Is yours.

Please introduce yourself for the record.

Hi, my name is Tamara Crook.

Mr.

Benson is my uh council district on three.

I'm here because I'm um have concerns about an area, Farwell Field.

I'm very passionate about this area.

Our community is we're the ones that keep it up, keep it safe, make sure the kids get back and forth to school.

One of the concerns that I have is that um I walk my dog.

I see you guys remodeling.

I walk my dog there three times out the week.

Um, I'm sorry, three times out the day.

And during that time, I am unwanted approaches have came.

Um people are uh laudering, smoking, drinking, loud music, partying, and this is a tennis court area, so no one has a rock the racket.

Um it's times I have to avoid that side.

But I have noticed that you guys are remodeling Farwell Field.

Um, I don't know if you guys are accommodating other districts like Sterling Heights or Warren for them to go ahead and um participate in the field.

It's a beautiful agriculture.

I agree, but you guys have made a parking area that you guys, after I'm looking at your phase three that you guys are building, and I'm opposed to it just because I know for a fact that same situation over there by the tennis court where no one is playing tennis, it's gonna happen, and it's in front of our house, in front of where they can see us go in our houses, they can approach us while we go in our houses, our kids, a lot of music smoking.

I was told my mom's here.

I was told if you come with a problem, come with a solution.

My solution is over there by Lightguard Army, that's the plenty parking area.

Thank you.

Yes, ma'am.

So uh it's it sounds like you have talked to Member Benson's office.

No, I emailed them, but they never contact me back.

Okay, I'm not sure.

Uh typically we have someone from the staff that's here.

Uh, hopefully they're hearing uh the voice uh and they can come out now and speak to you, but if you don't mind, uh we'll get leave your information and we'll make sure that we get that information to uh member Benson's office for certain.

And wish you all the best.

Thank you for for providing that information.

All right, sir, the floor is yours.

If you can hit that button in front of you until the red turns green.

Just again advising folks if you're calling in about a public hearing, please lower your hand.

We will have an opportunity to uh get you during one of those public hearings.

One of the four public hearings we have today, sir.

Good morning.

Good morning to y'all.

Blessings to y'all.

Okay.

And I'll just give that the solutions, the main solution to all of the uh economic problems we have right now is gonna be the reparations.

Yeah, uh Judge Matthew started and uh and Mary Sheffield been trying to get and uh she will be mayor no matter who don't like it.

And uh and Mary Waters gonna be up there too, no matter who don't like it.

And uh I just want to also say that world is in trouble, been in trouble because they never did it right by us on reparations like they did everybody else.

And uh time is clicking.

Clock is ticking, time is running out on uh and quiet as people got to it about maybe a few more months in the gut in every nation on this earth, and especially this government gonna be borrowing down because uh the ancestors Mother Goddess and Father God, they all the way way now to watch it all see it happen.

Fall of America and everything unless they want to cut a pull up a little bit about it.

It'll be the fall of America and it only could be forgiven between within the next 90 days deadline January 4th or my birthbirth.

Okay, but anyway, it can only do right by us in order to solve all the problems.

And if they don't do it, guess what?

We just don't need to be able to be forced to do it.

So thank you so much.

I appreciate you.

Good morning to you now and know that blessings and be on y'all and cursed, don't be on those that blessings to you as well, sir.

But we do have to move to the next speaker.

Thank you so much.

Brother Cunningham, the floor is yours, sir.

313, 444, 9114, 313, 444, 9114.

313, 444, 9114.

That number was made so you can remember it.

And on Facebook, not enemy.

Two words, not enemy.

Thank you for the holy handshake.

A couple days ago it was a surprise.

Holy Ghost handshake, we used to call it, and it was filled with $100.

And that we take a little time off so I could um uh canvas.

Um flyers were provided for last night's mayor meeting by the city of Detroit, uh, Keith Butler.

And I took those, went across the street to the grocery store and spent about an hour and a half and got some new people that didn't even know the meeting was happening to come on across.

Also, he said the mayor said verbally that uh PR Transit, uh, they're gonna try to have PR Transit be free as well on election day.

It should be the fixed line and Pair Transit.

Um my cash up is that 313-444-9114 number and to contact me.

Um I was sitting waiting on doing public comment, and GSR's office gave me some more hand warmers to give out.

It's cold in the morning, cold at night.

If I have the energy, I stay up that long.

Um, so with donations like that, uh, for those waiting at the bus, I'm able to take time off to you know, give out the hand warmers, the bus tickets, and etc.

It's a sometimes a daunting task, and there's a lot of needs.

Um, I do appreciate everybody.

Thank you for your support and help.

And let's do another ride along.

Thank you, sir.

Councilwoman Johnson, thank you, Pro Tim.

Thank you.

Thank you for all the work you do as well, sir.

Now, before we go forward, I'd like to call the 1010 public hearing and recess it to the call of the chair.

I will now go to our online public commenters.

Who do we have first?

Uh hey, I'm here in person to give public comment.

I already signed out here.

She her hand was raised online.

Would you prefer her to go now?

We'll get to her uh later on.

Okay.

Our first caller is Owner Papa.

All right, caller, the floor is yours.

You have a minute 30.

General public comment.

Caller, are you there?

Good morning.

Through the chair.

May I be heard?

Yes, ma'am, we can hear you now.

Thank you.

Um the reason why we have all of these public hearings stacked on each other, and you, you know, you want to truncate what the people have to say.

Thank you for the minute and a half today.

30 seconds is absolutely ridiculous.

Um the agenda is filled with things that uh, well, Mary Waters has some important um uh resolutions and memos that are important for the people, the legacy people who live in the city of Detroit are being who are being survived.

Gentrification is occurring in aviation subdivision and all over the city.

Um the the gentleman who spoke about reparations.

Uh this this is this is crucial.

We have reverse reparations going on.

Anytime you want to take my my property tax dollars when you owe me 600 million plus and give it to corporations who don't who are not good citizens because they don't hire Detroiters.

It's reverse reparations.

So you want me to give my money to corporations.

You want to take my tax dollars and give them to corporations when I don't have a recreation center in the seventh in the 7th district.

You you guys are diddling while Rome burns.

And what you are doing is a disservice to the legacy Detroiters.

Thank you.

All right.

Next caller, please.

Mr.

Chair, our next caller is Raymond Lozano.

Raymond Lozano, the floor is yours.

You have a minute 30.

General public comment.

Raymond.

Good morning.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Yes, good morning, and thank you for the opportunity to comment.

Um, for decades, folks have come to Detroit from all over the U.S.

and other parts of the world to be part of the Detroit economy.

In turn, Detroit and the U.S.

has greatly benefited from this diverse workforce.

Southwest Detroit has played a significant and welcoming role through its businesses, restaurants, and neighborhood organizations.

Soccer has played a central and meaningful role in many people's lives.

It's been the historically prominent sport and become the favorite pastime from countless people.

Having the new Detroit City Football Club stay uh stadium is a significant tribute to this sport and to be in this neighborhood is a tremendous achievement.

Mexican Town Community Development Corporation proudly supports this development.

Recognize it as a stimulus for economic advancement and long-term revitalization.

The stadium will not only provide city-of-the-art venue for sports and entertainment, but will also create new jobs, attract local and regional visitors, generate increased revenue for nearby businesses, offer opportunities for youth sports and for local partnerships.

This project reflects next on CDC's commitment to inclusiveness, and we look forward to seeing this development become a source of unity and opportunity for generations to come.

I want to thank the city council, the planning commission, and DCFC's co-owners for considering Southwest Detroit as a location for the stadium.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And just again asking for folks if you're calling in about a public hearing, DCFC is in fact one of the public hearings.

If you can please withhold your comments until the public hearing uh section, you will absolutely have an opportunity to speak.

Just trying to get those who have just general public comments about any and everything uh out of the out of the way, so to speak, and allow them to be separated from the individual public hearing.

So again, if you are calling in about a public hearing, just requesting for you to lower your hand and allow for the uh time frame for the public hearing to uh happen before you uh provide your statements.

All right, next caller, please.

Mr.

Chair, our next caller is please answer our questions and serve with integrity.

All right, call it the floor is yours.

You have a minute 30, general public comment.

Yes, good morning.

Are you there?

Can you hear me?

We can hear you now.

Okay.

So I agree that hold on, I got an echo.

Can you please stop the clock?

No matter, we can hear you fine.

You may continue.

Okay.

Well, then give me some time back, please.

So 30 seconds is very disrespectful.

Fred Durha, there's a whole bunch of people really dislike you.

But here's the positive thing.

Last night I got to speak with Miss Andrea Taverna.

I explained to her why speaking fight or flight that we got secretly planned on with North End Landing, that the and that you know, the the developers tried to imply we were racist, even though we're black and white united against it, and that's why we don't like it.

And she said she's willing to have a meeting with us and answer our questions.

And so I'd like to do this meeting in person, not on Zoom, because the down people will like I ask a question, they give me word salad, and then they mute me.

