Detroit City FC has tentatively agreed to most of the 57 community investments requested by residents surrounding its planned $198 million stadium and housing project in Corktown, minus a few significant requests that are still being negotiated. 

Residents sought to create a $1 ticket fee that would fund a new home repair program, citing the age of housing stock in an impact area defined by the city. Detroit City FC CEO Sean Mann noted it was “one of the headline items,” but said it can’t be done. Mann said adding a $1 surcharge would “undermine the project and its financial backing,” and affect the club’s commitment to offering affordable tickets. However, Mann said Friday that he’s open to exploring a percentage-based fee or annual fee and understands the need for housing repairs in the greater Corktown area.

“We come from this as sports fans and residents of the city of Detroit,” Mann said Friday. “We wanted to be rooted in the community. We want it to scale to fit the neighborhood and compliment the neighborhood … We’re not opposed (to using) funds for home repairs. That’s a conversation coming out of our most recent meeting working with the neighborhood advisory council on what they see as priorities for the community.”

The request came from a neighborhood advisory council formed to craft a legal contract with developers that will ultimately be authorized by the City Council. It’s required by Detroit’s Community Benefits Ordinance, a voter-adopted law triggered by large development projects that seek tax incentives. Detroit City FC is seeking $88 million in tax breaks.

Of the 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. It works by freezing property taxes collected at the site for 30 years and allows the developer to be reimbursed with new taxes generated from the increase in value caused by redevelopment.

Detroit’s home repair needs, and the subsequent negative impact on the health of residents, have been well-documented. A 2021 University of Michigan study found 43% of all residents reported having one major home repair need, while 13% live in inadequate housing that exposed them to dangers like exposed wires, broken furnaces or a lack of hot water. 

Providing home repair programs is part of a strategy to promote an inclusive community in the city’s 2020 neighborhood framework plan for the greater Corktown area. It states that new growth should stabilize existing housing through home rehabilitation efforts. 

U-M researchers found there are significant gaps in home repair programs. There aren’t enough grant dollars to meet the need and a shortage of contractors to do the work; Residents also need help navigating the process of receiving aid.

Some residents voiced frustrations with the response delivered by developers Thursday. Bill Cheek, a North Corktown resident, said home repairs should be added to consider the nuisance of light pollution, traffic, parking pressures and “permanently changing our neighborhood.” 

“We demand a benefit that is commensurate with the negative impact of this project and we will not be taking no for an answer,” Cheek said. 

Another resident highlighted investments made by other stadiums across the country, including a $3 per ticket surcharge on concerts at Northwestern University’s football stadium and a 1% ticket revenue fee from the Las Vegas A’s ballpark for community benefits. 

Mann said Friday that he’s the first developer to participate in the community benefits process who actually lives in the impact area, so he understands the concerns of his neighbors. But he said the project is distinct from other stadium projects in Detroit, in that they are financing a larger percentage of it with private investment instead of public subsidies. 

“We are privately financing this; it’s all our own debt, the margins aren’t substantial on this,” Mann said. “There’s not a billionaire behind us. My bank account looks a lot more like everyone else’s in that room than a pro sports team owner.” 

Cindy Gamboa, executive director of MI Poder and vice president of MANA de Metro Detroit, said she’s deeply concerned about the future of the neighborhood.

“The most pressing concern I wanted to hear, the human impact of gentrification on our neighborhood, was never addressed,” Gamboa said. “I urge you to prioritize our community, to look at investments that you’re doing in infrastructure but also the people that are here, the people that are going to pay the price.” 

Mann said developers hope to have the tax breaks and the benefits deal authorized by the City Council before it ends the legislative session at the end of November. Construction is expected to start early 2026 and finish by the end of 2028. 

City leaders are meanwhile exploring the potential of an arena tax to help cover the cost of cutting Detroit’s high property taxes. 

“We’re mindful of cost and fees and it’s a hot-button issue across all of entertainment,” Mann said. “There’s certainly interest to pursue the event tax. If that’s a mechanism that the electorate gets behind as a solution for the city, I get it.” 

Incentives on the table

The neighborhood advisory council also asked Detroit City FC to allocate funding to the city’s Community Land Trust Fund to help create permanently affordable housing, provide childcare support to stadium employees and commit to ensuring half of concession vendors are Detroit-based businesses.

