’s the issue. People don’t pay cash out of pocket for these projects. So if you remove the incentive piece to wave the labor requirement piece you’re still in an untenable situation. The idea is to get the population and the density up both day and residents so it in itself is a draw and doesn’t require incentives. We are a LONG ways from reaching that after decades of abandonment.

Ahhh, ok Gotcha. Thanks.

Agreed. No matter what is eventually built, I hope they clean up the look of that site along Woodward in the meantime. Yikes! 👎

I’d go for a nice meadow of wild flowers over what we now have.