So I'm very appreciative that I got to speak with Ms.

Taverna.

I also just spoke with one of the solar taking victims who has no place to go, told me she got bullied into taking the deal.

And there's this is such a snow job on this solar scam takings when you should be putting the solar on the city's own property.

So hello, when the power goes out, you might actually have some power, but you're just trying to hook up DTE and get a bunch of federal money, and it's absolutely next caller, please.

Karen, next caller is not that Karen.

No, that Karen, the floor is yours.

You have a minute 30, general public comment.

Hello.

Hello.

Yeah, thank you for the 90 seconds.

Um and thank you for your near punctuality.

We're we're getting better.

We're getting better.

If we start earlier, maybe people could get more than 30 seconds.

I think part of the problem is that your agenda is so packed, and you uh you tend to cut what can't be has no resistance, and that's usually the people's time for public comment.

Um I'm praying for the storm victims over in uh Jamaica.

That's terrible.

And if people can, let's let's help them out, send them some change.

Um Waymaster.

The Rainville um I-96 bridges is is scary.

It's scary just to drive over it.

And um perhaps we could get the Waymaster back.

Um, I haven't seen a Waymaster in in decades now, when I think about it.

Now, uh the Waymaster would also help with all of these down in Southwest Detroit, uh, where the trucks run rampant and create um breathing hazards.

Uh, but perhaps if we just concentrated on the weight, we take it these tickets would help to solve some of that problem.

Detroit retirees, we need to be made whole.

We don't want to fast track, we want our money back.

That rhymes kind of like rock with Kemok.

Like I'm going to rock with Kenlock uh during the election.

Uh I'd like you guys remember, you know, first they came for me, and you did nothing.

Next, they'll come for you.

And we'll do nothing.

Thank you for the time.

Next caller, please.

Our next caller is William M.

Davis.

William M.

Davis, the floor is yours.

You have a minute 30, general public comment.

Uh, good morning.

Can I be heard?

Yes.

Okay, I like to start off by saying I also live in the aviation subdivision over in District 7.

And uh, it appears to me, not just in my area, but in other areas, there are too many LLCs.

And these LLCs should not be getting um, you know, property tax exemptions as the primary residents because they people are not living in those.

And the city perhaps they could save enough money if they was to tax them fully, they could help restore the city chart retirees who definitely need to be restored.

Also, uh, I think more needs to be done as it relates to uh looking at I know it's not the main focus of your committee, but anytime you have a white officer, she's a black woman, and they clearly violate a number of policies and procedures that uh that is in place.

That's a problem.

You know, more and more people in this community are starting to act and think that we have an occupying force here because we got more and more young white guys on the forest that has no respect for black people.

And anytime you just shoot somebody and stop somebody for a traffic violation, and you escalate and escalate like that, especially after the person requests the supervisor and you fail to do anything.

So we need to make sure we're not paying to support people.

It's not supporting the people that live in the city.

Thank you.

All right, next caller, please.

Our next caller is iPhone.

The floor is yours.

You have a minute 30 general public comment.

Uh good morning to all within the sound of my voice.

I'm Betty A.

Barner, president of the Soda Elsewhere Black Association, and going to talk today about my think accorder.

You haven't heard me speak on the Fink Accorder for a while, but we are still in need of money for the Pink Accord.

We've had these meetings with the administration that it's been positive, and uh we appreciate it.

Where's the funds?

Where's the monies to uh revamp our thinker quarter?

Uh I want to say kudos to the uh Finco Business Association that was created by Mr.

and Mrs.

Sims.

We're working with them, they are part of um what we are trying now to do to improve Fink Accorder, and they're right on the other side of um thinkal and Wyoming, and they were part of the team who uh helped clean up the volunteers who help clean up the Finkel Wyoming uh area, and we appreciate them.

And so uh I'm so glad to be working with them, and they're serious about the Fink Accorder.

They have other businesses involved, and so we need monies.

Where's the monies?

Uh we've been patient.

We uh want the same type of monies that is being spent on Dexter, uh Mac Nicholas, sure with force.

We here.

Thank you, Ms.

Varner.

Next caller, please.

Our next caller is Miko A.

Williams.

Go Williams, the floor is yours.

Minute 30, General Public Comment.

Yes, hi.

I can't see the clock.

I apologize.

And uh hopefully you can hear me.

Yes.

Yes.

Oh, council member Tate, would you do that uh display you did on Tuesday?

That's an embarrassment.

Why would you do that?

That's what we're going to be treated to in your next council president term, sir.

Come on, man.

You you gotta give us more slack than that for for your outburst.

That was an outburst.

Um moving on, the mayor's as I couldn't get to the mayor's meeting last night.

I wanted to rip him a new um hole in his head for all of his sins and everything he's done to dismantle our city, this divide our city, and continue to uh make false claims and exploit our city for its own selfish gain.

Um let me just say District Five residents, Joanne Tyson.

If you're listening under the sound of my voice, please listen, let's come together and fight for Willie Burton.

Willie Burton really needs help this weekend and on election day against this woman, the establishment has picked.

And uh we got to stand behind someone who stood for us.

All this slander, lies, disinformation, that will end on Tuesday when we come together and select someone who will fight for the people up there on that table.

And um, I believe in us 100%, regardless.

Thank you for taking my comment.

All right.

Next caller, please.

Our next caller is Tyson Gersh.

Tyson Gersh, the floor is yours.

A minute 30, General Public Comment.

Hi, can you hear me?

Yes.

Thanks.

Um, I guess just with regards to item 9.8, um, the BZA fee schedule.

The public record around this thing is kind of crazy.

Um, I don't think there's no record of city council even approving transcript fees at 50 cents a page in 2002 or in 2006.

I I don't think city council ever approved it at all.

Um it also seems that this BCA transcript fee thing prompted City Council to specifically add that the second line of nine uh 507 of the Detroit City Charter that approval of city council shall be required for any changes in any admission uh of a service fee.

Um, like two weeks after the 2010 BZA fee schedule was found to be invalid.

Um council like sent a communication to the Charter Revision Committee specifically requesting that language be added uh to uh with the ra the stated rationale of uh that the issue has arisen in the past that although council must approve charging such fees, the law department has argued that they can subsequently be changed without council approval in order to provide an effective check and balance on executive branch power to charge and modify fees, including giving the public the right to contest increased fees.

It is deemed important to explicitly require council approval of all such fees and modifications, and that precedes the 2013.

Thank you.

Next caller, please.

Mr.

Chair, our next caller is Cindy Dara.

All right, and Cindy Dara.

She joined us in person today.

Do ask for folks to you going to call online, stay online.

Um we're gonna make an exception today.

We have in the past for certain individuals.

A minute and a half, Cindy Darwin.

Um I've been trying to run.

Wait a minute.

Stop the clock a minute.

I'm getting an echo.

We can hear you.

Floor's yours, man.

I know you can hear me, but I can't I can't.

I don't want to hear myself.

Okay.

All right.

Now thank you for not stopping the clock.

All right.

So I I uh tried to run and put my petitions in.

The guy stamped them and uh accepted them on the 22nd of April.

Then I had to go back in 10 days after 10 days.

They said my uh that I didn't sign some paper, they never gave me the sign, so I they didn't consider my petition.

So I wrote in as a writing candidate in early May.

They don't have me down on the list, so now nobody wants to count my votes.

If they I want Mary Sheffield, who's on the Detroit Election Commission with the clerk, the city clerk, and the lawyer for the mayor, to come to a uh count uh Detroit Election Commission meeting and bring that young man who also the same man who who took my petitions also took my uh in early May, right after I found out they weren't gonna put me on the ballot.

I went in for November uh right in, and I also tried to do August, but they said it wasn't on the ballot.

So I want to be put on the ballot.

I've been campaigning.

Here's my campaign literature.

Been passing this out.

I've been trying to get stuff out about approval voting.

Thank you.

That's important.

People are out there trying to put rank choice on the ballot, and it's not as good.

I want you to help.

And also they're doing a petition to receive.

Because you had issues with the issues.

I will tell you if you have any concern, please feel free to contact the Secretary of State.

Our next caller, please.

Mr.

Chair, our next caller is call in user one.

Call in user one.

The floor is yours.

You have a minute 30, general public comment.

Oh, before we go forward, like to call the 1030, excuse me, 1030 public hearing and recess it to the call of the chair.

Who now we'll go to our next caller?

Caller, are you there?

Can I be heard?

Yes, ma'am.

Good morning.

I would like to know James Tate, why this bus shelter on Lynnwood and West Land Boulevard has not been replaced.

You still have glass all over.

That's a safety hazard for the children that go to Northwestern High School.

The field that's on Lynnwood and West Grand Boulevard has not been cut down.

Anytime I ask Mary Sheffield's office, I'm greeted with arrogant, lying, disrespectful attitude from her staff where they even have a problem identifying themselves like Victoria.

When I add all of you all in the emails, I was once told by Tyler, um, they don't pay any attention to that.

