A group of volunteers representing neighbors who live near the site planned for Detroit City FC’s new soccer stadium agreed to a slate of community investments, including a $1.2 million support fund, a guaranteed $17 per hour minimum wage for arena workers and traffic management plans.
Detroit City FC passed a significant milestone Thursday night when the neighborhood advisory council voted 6-3 to recommend a benefits agreement negotiated during the last three months. The deal includes $2.27 million in financial contributions and other long-term commitments raised by residents. It will become a legally binding contract if authorized by the City Council.
The council will also decide whether to grant tax breaks valued at $88 million total. Roughly $14 million would come from two tax breaks offered over 10 and 12 years. A brownfield redevelopment incentive would provide $74.2 million to developers through tax increment financing.
The $198 million project includes a 15,000-seat stadium, 421-space parking deck and 76 apartment units. It will be located on the site of the former Southwest Hospital at 20th Street and Michigan Avenue after the aging building is demolished.
Most of the Detroit City FC commitments are offered for the life of a 12-year tax abatement. Highlights of the agreement include the following:
- Contribute $100,000 per year to organizations that will be chosen by the advisory council. That totals $1.2 million for “organizations and services that specialize in safe, habitable homes, cultural programming, and youth education programs.”
- $200,000 low-interest loan fund to support small businesses
- No use of facial recognition technology
- Give first priority to job applicants in surrounding zip codes and partner with city agencies to promote job opportunities for Detroiters
- Provide 3,000 complimentary tickets to residents each year, valued at $720,000 total
- $100,000 to create a mini-pitch soccer field for youth in the impact area and create a youth mentorship programme for sports careers
- $50,000 for cultural and artistic installations memorializing the history of the area and Southwest Hospital
- Provide housing units that average 60% of the area median income with four two-bedroom units set at 50% AMI for 30 years
- Create a traffic management plan that will be reviewed after 3 years, a plan to ensure safe entry and exit of fans, plus an acoustics study to mitigate noise impacts
- Provide an incentive for visitors and employees who use nonmotorized transit to attend the stadium
- Ensure residents are notified within 48-72 hours of road and sidewalk closures
- Improvements and beautification of the 20th Street viaduct
Members of the neighborhood advisory council took a sigh of relief after completing the intense and fast-paced process late Thursday. They’ve met weekly inside the Mexicantown Community Development Corporation, held several listening sessions across Southwest Detroit and grappled with securing community needs within the limitations of an imperfect government process.
Members said it was like taking on an exhausting second job, requiring them to seek childcare and skip other obligations. Advisory council member Daniel Patton rocked his baby to sleep while the votes were tallied.
Detroit City FC CEO Sean Mann said it’s a thankless role performed by dedicated people, joking that it would be his first and last community benefits process. Throughout the night, he agreed to adjust commitments at the table with the council and expressed gratitude for their diligence.
Sam Butler, executive director of Doing Development Differently, has watched several community benefits processes before serving on the neighborhood council for the soccer stadium. Butler said each one is difficult. The community never gets everything it wants, but Butler said they did their best.
“When the dust settles, it’s hard to look at this and think ‘is this a good deal or a bad deal?’” Butler said. “For me, when I think about this, I am most proud of certain things that will make real differences in people’s lives.”
Brianna Williamson, one of two advisory council members who were selected by a vote of residents, couldn’t vote in favor of the agreement. Williamson said her vote was also in opposition to the community benefits process overall, describing it as offloading the City Council’s responsibility to residents.
Williamson isn’t against the new stadium, but one of her main concerns is how it will impact the ability to navigate surrounding neighborhoods. Williamson said a community benefits agreement for the Michigan Central redevelopment a few blocks away failed to ensure residents who aren’t immediately next to the former station are notified when major events are happening. A September car show shut down streets and flooded the area with cars, preventing her from grocery shopping.
“There’s a lack of communication, a lack of consideration,” Williamson said. “I think it happens a lot with development because Detroit does need to rebuild its economic self, but it’s doing so at the detriment of people who have been here for generations.”
Advisory council member Sheila Cockrel also voted no, saying she wanted more investment in home repair programs. She said the $100,000 annual contribution is insufficient.
“How many houses can this support?” Cockrel said. “At the end of the day, this is well-meaning tokenism.”
Msgr. Charles Kosanke said members of the council were frustrated by a lack of local authority over Michigan Avenue, which is owned by the state Department of Transportation. Kosanke recommended the City Council consider updating the community benefits ordinance, which was passed in 2016 and last updated in 2021, to improve engagement and oversight.
“We feel our hands are tied even though we hear the concerns here,” said the pastor and rector of the Basilica of Ste. Anne de Detroit. “I perhaps encourage that every five years, given the experience of neighborhood advisory councils, to look at further revisions to make this be a better process.”
Residents had a mixed reaction to the agreement. North Corktown resident Bill Cheek brought a highlighter-green sign summing up his perspective on the deal: No.
Cheek said he was supremely disappointed that Detroit City FC didn’t agree to add a $1 ticket fee to fund home repairs in the area.
“I realized it’s been a horrible process forced on you, you did the best you could with what you were offered, but this is a disgrace,” Cheek said.
Sean Novak, a professor at Wayne State, described himself as a longtime supporter of Detroit City FC and said he believes it will continue to serve as an asset for the city.
Giving away to much for too little.