Mann said Detroit City FC can’t commit to those requests but intends to hire as many residents as possible. Mann said union leaders also weren’t able to guarantee the available workforce could meet the 50% threshold.

“If we commit to that contractually and miss the mark, it’s unclear what the cure would be,” Mann said.

He’s also supportive of land trusts as a way to prevent “large property owners from gobbling up housing and encroaching on our neighborhood” but said it requires a larger investment than Detroit City FC can offer. 

Mann said the neighborhood group and Detroit City FC are on the same page for the majority of other requests. Detroit City FC agreed to commit $200,000 to a low-interest loan fund to support small businesses in the impact area for five years, $100,000 on a new mini-pitch for youth soccer, $50,000 for artist murals and cultural installations, provide 3,000 free tickets to area residents valued at $60,000 per year and pay stadium workers $17 per hour. 

Detroit City FC also agreed to create:

• A fugitive dust plan
• A traffic management plan
• A waste management and recycling plan
• An acoustics study to mitigate the noise impact on migratory birds
• An incentive program for attendees who use non-motorized transit to travel to the stadium, 
• Wayfinding signs directing visitors to local attractions, 
•  Bike parking areas
• Improvements to the 20th Street viaduct
• Advertising for affordable housing forDetroiters
• A mentorship program for area youth. 

The advisory group asked developers to offer apartments planned in a building adjacent to the stadium at a level that’s affordable for people making 50% of the area median income (AMI) – equal to $946 a month for a one-bedroom unit. Developers committed to offering units at 60% AMI on average, which is equal to $1,136 for a one-bedroom unit. 

The housing component would add 76 total units, including eight studio apartments, 60 one-bedroom apartments and eight two-bedroom apartments. 

Another request to completely prohibit the use of facial recognition technology was adjusted by Detroit City FC to include a carve-out for staff. Mann said facial recognition could be used for clock-in systems for employees but there’s no intention of monitoring fans or reporting their activities to law enforcement. 

Detroit City FC also agreed to hold “know your rights” training for employees but not residents, a measure that was sought by the advisory group to help residents in a community with many immigrants navigate issues with law enforcement and federal agents. 

The City of Detroit is also making improvements to the area, including upgrading street lights and sidewalks along Vernor Highway and resurface 20th Street after construction, monitoring compliance with the benefits agreement and collecting complaints from residents. 

Parking plans

The Michigan Department of Transportation is also planning to reconstruct Michigan Avenue from I-96 to Cass Avenue next year, narrowing the street from five lanes to four lanes, adding curb extensions, enhanced bus stop islands, sidewalk-level bike lanes, designated rideshare areas and new pedestrian crossings. 

Detroit City FC expects to sell 300,000 to 400,000 tickets across 44 event days each year. The stadium seats 15,000 people. 

Zoning rules require the stadium to provide 2,500 on-site parking spaces. Detroit City FC plans to build a parking deck with 421 spaces south of Michigan Avenue, and provide 680 parking spaces on surface lots. The rest will come from third-party lots. 

“The last thing we wanted is to be surrounded by sea of parking lots,” Mann said. “We want an active street tying together Vernor and Michigan Avenue, part of that was adding a housing component for foot traffic and density but in a way that hid the parking deck so it’s not the entry to the street and stadium experience.” 

Advisory council member Blandina Rose-Willis said the requests were crafted after reviewing past community benefits deals intending to address known needs and predict future issues.

“We can’t always anticipate what’s going to happen some number of years down the road,” Rose-Willis said. 

Advisory council member Sam Butler said there’s concerns about parking availability if third-party parking lots are developed into something else. City officials said Detroit City FC will have to find alternatives in that scenario, as they are bound by zoning to offer 2,500 spaces. 

Members of the neighborhood council said they will take time to consult amongst themselves and residents about community priorities. The next meeting is scheduled for Oct. 16, where the benefits package could be finalized. 

“I am humbled by the number of people who have showed up,” Mann said. “It’s surreal to me the number of neighbors showing up, people I’ve known for so long. I’m amazed by the number of people committed to participate and appreciate the neighborhood advisory council itself, all the engaging folks who are thoughtful. Our intent was to create a community-oriented stadium and think this process will make that a more realistic outcome.”