So if you can't pay attention to your district, I know you're not gonna pay good attention once you become mayor of this city.

This is a sad shame.

You should be giving us rightfully so two minutes.

I would also end in saying your Rosa Parks Transit Center is not being properly washed down daily.

And I like to know why.

I'd like for your staff, James Tate, to get back in touch with me as opposed to just brushing me off.

Because if I have to keep asking.

Thank you.

Next caller, please.

Mr.

Chair, next caller is phone number ending 992.

Caller ending in 992.

The floor is yours.

General public comment.

Hey Ma, I'm about to go on public comment in the city of Detroit.

Okay, James V.

Tate Jr., your whole fraud, man.

You called Kenita's mother.

Nini's uh grandmother, Anthony Ivory, two times November 23, and told her I wasn't the right representative for the family.

Well, your gig is up.

Now at the age of 14, I did some things.

But in 1980, I was given a name Youngblood, the Brewster Project.

Uh building next door to the social club, right there, John Iron Alfred.

At the age of 17, I was given a name real.

In the backseat of a black limousine at the Charlie Towson parking garage apartment, Charlie Classroom apartments parking garage by Detroit Madam in the back seat of her black limousine.

Uh while we were doing some things.

Did you hear that, Ma?

Now you get to find the whole truth out.

James, you never should have called at that ivory.

Uh Jen Kenis's mother and said nothing about me, but you did it.

So now it's up.

I'm getting ready to turn the whole city of Detroit upside down.

Thank you, Ruben.

Next caller, please.

Our next caller is Melissa Love.

Melissa Love.

The floor is yours.

You have a minute 30, General Public Comment.

So ghetto lack of integrity and no representation to show up late.

Love versus Benson.

Case number 25-CV-13105.

Eastern District of Michigan.

The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 states that Secretary of State Janice Benson, Jocelyn Winfrey, and whoever else must maintain clean voter roles.

I'm Melissa Love never voted, November 2020 or August 2024.

I will not be silenced, and justice will be served.

And respect will be on my name.

I will not stop or be stopped.

I will continue to speak about this evil corruption.

I am here to demand justice representation.

And I am here to collect my share of the pie.

Y'all been still in front.

Yesterday when you asked Callaway, does she not think we don't have other things to do?

But come here to make a comment.

She mumbled under her breath that we don't have anything else to do.

Cunningham, thank you for telling us about the mayor's meeting.

As I had a phenomenal time and met the people I needed to meet, and we're able to say a public comment.

Warrant.

You the best.

And to the officials, no justice, no peace.

Thank you, Miss Melissa Love, and thank you for following that lawsuit, Pete.

Please keep us updated on how things progress.

Next caller, please.

Our next caller is Michelle Lewis Watts, PhD.

Caller, the floor is yours.

You have a minute 30, general public comment.

Good morning.

Thank you for the time.

I wanted to provide some general support for the WMBA potential facility on the United Royal site.

I am a business owner within the city of Detroit as well as a coach for volleyball in the city.

And I know how important it is for our young people to have access to nice uh facilities to execute, to perform, to practice, to be physically active.

And so I'm really encouraged by the plans that I've heard so far around the facility and hope the city council will take seriously uh the opportunity that this presents, not just for sports team, but more importantly, what it's gonna present for the young people of Detroit.

So many times we have to go out to our suburbs to engage in our sports.

Uh we have to organize nice facilities.

So this would be a game changer, uh, particularly for girls who often are denied opportunities uh subtly and sometimes overtly to be able to participate.

So I'm just really encouraged by what could be and what the city council will do some diligence to make sure that this facility will come to tuition for the children of Detroit.

Thank you much very much for your time.

Thank you.

Next caller, please.

Our last caller um before public comment was cut off is Miss Marguerite Scarlet Maddox.

Ms.

Marguerite Scarlet Maddox, the floor is yours.

General public comment.

Yeah.

Yes, ma'am.

Oh man, I miss Maddox.

Your your uh audio is going in and out.

I'm not sure if you have uh are having some Wi-Fi issues this morning, but just wanted to let you know that you may proceed, but just wanted to let you know that we are we're still having some uh issues with your with your audio again.

It's sounding as if you're Wi-Fi is is not acting properly.

Miss Maddock, you are you're going literally in and out.

Uh I do apologize.

Um we're going to try one more time and give you that public comment.

Um, otherwise we're gonna have to move on and allow you to clear up your your Wi-Fi.

But we're we're getting bits and pieces of what you what you're saying.

Thank you.

You may proceed, Miss Ms.

Matt.

We can hear you a little bit better now.

Okay, never miss management.

We're we're we're your your your audio is going in and out.

We are unable to make out okay.

You sound a little more clear just now.

Did you do anything?

We're gonna give you give you a chance.

But otherwise, we're gonna have to move on.

You you may proceed.

Behind we let you.

Thank you.

All right, that takes us to the end of our general public comments.

And we will now like to call back to order the 1010 public hearing.

Will the parties who are participating please queue up?

The 1010 public hearing is a request for a uh obsolete property rehabilitation certificate on behalf of SK Holdings LLC in the area of 3642 and 3651 Oakman Boulevard.

Detroit Michigan, in accordance with Public Act 146 of 2000.

Well, the parties were participating.

You see yourself on the screen.

Please introduce yourselves for the record.

Justice Cook, Housing and Revitalization Department.

Morning.

I'm sorry.

So polite.

KC Jackson, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation.

Lake Sha Barcliffe LPD.

Morning to you both.

So all three of you, rather.

You may proceed.

Thank you.

To the chair, SK Holdings LLC is requesting the absolute property.

We have the rotation certificate in the area of 3642 and 3651 opening boulevard.

This application is for a certificate, and this is the final public hearing currently scheduled in front of this honorable committee before a certificate may be approved or issued.

All right to turn it over to my colleague Casey Jackson.

And if you have any other um questions or concerns, the developer is here to answer.

Thank you.

We're gonna be looking we're searching for the developer because we don't have that individual before us.

That's his name.

Yep.

Mr.

Jeff, just good morning.

I'm on.

This is Shocker Man.

I'm the developer for Grand Oak Apartments.

Morning.

All right, Miss Jackson, the floor is yours, ma'am.

You uh have permission to share your screen.

Thank you.

All right, I'm here today with Shocker Mans of SK Holdings requesting the approval of an Oprah obsolete property rehabilitation certificate for his project located on Oakman Boulevard.

Um, shocker will get into more details about himself, but he's been um helping to revitalize the city for a while.

Um, however, this is the first of this scale of project for him in residential.

Um, he has completed some projects in the city on the commercial side.

Um, there are two that he will uh speak of uh later when he gives you some more information about himself.

The project is located at 3651 Oakman Boulevard, and it consists of eight residential units.

Um there are two one bedroom units at uh 510 square feet, and then um they run at a thousand sixty-five dollars per month, and then there are six two bedroom units at 670 square feet at 1,279 per month.

Um, the total redevelopment cost for the project is 1.4 million dollars, and the building was vacant.

Um, shocker can give you more details, but it sat in disrepair for a very long time.

Um, and so now he is uh renovating it to a level um that includes uh rooftop solar geothermal heat pumps, energy efficient appliances, uh, Wi-Fi and free parking for residents.

And just to give you an idea as far as the rents, that's 60% AMI, so somebody who's making about $19 an hour could afford to live there.

Um, just to break down why this incentive is necessary.

Um this project simply wouldn't be feasible without it.

Um shocker has been working on this for over he's been acquiring the the property for a while.

He'll tell you that, but he's been working with the DEGC for over a year, and the reason he is able to finish the property at the level that he is is because of the heavy amount of grant funding that he was able to secure in order to make it happen.

So typically we do not see this type of grant support in a project, but all the stars aligned to help make it possible.

But he has 43% debt, 47% in grants, and then his 10% in equity.

Um he is currently under construction right now.

These are pictures of what the project looked like beforehand.

And after he makes this investment, it's anticipated that those taxes are going to increase to about $30,000 a year.

With the Oprah, it's absolutely necessary to ensure the feasibility of this project.

It will reduce the taxes to about $15,000 per year.

And so Shocker is going to keep paying the $5,000 that he pays, but he will have an increase.

But the tax abatement is the project doesn't work at full avalurum tax with no support.

So we are here requesting the approval of a 12-year term on the Oprah certificate.

And out of this development, there are eight construction jobs and one permanent job.

And the total net benefit is $67,404.

And the value of the abatement over those 12 years is 104,921.

So the project has been reviewed by the assessor's office, and it was confirmed that it does meet the eligibility for this Oprah.

You guys may not remember, but this came to you at the top of this year in January to establish the district.

And so now he is here requesting support.

And the developer is here to uh have a couple words and answer any questions that you guys have.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Demands, the floor is yours, sir.

Yeah, may I share my screen?

Yes.

Oh, good morning again.

My name is Shocker Mans.

I'm here to present the Grand Naval Compartments at 364151 Oakman Boulevard.

