The city of Detroit is bouncing back from its legendary 2013 bankruptcy filing. Depopulation driven by the rise of global trade threw the city into insolvency. Since then, Detroit has imposed high property tax rates citywide while awarding abatements to commercial-scale developers. The tax, spending and placemaking policies in Detroit have drawn investors to the city in force, raising the local skyline alongside concerns about gentrification and displacement among the locals.
CLARIFICATION (Aug. 12, 2022): There were 708 housing structures built in Detroit between 2010-2019, not 708 homes as mentioned at 6:44 in the video.
A new wave of development is rippling through downtown Detroit.
“Walking around Detroit in 2008 or 2009 is not the same as walking around in 2022,” said Ramy Habib, a local entrepreneur. “It is absolutely magnificent what happened throughout those 15 years.“
Between 2010 and 2019, just 708 new housing structures went up in the city of Detroit, according to the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments.
Much of the new construction traces back to the philanthropic wings of large local businesses. For example, Ford Motor is nearing completion of a 30-acre mixed-used development at Michigan Central Station. The station sat abandoned for years as the city fell into bankruptcy.
Detroit’s decline into insolvency formed amid 20th century globalization in the auto industry, according to economists. The city’s population fell from 1.8 million to 639,000 in the most recent but controversial count by the U.S. Census. “With the population leaving, with the infrastructure staying in place, it meant strains on the city. Cumulatively, they started to mount over time,” said Raymond Owens III, a former senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
The 2007-08 Great Recession left another round of scars on the city as scores of homes fell into foreclosure. The U.S. Treasury Department has since funded the removal of 15,000 blighted structures in the city. “A lot of Black people are leaving the city. So sometimes that identity can change and shift in certain communities,” said Alphonso Carlton Jr, a lifelong Detroit resident.
Local leaders have used tax and spending policies to advance economic development downtown. In July 2022, the Detroit City Council finalized a tax abatement for the real estate developer Bedrock to finance the $1.4 billion Hudson’s site project. The abatement could be worth up to $60 million over its 10-year span. Bedrock is in a family of companies controlled by billionaire investor Dan Gilbert, who moved several of his businesses downtown in 2010.
Bedrock told CNBC that decision was consistent with the council’s handling of other major developments, due to high local tax rates. One local analysis suggests that in 2020, Detroit’s effective property tax rate on homes was more than double the national average. Detroit’s new tax, spending and placemaking policies have drawn the interests of bond investors in recent years, providing another source of revenue for the local government.
Watch the video above to learn more about Detroit’s escape from bankruptcy.
» Subscribe to CNBC: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBC
» Subscribe to CNBC TV: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCtelevision
About CNBC: From ‘Wall Street’ to ‘Main Street’ to award winning original documentaries and Reality TV series, CNBC has you covered. Experience special sneak peeks of your favorite shows, exclusive video and more.
Connect with CNBC News Online
Get the latest news: https://www.cnbc.com/
Follow CNBC on LinkedIn: https://cnb.cx/LinkedInCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Facebook: https://cnb.cx/LikeCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Twitter: https://cnb.cx/FollowCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Instagram: https://cnb.cx/InstagramCNBC
#CNBC
Why Detroit Is Tearing Down A Highway
source
I live in the metropolitan area. Nothing is really going on in this city. Only moved here because of work a year ago. Will be heading back to the coast whenever I get the chance.
Wow, this video was a haphazard jumbled mess. The B roll footage was often totally out of context and not really fitting if you know the backstory behind it. The people interviewed are obviously interesting to hear from but their selected clips didn't really contribute to a cohesive narrative. Why didn't you ever directly answer why Detroit is taking out 375 and what's going in its place? Why didn't you talk about the streetscape improvements in the neighborhoods that have been shaped by community feedback? How could you completely omit the Joe Louis Greenway under construction?
These projects are important because they demonstrate a shift in mentality. Detroit has been declining for years and trying to rebuild almost as long. But a lot of efforts in the past (original RenCen, GM poletown factory) did not have the desired spillover effect because they reflected bad urban design. Recent projects and those in the works have gotten it right.
And from there you could have brought up zoning. Again alluded to with the part about rapid home construction to keep up with jobs but not explained how Detroit has one of the highest % of single family housing. Because the areas that are "gentrifying" seem to be mostly those with mixed use areas while the struggling areas are mostly just single family residential areas without other places of interest within bike or walking distance. But the new greenways and bike lanes are helping to make those areas less isolated.