A little bit about myself before we dive into the project.

I'm an electrical engineer, certified energy manager, and I'm a licensed residential builder.

I've worked for all facets of business, whether it's federal, private, or local.

Over that my 15 year career as an engineer, I adopted a philosophy known as the triple bottom line.

Understanding bottom line is typically profit.

The triple bottom line includes people in planet.

If you solely focus on profit, people in planet often suffer.

I have a slide here that shows my accomplishments, but what I want to point out is that strategy, behavior, and market conditions is what drives those accomplishments, and I'll share how that is applicable to not only any industry, but but this particular development.

These are some of the supporters and resources that I'm using on this project.

Many of them, I would say a majority of them are either Detroit residents or headquarters are in Detroit.

The project is located in the district district 7, West Detroit, just blocks away from SF areas, Narden Park and Russell Woods and the Dexter Corridor.

Originally developed as a part of a three-building development known as the Grand Oak condominium.

The subject property fell into disrepair, scattered ownership without a functional HOA.

We began purchasing the units mainly through tax auctions since 2017.

I plan to operate the building as apartments at a 60% AMI under a gross lease model.

The building was beautifully constructed originally.

The only changes that I'm making would be a door to connect the two basements and opening the kitchen to the rest of the living space to create a more open feel.

But the star of this slide here are the building amenities.

We're offering all inclusive rent and utilities, water, HBAC and electric, bonus amenities, laundry, Wi-Fi, and all-street parking for all eight spaces.

Continuing on the design, we're offering a modern and timeless design, solid surface countertops, tile walls, floors and wet areas, refinished the existing hardwood floors, four-piece kitchen appliances, and we're going to use lighting, accent paint, and textured materials to create an elevated feel.

The building is located in a desirable area, is surrounded by a lot of amenities and other uh investments.

I'll name just a few here.

The 30 million dollar Union Carpenters and Mill Right Skill Trade Center.

That was completed in 2022.

The Joe Lewis Greenway is within a seven-minute walk.

You can actually see it from the porch of this development.

Public transportation is plentiful with I-96, Davison, Livernoy, and Grand River and public safety just around the corner, less than a mile away with the 10th precinct.

My market analysis for this project, you'll see two comparables there to triplexes recently remodeled at 55% AMI.

I'm targeting 60% AMI affordability.

The area's natural according occurring affordability is 45%.

And what we've seen here that's driving the rent prices up is that the it's the success of the SNF areas.

So in SNF Area 1, 65% of the uh the residents have a perceived um property value increase.

Um the same thing with SNF area two, 43% of the residents there have a perceived value property increase.

But what's important here is that 29% of non-SNF areas also have a perceived uh property value uh increase.

And what I want to do is complement that continue to complement the success of the SNF areas.

The other point that I want to point out here is that these two developments, the the two triplexes, they're only offering water as an amendment as an amenity.

What I'm offering here is cost certainty.

I'm offering um attractive amenities with Wi-Fi, central air, and laundry, all for uh a non-variable level cost month to month for for the tenants there.

So, as I mentioned before in the first slide, uh my success as an engineer based uh was based on having a strategy, um behavioral changes, and understanding the market conditions.

So, what's the strategy here?

It's to expand affordable housing.

I read the Michigan State Hop Statewide Housing Plan, also the Detroit Housing Plan.

Those two plans have overlapping concerns.

One of which that stands out in the statewide housing plan is that 47% of the housing stock within the state of Michigan is old pre-1970.

This development was created originally in 1965.

Forty-eight percent of the renters here in the state of Michigan are cost burdened.

And for the state, we're at 190,000 housing units short.

So through my adopted triple bottom line principles, we plan to develop affordable, comfortable, and sustainable housing, enhance the community and bridge the digital divide, all things that were exacerbated during the COVID pandemic, and we plan to provide high quality living.

So, how do we propose to do that?

Well, with behavioral changes.

We we can't continue to build the way that we're building.

We have to build beyond minimum code.

And I like to tell people that I'm not a uh remodeler of uh existing structures.

I build better thermoses, understanding how thermoses work.

Uh, you pour something hot and cold into a thermos, it will remain hot or cold for up to 30 hours.

And that, my friends, is the basic definition of what's called the passive house design concept.

So building beyond minimum code, we plan to reduce energy demand by creating a tight building envelope, climate appropriate insulation, eliminate thermal bridging, minimize heat transfer with high um performance windows and doors.

And what the Department of Energy says is that if you do those things, in a re energy reduction saves up to 30 30 percent.

Umce you save 30% just on insulation through energy reduction, you add renewable energy sources like geothermal or solar, and you save even more.

So this graph here shows that adding um solar rooftop solar to this property uh will save annually $5,000 a year on electricity savings.

So we're leveling fluctuating costs for a more predictable monthly bill.

And what we know in Detroit is that the winter time it gets cold, your gas bill goes up.

So it doesn't matter what your um affordability of rent is when your next bill would be food or utility.

So this here is a way to level that cost of utilities year after year.

Mr.

Mans, uh, before you go forward, I would like to recess the 1010 public hearing to the call of the chair, like a call to order the 1050 public hearing and recess it to the call of the chair.

We are now back at the 1010 public hearing, Mr.

Mance.

The floor remains yours.

Thank you.

So the next step is market rationale and understanding market conditions.

So the inflation reduction act is a market condition that we can is an advantageous um condition that we can take advantage of in redeveloping.

So inside of the IRA, there's an investment tax credit increase of 30%.

Um there are also environmental justice adders, low income community 10% affordable multifamily tenant, 20%, and low income community solar, another 20%.

So these tax incentives are stackable and they can cover up to 70% of the total project costs, but there's more.

So modified accelerated cost recovery system, also known as Macers, allows for an accelerated depreciation.

So when you're developing properties in this format, you're allowed to depreciate 27 to 30 years.

This accelerated depreciation allows me to depreciate this property over a five-year period.

So what I'm telling you here is that developing with energy efficiency in mind positively impacts the bottom line immediately and over time.

Um project engagement since 2017, we have conducted a stakeholder analysis to gain a better understanding of population trends, incomes, family composition, local businesses, neighborhood associations, and other characteristics that which I explained in previous slides.

Met with neighbors and other multifamily owners.

We've presented to the project to District 7 meeting uh in February.

We've attended the Russell Woods Sullivan Area Association meeting.

From these meetings, we were invited to attend other community meetings within District 7, and we've discussed this project on the Detroit-based podcast.

In conclusion, I'd like to say this project again is heavily funded through grants, including MEDC, Building My Community Grant, the DEGCC grant and Capital Impact Partners EDI project grant.

However, without the support of council and the Oprah tax abatement, this project is financially infeasible.

Please accept my request to establish an obsolete property real rehabilitation certificate for the Grand Oaks apartment apartment project.

Thank you.

Good morning.

You have before you SK Holdings, LLC seeking a Oprah certificate for the redevelopment of 3641 and 3651 Open Boulevard for a two-story residential building.

SK is a um real estate development company that focuses on restoring distressed properties into energy efficient structures.

The founder Shocker Mans is an electrical engineer as he indicated with over 15 years of experience in the water and um power utility industries.

The subject property was built in 1965 and is identified as building B of the three building development known as Grand Oak Condominiums.

The buildings will be maintained as an eight-unit residential development.

And over the last decade, SK has acquired ownership of all eight units of the project.

The plan is to rehabilitate the units utilizing sustainable methods, including energy efficient appliances, geothermal heat systems, and solar and solar rooftop.

The building will undergo comprehensive renovation, including placement of all major systems, plumbing, mechanical, electrical, new kitchens and bathrooms, winter replacement, and space reconfiguration.

All of the eight units of the development will be affordable for households at or below the 60% AMI.

The estimated capital investment for this project is 1.4 million.

The sources of funding for this project is through owner equity grant funding and permanent financing.

It is also estimated that the complete project will create one developer job and eight temporary construction jobs.

The total value of this 12-year Oprah tax savings is 204,798.

Based on the investment in jobs, this project is estimated to provide the city of Detroit with a net benefit of $67,404.

And with all the unpacted taxing unit units combined, the net benefit of 160,734 over the 12 years of the Oprah tax abatement.

And that concludes our presentation.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Um and good morning.

Thank you for the presentation.

I know the last time the presentation was before us, I was impressed.

I am even more impressed today.

Um I appreciate you sharing additional details.

Um, I will say that you know, we recognize that development in the city of Detroit is difficult.

Um, I think you have taken on that challenge and you have exceeded my expectations for sure.

Um, I have just confirmed with my team that we have your contact information because we will be reaching out to you.

Appreciate everything that you're doing, and at the level of AMI that you're doing it.

Thank you so much.

Yeah, thank you, uh, Member Johnson.

And I recall the uh kudos that we gave him at the table.

Um, and to your point, uh, seeing it even more flushed out today is even more impressive.

So appreciate you really touching on a number of the issues that come before us, and it seems like it was well thought out.

You know, um sounds like you've been working on this for a long time, right?

Was it prior to 2017 or did it start in 2017 engagement?

Started 2017.

That's a long time to get to this point.

So that really again shows the uh benefit of you know, trudging along and and getting to know the community, not expecting anything that um is not on is that's not realistic.

Um and also providing a plan that makes it real easy for at least for me to support it.

So I thank you for uh the work that you've done up to this point.

Do you want to uh just ask a very uh I have the answer, but I just want to make it plain for the folks who are watching, seeing that this is a public hearing.

It does not appear that you've changed the floor plan at all.

It sounds like from your comments and what I saw, only two changes to a stairwell and something else.

Is that correct?

Correct.

No changes.

There will be a doorway possible that they may not be permanent or not that connects the two basements, could be because they're they're separate now.

And then the only change to the apartment building would be to widen the doorway to the kitchen uh just to generate a more open feel with the rest of the apartment unit.

Okay, and Mr.

Mance, let me ask you this one.

So because I mean you you again very well thought out.

You took the time, uh, community engagement.

Why don't we see more projects like this one coming forward?

I know it was difficult to cobble together all these grants, um, and this is a rare situation where we see this level.

Um, but even if you take away one or two of those particular grants, we're just not seeing the the thought process and the execution that you have thus far.

Why do why do you believe that's the case?

And what do you think we can do on this side of the fence to encourage more developers to be more thoughtful uh in execution as as you have been thus far?

So great question.

I I will say my background plays uh a lot uh in this form of development again.

I'm an electrical engineer, I'm also a certified energy manager.

So um my 15 years as an engineer, I've worked in both the power utility and the water utility.

So I've seen um that side of the fence up front and how that impacts the end user.

I will say development, the the cost of development for this particular project is about 130 dollars per square foot.

So um what made me able to get it that um at that cost is that I'm I'm performing a lot of the work myself.

Other developments are around 250 or 300 a square foot.

Um I would say that the cost of labor and materials are what they are.

So the developer would have to have like uh this as a driving point personally to do that.

What I would suggest the city to do is to align with other organizations that promote this type of development, and I would suggest the uh 2030 Detroit district, which I'm a member of that promotes this this kind of um development.

They created an ordinance, I believe, in November of 2023 to help assist in the tracking of um energy usage within the city, uh, and then uh just uh provide more um funding to help make these things possible because it it's not easy to do.

So a developer would have to have this as um a focal point in their uh desire to to develop in this manner.

All right, thank you.

And uh I know Miss Mannock uh her her her Wi-Fi was acting up a bit, so definitely need to ask a few questions as it relates to ADA accessibility and even um universal design.

The main thing that I want to ask is I know you indicated, and this is a wonderful amenity, the the laundry services, if you will, in each of the the units.

Um are they stacked?

Are we talking about one single unit that does uh washing and drying, or are we talking uh side by side?

So um the building again are it's basically two quad units that shares a basement wall.

So each quad unit will have its own laundry service within the basement unit.

We are providing one single ADA unit, and that ADA unit will have um a laundry service within that unit.

We're still in the developmental phase of what that would look like, whether it's a stackable or side by side, because it's ADA, more than likely it will be side by side.

Yeah, that would be my recommendation because that's what we've gotten uh from many of the advocates that the uh side-by-side works better.

Um would love to talk to you further.

I know you seeing that what you've that seeing the project thus far is very clear that you, you know, thinking uh thinking man and um again, just looking forward to seeing where where we go from moving forward.

And I I look I'm gonna have one of those meetings as well, member Johnson, just let you know.

All right, we shall now go to public comment.

If there's anyone from the public who would like to speak, please raise your hand now.

That is regarding the 1010 public hearing.

If you uh have any questions, comments, concerns about the 1010 public hearing, please raise your hand now, going once, going twice, going three times the collection of public comments have now concluded.

Before we go forward, like to recess the 1010 public hearing to the call of the chair, like to now call to order the 10, excuse me, the 1105 public hearing and recess it to the call of the chair.

We are now back at the 1010 public hearing.

Uh Ms.

Ramsey, how many callers do we have?

And who do we have first?

Mr.

Chair, we have 10 callers online with William M.

Davis being first.

All right.

William M.

Davis, the floor is yours regarding line item five.

Uh good afternoon.

Can I be heard?

Yes.

Okay, I like to say I am very impressed.

Uh, what you may not know.

I used to be the co-chair of University A Cincinnati District Council.

So we did a number of developments in and around the west state area.

And this is the type of stuff that we need to see all over the city.

Well, especially starting here in district center.

We need to expand more of this.

Because you know, we we need, you know, like say Wi-Fi is something that a lot of people in the city chart don't have, and especially if you can include that in the rent, I think this is marvelous, you know, and we need to see more like this.

And especially if you can include that in the rent.

I think this is marvelous.

You know, and we need to see more like this.

I don't need no more time.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next caller, please.

Our next caller is not that caring.

All right, caller.

The floor is yours regarding line item five.

Hello.

Hello.

Yes, I too.

I'm impressed by the presentation.

Um property was built in 1965.

And so I don't think we're going to be excluded from the ADA accessibility.

I didn't hear much about that, except that there's gonna be one unit that's gonna be ADA accessible.

Um so I want to know about if it's gonna be animal friendly.

Um people with animals gonna be allowed to um be in uh interested in these types of property, this type of this particular property.

I'm happy about your solar and your um sustainability features.

Great idea.

I wonder why we can't do more.

Like uh, like you said, Costano, I wonder why we don't have more of these presentations coming before us because that's what we need to be going, uh, you know, leaning towards things that are sustainable.

There are single unit combination washer and dryer um available.

I think that we should start, especially in our ADA um accessible units.

Have just having the one unit that does both.

It may cost a little bit more, but we'll be doing a lot more in the long run.

Now I'm wondering why we say 60% AMI.

I wonder exactly what that cost is when we talk about the taxes, we we give out a dollar amount.

But when we we always just talk about AMI percentage, we never actually spell out the actual cost.

I like to see the actual cost to the renter or the uh property uh who's gonna have the property.

I like to see the actual cost that's gonna be uh charged them.

Thank you.

Next caller, please.

Our next caller is Kendall Kuhnman, Detroit 2030 District.

Caller, the floor is yours.

A minute 30 regarding line item five.

Caller, are you there?

Good morning.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Hi, my name's Kendall Kuhneman.

I'm a Detroit resident uh in District 7.

I'm here this morning to speak to support Shocker's project.

Um, Shaker and I met professionally about 10 years ago and have stayed connected over the years through our work and our passion to restore buildings in Detroit to the highest standard of energy efficiency, electrification, and renewable energy.

Um, not only do buildings like this reduce carbon emissions and air pollution that impact our community, but buildings like this also create healthier and safer spaces where occupants thrive.

Um, I too have experience renovating a vacant residential duplex in district seven, which I personally from the land bank.

Um, the home has found one of the most energy efficient in the city, and it provides two affordable units where the efficiency and electrification brings down the utility cost significantly.

And having gone through a similar project at a smaller scale, I understand that it takes perseverance and going above and beyond to repair a property to the standard and for the benefit of the occupants.

And that's exactly what Shocker has done with this project.

I'm also the executive director of a nonprofit called the Detroit 2030 district, and our objective is for our members and partners to have equal access to the support and resources that are needed to not only reduce emissions in buildings but to reach zero emissions.

Shocker's project not only aligns with the goals of the Detroit 2030 district, but it is a model for how we should be renovating buildings to create a more sustainable built environment in Detroit and we have carbon emission goals.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And Mr.

Clerk, if you can note that we've enjoyed my member vice chair, good morning, sir.

All right, next caller.

No, thank you so much.

Mr.

Chair, our next caller is please answer our questions and serve with integrity.

All right, caller, the floor is yours.

You have a minute 30 regarding line item five.

Let me speak.

Let me speak.

You you can speak.

We hear you.

Oh, you can hear me?

We heard you twice.

Okay, sorry, didn't know that.

Anyway, like people say I'm a no-sayer.

This man and his project is fabulous.

Like really, the city needs to clone this man and put them all throughout city government.

Tell your tell Trisha Stein and everybody else how to do solar.

Like, see, when the general grid goes out, this guy's so smart.

His property will probably have power if the sun is out.

And then he's doing real affordability.

He's looking at other uh options like passive solar things, etc.

This man is fabulous, and I have no problem supporting a project like this.

If it's a man that has this much consideration to do meaningful, sincere community engagement, which it sounds like, and y'all wonder why I'm upset.

That's because we got secretly planned on.

Mr.

Man, you are awesome.

You should show the city how to do solar.

They're using eminent domain right now to take people's property, and they're too lazy andor corrupt to put it on their own property.

I am on topic.

It's very related, Mr.

Tate.

Please don't disrespect my right to speak at public comment when it's very related.

So again, see, this is how they treat me, Mr.

Mann, but you are amazing.

He is.