Do one on buffalo ny
Here is the thing… I can do high value business in California, so why would I do it in Detroit? Physical location is almost irrelevant for many 21st century business models. What is relevant is the level of education of the workforce and Detroit doesn't have much to offer in that department.
Hard to believe that Detroit used to be a world leader in robotics.
Detroit can thank all the blacks that have ruined it over the last 40-50 years. They destroy everything they get near. Hopefully one day we will have a white world.
Not enough parks
If China brought the entire city of Detroit it wouldn’t even take them 5 years to entirely rebuild the city from the ground up.
When your rise was nearly a hundred years ago…. it's not a rise…it's just what was ….
in other words, get over it.
Redevelopment of your mind is firstmost, after which, you might be able to at least have a chance, not just in Detroit either 🦊🚬
The anti car anti suburb agenda being pushed by the media again. .. these Twitter urbanists are spending a lot of money trying to indoctrinate people. No thank you.
Show me one country or a state that is run by black or brown people and is successful? From Mexico to ghana, all these countries and their people are absolutely corrupt.
Born in Highland Park in 1952 and i watched and hated how the freeways carved up the Detroit into smaller and smaller blocks , dividing its neighborhoods. I worked in job shops and as a union carpenter with local #1. I saw the corporate greed that destroyed it and yet not one of those corporations or their investors have been held responsible for ANYTHING. It's the working stiff that always pays the price for their greed. They found slave labor overseas and abandoned the ones who made them their fortunes.
Why stop there? You can take down the city too and get rid of those trash lurking around in that city. >:)
Interesting how so many historical wounds were picked in this short expose. There is no justice and will be no justice for the historically displaced. Maybe a few community names will get revived and streets named. If 375 gets imploded, it will not be to provide low income housing but more likely the most expensive neighborhood in Detroit. There is no going back to the way it was. Apartment rent has been a good indicator. I grew up on the edge of Detroit and went to school in Detroit. I watched it slowly disintegrate to the point of being ashamed for being from Detroit. Its coming back but going to take another 20 years IMO.
Just another failed Democrat run City
Which political party has been running Detroit all throughout its downfall?
Mann all I here is more construction coming 🙃
Detroit sucks…. it will never come back….
They should church up the name and call it De-twah. Like a fancy French city. 😆
Nothing offered here will help improve the situation. Until you understand the idiocy of city council and the notion that these people actually care, nothing you do will help
Proof? Corktown
Glad Dad took us out of there in ‘77! It was back on the rise a few yrs back. It’s still Democrat Control! And some towns Muslim.
Many Iconic buildings are being redone ! .
HONDA of America was there and they Provided Thousands of JOBS ! The big 3 went to the Governor and got them Kicked out ! What a shame. Honda is way bigger Manufacturing than all 3! Go figure
If they really want to become future proof and financially sustainable, they should move back to mixed use walkable neighbourhoods. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Nw6qyyrTeI
The previous mayor's of Detroit. Used tax money as thier personal piggybanks Detroit leaders are corrupt. All the money goes to the wrong places. Corrupt career Politician's.
Don't worry, it's happening everywhere. Seattle downtown is turning into Detroit
Nah build more parking lots and Highways lol
Amazing skill politicians have. They can talk about all the things that they are doing that is saving a state/city/community/country and talk/act like salvation has come while the whole thing burns around them and they are blatently looting the corpse of the state/city/community/country. Guess having no sense of shame allows you to do such things without going mad from guilt.
Gentrification is coming. If you want new development in Detroit, that means new people with new dollars will have to invest.
Investment will bring an increase in property values and cost of living.
Whitmer et al will not fix the problem. Way too much corruption in that administration.
nothing in this video about tearing down a highway. a complete waste of time to watch this video
Woke up to my highway stolen, can’t have anything in Detroit.
I've been obsessed with Detroit for some time now and I think the reason is because the civilians have taken it up on themselves to fix the citys issues.
"Delta City: The Future has A Silver Lining"
those roads are racist. they got to go.
the citizens are to blame! the white flight started it all! once that happened it was all down hill! coleman Young was Mr.. Corruption!!
It was around the same time the nuke hit Hiroshima, that democrat leadership hit Detroit. https://chernobylguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/hiroshima_museum6.jpg It just proves that democrats are way more destructive than a nuclear bomb.