I agree with this project.

Thank you for staying on point.

Next caller, please.

Our next caller is Owner Papa.

Caller, the floor is yours.

You have a minute 30 regarding line item five well, good afternoon or good morning.

And through the chair, may I be heard?

Yes.

Thank you, young man.

Very impressive.

People say I don't do anything but complain, but I'm saying that if you bring us projects like this, you you won't have all the complaints that I'm giving you.

It's well thought out.

You're you're you're very knowledgeable, and uh I appreciate you and your project, and we should cookie cut what you're doing and uh to to the rest of the communities so that uh they can uh be aware of their carbon footprint and build according to our environment today.

I want to thank you.

I don't have any questions for you except to say that you are a fine young man, and kudos to you.

Thank you.

Next caller, please.

Our next caller is Melissa Love.

Melissa Love, the floor is yours.

You have a minute 30.

Line item five.

I'll bet it's Dan Gilbert, who owned this place.

The apartment's nice with all the amenities, but this is not affordable housing.

I'm sorry, it's not, especially when Casey Jackson said you need to make at least 19 hours when it went in Detroit.

Minimum wage is 1056 per hour.

Us black people need help, and this sounds like it's just benefiting the owner and not the community.

Realistically, the average Detroiter is making 15 hours and won't be able to afford this home.

If we get cheaper rent, we can pay our own Wi-Fi.

Thank you.

Next caller, please.

Our next caller is Cindy Dara.

Cindy Dara, floor is yours regarding line item five.

Yeah, uh, I'm all for this project, and I I miss listening to the comments, but I want to uh recommend people connect with Midwest Renewable Energy Association and Custer, Wisconsin.

They have a uh fair about solar and wind and alternative energy every June.

I used to go to it, I haven't been to it for about seven years or something, but it's uh it's something they might want to check out.

And I I really think that that uh there's if we could do wind and solar and biodiesel and the current and the river, maybe harness some of that to create electricity.

But I would like to see us uh do this, and somehow I don't know how much you're paying DTE uh to buy back energy that we paid to put in when you do these solar farms, but it that sure sounds like corruption, kind of it's uh uh I don't know who owns the stock and DTE, but stay on point on this particular project.

Yeah, okay.

Well, anyway, and also on flat roofs, uh you can do this uh real good ice uh it's uh PVC type of uh there's a real the best one you can put down and then put the 40 14-inch plates and you can make a rack and do it on calling, please.

Our next caller is Michelle Matthews, Michelle Matthews.

The floor is yours.

You have a minute 30 regarding line item five.

Good morning.

My name is Michelle Matthews.

I'm a proud resident of the city of Detroit, Detroit, Council District 4, and a consultant to local community developers.

I supported SK Holdings Grant Oaks project with technical assistance and grant funds in my previous role at Capital Impact Partners.

Shocker Mans is an esteemed alumnus of the EDI program, and I am confident he will deliver quality, energy efficient, affordable housing to the open boulevard community.

I strongly encourage the committee to support the proposed tax abatement for this project.

The support will not only help ensure its financial feasibility, but also advance the city's broader goals of equitable development, neighborhood stabilization, and sustainable growth.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you.

Next caller, please.

Our last caller is Miss Marguerite Scarlet Maddox.

You are going in and out again.

Sounds like your Wi-Fi is having challenges.

You may proceed and see if we can hear you better.

Yeah, Ms.

Maddox, it sounds like we're gonna we're having some challenges today with that Wi-Fi.

If you would like to provide your comments to the clerk's office, we will make sure they go into public record.

Uh but if we're gonna give you another opportunity if you if you would like uh at this moment, otherwise, we will have to go to the next caller.

Um Ms.

Maddox, I I I apologize.

We we we heard you say it sounds like you said hold it all for one week, but we didn't have the rationale behind it.

Um again, if you would like to provide the comments, you can even email us and that gives us an opportunity to review them.

But we're having some major challenges with the Wi-Fi.

Your your your audience literally going in and out.

So we appreciate you, but we we are gonna have to move on.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

Next caller, please.

Mr.

Chair, that brings us to the end of public comment.

All right.

Colleagues, any additional questions, comments, concerns regarding this particular project.

Want to give you a chance to answer those questions as well, uh, Mr.

Mans and uh any of the other uh individuals who would like to provide comments to the chair Casey from DEGC.

I do just want to say um I heard throughout the comments everyone saying that this should be the standard, but I want to reiterate the fact that without MEDC grant dollars, without capital impact grant dollars, without DEGC C grant dollars, the amenities that are provided in this apartment would not be possible at all.

And even with the heavy subsidy that the develop the developer has received, the project still needs tax incentives.

So I don't want um people to, I mean, you can't expect it to be the standard, however, it's not money is not available uh like that to make this happen.

Shocker chose to uh delay doing construction on the building to go after these dollars and went through a very intense and rigorous process in order to make this happen.

So um it's taken a long time to get here and a lot of paperwork to get here.

Thank you.

We still want to see more though.

Um I'm I'm I'm with everybody on the line.

We want to see more projects like this.

If they've got to take the time to do it, um I think it's worth it because you get it a you certainly get a uh a better product, I believe, that works on behalf of the community and get this type of community support is in it is incredible.

So we appreciate it again.

Mr.

Mans, uh, I want to give you a chance to answer some of those other questions.

I know it was a question about what does 60% AMI, how does that break down in terms of dollar amount?

Uh so the state of Michigan releases a report every year that calculates the the AMI, the 2025, 60% AMI by bedroom for a one-bedroom, that's 1136 per month.

And for a two-bedroom, that's 1363 per month.

And again, what I'm including for that total cost is 60% AMI is not only water, which is what is often uh provided in in rents.

Um also providing heat and air conditioning.

Air conditioning is not a normal amenity, particularly outside of the downtown area.

Um offering consistent um rent at that that price.

So you're not going to just pay pay the rent and you have a utility bill afterwards.

Your rent is your warrant, your rent, all inclusive, all utilities, Wi-Fi, parking, laundry on site.

Gotcha.

Um, all right.

Yeah, that that's what you're getting for that price.

Thank you so much.

Colleagues, any additional questions, comments, concerns regarding this particular project, member vice chair.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

I would finally say we appreciate Mr.

Mans and his work.

Uh, obviously, I'm a huge fan of this project coming to District 7.

Uh, very well needed uh in the area that will help uh help it be revitalized.

Uh and he's doing it in an efficient and cost uh effective way uh that will give folks housing.

Uh so I appreciate your dedication to push this project forward.

It is not easy to do it.

I know it is not.

Uh, and some oftentimes not uh necessarily uh cheap to do it either.

Uh but we appreciate the sacrifices that you make in and bringing this project to our district, and we look forward to uh breaking ground or or not breaking ground, but getting folks in there uh in our neighborhoods.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

All right, thank you.

Colleagues, is there a motion?

Mr.

Chair Five.

Oh, pardon me, Mr.

Chair.

I'd like to take line item five, our 10 10 a.m.

public hearing and send the formal with a recommendation to approve.

Thank you so much, sir.

There's a motion to send line item five, the 1010 public hearing, the formal with a recommendation to approve.

See no objections, then action shall be taken.

Thank you so much.

We'll see you on Tuesday.

We now uh close out the 1010 public hearing.

I'd like to call back to order the 1030 public hearing with the parties who are participating.

Please cue up.

The 1030 public hearing is a request for a PA 255 district.

This is for DCFC, uh commercial rehabilit redevelopment district.

And again, this is to establish commercial rehabilit redevelopment district for 420310 Holdings LLC around 2201, 2301, and 2401 20th Street.

Detroit, Michigan, in accordance with public act 255 of 1978.

Well, the parties were participating.

When you see yourselves on the screen, please introduce yourselves for the record.

Justice Cook, Housing and Revitalization Department.

Good day.

Good morning, Brittany Hoskey with the jobs and economy team.

Good day.

Good morning, David Howell D G C.

Good day.

Good morning, sir.

Joe Shukley, pension departmental consultant with the uh development team.

Good day.

Um CEO of DCFC and developer.

Good day.

Good morning, Alexa Bush, Director of Planning and Development.

Good day, ma'am.

Uh good morning, Ed Siegel, uh, DCFC.

Good day.

Good morning, Edwina King, Planning and Development Department.

Good morning, Ms.

King.

All right, who would like to kick us off?

I believe Mr.

Cook.

Floor is yours.

Thank you.

To the chair.

Uh uh.

Go ahead, Just.

Okay.

310 holding LLC.

It's requesting that commercial redevelopment district at 2201, 2301, and 2401 20th Street, Echwart, Michigan.

The legislative body of a qualified local government unit may establish a district on its own initiative or upon written request filed by an owner.

The DEGC and petitioner is present to answer any additional questions.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Let's see.

We've been also joined by our good old friend, Derek Head, Mr.

Head, please introduce yourself for the record and welcome.

Well, thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Derek Hid, D G C.

Good day, sir.

Good day.

All right, who would like to proceed?

Thank you, sir.

So if I may just start with a few comments on behalf of the Jobson Economy team, we want to first thank you for your time today.

And um, what what's before you today is the first in a series of approvals that will be supporting the Detroit City Football Club and their ability to return home to Detroit?

What started as a co-ed neighborhood league at Castec has grown to a professional team with a rabid fan base that supported the rehabilitation of their current home in Ham Tramic.

The proposed project will allow for that momentum to continue to grow with a 15,000 seat stadium in the city, bringing all five professional teams back to Detroit.

On the site today is the former Southwest Hospital, one of the city's most blighted properties.

And with your support, we'll become a hub of activities, including gear-round retail along 20th, affordable housing, and public parking.

The activation is begins to stitch together to uh vibrant communities, Corktown and Southwest.

The project has been informed not just by DCFC's long history in the city, but by Sean Mann's experience as a resident of the neighborhood and nine weeks of community conversations with his neighbors to the city's community benefits process, which we'll be hearing more about in the coming weeks.

So I want to thank uh the members of the planning and economic development committee for your continued interest in this project.

Um and look forward to any questions you may have as once we complete the presentation.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Who would like to proceed?

Uh I would uh uh Mr.

Chairman I share my screen, please.

Yes, sir.

Thank you, sir.

Uh again, David Howell, DEGC, thank you for uh allowing us to present this project uh to this honorable honorable body.

And I'd just like to uh provide a brief overview uh of the project.

Um again, it's a 15,000 seat stadium uh and uh uh 198 million dollar investment, uh 142 uh direct new full-time jobs, uh, and uh uh well just a little north of a thousand uh construction jobs over the 30-year incentive period, uh the fiscal benefit to that would endure to the city uh would be for about 14 million dollars, and uh the construction of the stadium will generate about uh it's estimated that the uh uh stadium will generate about 25 million dollars uh in new annual spending, and that comes in the form of uh uh you know visits to restaurants, uh, and just general activity, economic activity in and around the stadium.

Uh the uh remainder of the project is a mixed-use building, uh which will contain about 421 parking spaces, about 8,500 square feet of retail, and 76 uh apartment units.

Uh the project itself will the developer is requesting a brownfield TIFF, uh 255 uh abatement for the stadium and uh PA210 for the mixed-use building.

We are here today to uh discuss the 255 uh requests for the stadium.

Um project address uh is our 2201 uh through 2401 20th Street.

Uh it is just west of the uh Ford train station and district six, the Corktown is neighborhood, uh, and the site would be on the former uh Southwest uh uh Detroit hospital site.

Mr.

Chair, yes, ma'am.

Excuse me for interrupting, but I've checked with some other people, and we don't remember hearing you call the 1105 public hearing.

Yes, ma'am, I did call it.

I was real.

Okay, well, we all we all missed it.

My apologies, sir.

Yeah, I was real smooth with it.

That's the thing, right?

It worked out.

It worked out, but uh, we did call it Mr.

Clerk is even uh shaking his head, yes.

But thank you for always keeping us on point.

Dr.

Thank you, sir.

Sorry for the interruption.

Not a problem at all.

Uh you may proceed, sir.

Thank you, sir.

Uh I think it's an uh important distinction um to make uh with respect to how this project is being financed as compared to Ford Field, Comerica Park, and LCA.

Uh the uh project that we're discussing today, it will be a hundred percent privately financed uh as opposed to the three stadiums uh that uh have a combination of uh public uh and private financing.

There is a dis again a distinction between publicly supported uh uh uh projects and uh publicly financed uh projects.

So you will note uh Ford Field uh had 47% of its funding uh public which is public financing uh 48% with Comerica Park and 38 uh percent of the funding uh was public funding, which actually means it's taxpayer dollars received up front uh to be able to effectuate the construction of the stadium uh as opposed to this project.

So you will note uh Ford Field uh had 47% of its funding uh public which is public financing uh 48% with Comerica Park and 38 uh percent of the funding uh was public funding, which actually means it's taxpayer dollars received up front uh to be able to effectuate the construction of the stadium uh as opposed to this project again will be privately financed uh and publicly supported through uh if if you know they're so fortunate to receive the uh tax abatement uh and the TIFF.

Again, uh given the unique uh nature of the request uh as it being a uh stadium, I thought it would be beneficial to this body and the uh public to talk just a tad bit about our underwriting um that we use to uh determine if in fact uh an abatement is warranted.

Uh the we use we really review uh four uh metrics, two of which I'd like to discuss today, which is the D uh DSCR, uh, which is the debt coverage, debt service coverage ratio, which is simply a measurement of the uh project's ability to service his debt.

Uh typically lenders like to see a 1.2 debt service coverage ratio, which simply means uh there's a dollar 20 of uh net operating income to service every dollar of debt.

Uh and the returns are simply a measurement of the uh rate of return on the developer equity.

So you will note uh the project analysis without the incentive suggests that the debt coverage ratio is 1.1 uh, which you know is well below what lenders like to see uh and the return is negative.

So with the uh incentives, the debt service coverage ratio is 1.27, uh and the returns are a modest 4.75.

Uh so with uh in fact with the incentives, uh the project meets the generally accepted debt coverage ratio uh and is uh you know eligible uh to be financed.

Like to talk uh just a little bit about the fiscal benefit to the city.

Uh the if you look uh at the far left, you will see if there's no development on the site, uh there'll be about 2.1 million dollars in property taxes uh paid uh to the city after the stadium uh is uh demolished.

That uh equates to about 70 71,000 a year over a 30-year period.

Uh then the column to the right uh illustrates the fiscal uh benefit to the city uh after completion of the stadium.

Um you've got $5.1 million in property taxes, city income taxes of $7.3 million, which is uh as a result uh or derived from uh the new employment uh generated by the stadium, utility users taxes of uh about 900,000 uh miscellaneous taxes and fees uh of about 5.6 million.

When you take into consideration uh the cost of city services uh as a result of the development, uh the fiscal benefit over a 30-year period to the the uh city of Detroit's about 14 uh million dollars, which is 478,000 a year over a 30-year period.

Couple that with nearly 25 million dollars in uh new economic uh related activity surrounding the stadium um and we've got uh so at this point I'd like to uh turn over the presentation to the developer Sean May.

All right, thank you.

Yeah, uh I just uh just want to make it an aware that we still have two more uh hearings moving forward.

So not trying to rush it, but we do need to put a little bit more uh speed upon the presentation uh because we are running low on time.

Um but we want to get to uh an opportunity to ask the questions that are necessary because I know this project will be coming before us from multiple uh requests, which will allow for us to have even more discussion about it.

So we don't have to get everything in in this particular discussion uh because we do have to be mindful of the time uh in our committees that coming after this one.

You may proceed.

Yeah, appreciate that, um, Mr.

Chairman and appreciate Mr.

Howell and uh Ms.

Hoscu's uh intros there.

Um I don't need to guess to that point belabor, but uh this is a very unique process project and I think story, um, you know, uh something that was created by Detroiters and has grown very organically here in the city.

And so um, you know, we've as we've grown, we got to a point where you have an opportunity to build a forever home for uh soccer and for our club.

Um, but as folks who live in the neighborhood uh do in a way they think is uh a stadium project and uh some complementary development that supports the existing neighborhood uh and residents.

And so um you know, with that in mind, we've um you know built out a plan here uh and we are uh just wrapping up the community benefits process of building a 15,000 seat stadium with the idea of taking the old Southwest Detroit hospital that you know I and many of others have lived in the shadows of for the last 20 years um and replacing it with um something that turns a long vacant stretch of industrial area on 20th Street into something that's vibrant and ties together Michigan Avenue and burner.

Um that's creating a vision of building uh residential, all of which is affordable, um, and a parking deck to support already commercial activity in the area, but also what we're building.

And so I guess I would cut the next slide to talk through some of the elements of this and accommodating the 15,000 seat stadium.

Uh you know, one of the big things is how to fit the stadium and have it work in the area.

Uh, we hired WSP uh national consultants with the Detroit office with a lot of experience here in Detroit.

Um they looked at comparable venues of size um in car dependent cities similar to Detroit that would have similar usage to us, and you know, from that we've developed a traffic plan um that complements the parking plan as well um to make sure that folks who are coming into the neighborhood um you know get in and out as easily as possible, but also take advantage of everything that's to bars restaurants on Michigan Avenue and Bagley.

Um, but also the fact that taking into count that uh 18% of our regular ticket buyers live uh here in the city, the vast majority of those folks live within three miles.

And so that was a recurring theme, and one of the agreements we have in our CBO agreement was uh how we would incentivize uh non-motorized transportation as well as transit users, and then even having looking backs to encourage further use if we're not seeing an uptick in utilization from NAR non-car um attendees at our events.

Um David, you want to go to the next slide?

Uh for the parking component, um, the code is to for us to meet 2500.

We've been acquiring land uh adjacent to the stadium that we would own and operate.

But also one of the reoccurring themes that we've heard throughout the process is people don't want to see uh surface parking lots are us necessarily adding a lot more surface parking, like we want it to be dense, we want to complement the existing neighborhood.

So we are also um working with adjacent property owners to have have existing parking to utilize um their parking on our 30 to 40 uh event nights a year.

And with that in mind, uh the CBO agreement that we reached last week reflects that that we would regularly be reporting out on you know our parking, parking that we have under agreement um and doing updates on that uh to the community and also to have a look back on traffic studies once the stadium opens to make sure that we're addressing how the stadium actually operates and how it's impacting um the neighborhood.

David.

Uh another thing we heard throughout the process uh and top of mind for us is how we make the stadium accessible, um, you know, a true community asset.

Well designs, you know, we've been engaged with Detroit Disability Power Um to be a consultant on the project, so that not only meeting ADA um but exceeding that and uh utilizing universal design, um elements that we're corporating into the stadium already include um you know uh audio sensory rooms and our family grandstand.

Um and that carries over also into the um housing um and retail component adjacent to the stadium, which I know we'll be talking about in a future session, um, but making sure that's as barrier-free um as possible.

Uh sustainability uh is a key component.

Uh we are um working actually with Michigan State University uh to implement a first of kind uh system here in the US uh with a grass plane surface, but then also utilizing a water retention system underneath that grass.

It's a system that's been utilized for a while now in Europe that suits itself well here in a tight urban space with the site that we're working from.

So it helps contribute to our water management, storm water management.

But then also feedback that we got from the community during the NAC and CBO process is also an agreement on our part to uh work on waste management and implementing a process for recycling as well as uh uh food waste um and composting uh as part of the uh operation of the stadium on ongoing basis.

Um, in addition to also again developing a ticketing incentive program for folks who come to the stadium via transit are non-motorized transportation.

David?

Um I mean, one of the exciting aspects of doing a project is a scale, uh is obviously the impact it has on the city.

Um, you know, I look back on back in 2018.

Uh we were a uh motor city match recipient uh when we took over and renovated the um city field house here, uh next MLK high school where I'm calling in from.

At that point, we had four full-time employees.

Um we are now at 60 full-time employees.

I'm proud to say that the more than half of them are City of Detroit residents, taxpayers.

Um, and with the stadium, it allows our club to continue its growth, uh, but also uh creates opportunities for year-round retail um that is not just um on our match days, but making 20th Street that active retail district that complements Michigan Avenue and Verner.

Uh and so with that, uh, you know, we have this projected growth, but then also uh construction jobs.

Um we currently have about 200 um event staff, part-time staff with the stadium and scaling up will exceed 500 on an event basis.

And so part of the CBO process, uh, you know, one of the things that we agree to and uh being aware of the industry standards board report that came out uh in the past few weeks is we agreed to um a $17 minimum wage uh when the stadium opens and with um reviews looking back on that as time goes on goes on.

Uh and then also implementing first review um of applicants from the impact zone, adjacent census tracks, uh union neutrality, uh committed to doing jobs fares uh to in the impact zone uh to make the jobs available when they come open.

Um and then uh the steam design itself.

Uh, we've committed to dedicating the um more majority of the retail on 20th Street um on the ground floor of the stadium to a small business incubator, uh doing that a partnership with Prosperous um so that uh Detroit entrepreneurs uh can plug in, get exposure, but then also developing a support system so that we can plug them into concessions in the stadium.

And um along with that, we've committed 200,000 in an ongoing revolving low interest fund, uh loan fund uh to support those entrepreneurs to grow out of that space and into um retail opportunities in the surrounding area.

Uh the CBO process, uh we had uh meeting number nine last week.

Um I think at one point I joked that I'm a soccer team owner, not a developer.

So I think this is my first and only CBO process.

Uh but I think it was uh very unique and uh meaningful in the sense that like living in the neighborhood and seeing uh for a long time now and seeing a lot of neighbors I've known for quite a while, come up and attend and speak and also participate on the NAC, um, which I think gave it a unique um feel and composite composition to it.

Um, and you know, I appreciate the CBO and the NAC in particular for the amount of outreach they did.

I think we saw that and large attendance week in and week out uh over the last nine, 10 weeks here.

Um that shaped um you know the agreement that we reached last week.

Um we had over 51 items that we agreed to in the CBO, um, 46 of which are on the developer, five are on the city, um, just making sure that the stadium, you know, as the best of its ability meets the needs of the residents and short term and ongoing.

Including that is the interest, the small business uh loan fund, uh, as well as a hundred thousand dollar year uh for 12 years uh contribution uh in terms of grants to home repairs, um arts and culture groups and youth groups, um, in addition to ticketing and a whole host of other items, including the building out of the mini pitch and the area adjacent to the stadium.

Um, and all this was part of you know an ongoing uh engagement process that culminated in the CBO, which include generally me personally attending over 50 community meetings with stakeholders in the last year, getting us to this point.

So uh we're excited uh to be moving the CBO process forward and getting into this position here uh to be coming before council uh to help bring the stadium to fruition.

Is that the end of the presentation?

Concludes our presentation presentation, Mr.

Chair.

Thank you.

Colleagues, questions, comments, concerns, uh noting this is the district uh request for this particular uh incentive.

Uh none at this moment.

Member Vice Chair.

Thank you.

I'll just say very quickly, uh, Mr.

Chair, I'd be remiss uh if I did not say that I think this is a really good project.

I'm tired of hearing about it.

Uh Mr.

Mann will know that.

Um this is something he's been cooking since I was back in Lansing years ago.

Um but it to see it coming to fruition uh is very impressive in the engagement that they've had with the community uh as well uh coming out of that process.

Um I think is a very good thing.

Uh that will be good for that community, seeing that he's a member of that community.

But uh it'll be a transformational project, I believe, for the city of Detroit, and uh looking forward uh to seeing uh when that comes into fruition.

So did just want to put that on the record, Mr.

Chair.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, seeing no additional questions.

This is a note.

A first hearing had Mr.

Mann's plural, and this is Mr.

Man as the uh developer.

I don't think we've ever had that.

Just a little note to myself.

All right, we'll now go to public comment.

If there's anyone from the public who would like to speak, please raise your hand now.

If there's anyone from the public who would like to speak, please raise your hand now.

This is on line item six to 10 30 public hearing.

Please raise your hand now.

Going once, going twice, going three times.

Collection of public comments have now concluded.

Ms.

Ramsey, how many callers did we have?

And who do we have first, ma'am?

Mr.

Chair, we have 13 callers.

Our first caller being Kia Mathis.

All right, Kia Mathis, the floor is yours regarding line item six.

Can I be heard?

Yes, ma'am.

All right, thank you.

My name is Kia Mathis.

I'm the house.

I'm on the housing team with the Detroit People's Platform.

I'm calling concerning the development project.

During the negotiations, there was requirements such as traffic plans were categorized as a benefit to community, which just isn't a benefit at all.

Our team is concerned because the discussions yielded little little to mitigate harms that this development will influence.

You know, in the impact area, the unhoused are fed their clothed, there are shelter opportunities.

There's also one K through eight um school that uses a small public park in the impact area.

There's a nonprofit and others who um in part is responsible for decreasing the um the neighborhood violence across the city of Detroit.

The low-income renters are currently in the neighborhood, are currently experiencing development changes and also relocation.

They're all in the impact area.

Yet the negotiations between the appointed NAC members and also the developers, it resulted in one tangible benefit of a hundred thousand dollars yearly for 10 years.

Because of that, our housing team is asking city council to add a multi-year funds into the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

It's a reasonable return on public subsidies.

Without it, Detroiters will pay twice.

One through taxes and again through the rising rent.

I'm also asking that you commit a design of 15% of all residential units and accessible and all other units as adaptable.

Thank you.

Next caller, please.

Our next caller is Owner Papa.

All right, call it the floor is yours.

You have a minute 30 regarding line item six.

Uh good.

Uh morning, and through the chair, may I be heard?

Yes.

Uh he mentioned that uh that he had uh supported jobs.

Um they went from four to six.

I'd like to know the salary of those jobs and if those people who are working in those jobs are Detroiters.

Um you also say that there is no public funding.

Well, anytime you're getting a tax abutment uh abatement, that's that's public money.

But I see public funding amount.

I see uh from the city of Detroit DDA, you get 105 million, uh hundred and thirty-five million from the DDA Wayne County MFS, and then 324 million from the DDA MSF.

Is that public money or is that private money?

Um I'm not sure if uh and also you had a a parentheses around 4.1 million for Detroit's cost for Detroit services.

Is that uh not going to be charged to you?

Is that something that the city is giving to you?

You have parentheses around it, and I'd like to know uh what that indicates.

Um Mr.

Head, glad to see you again.

Um, you didn't say anything, so I don't have any questions for for you, but uh I'm a little tired of all of the development going into uh Corktown in District Six.

We have spent enough of our tax dollars in that area, and now we need to look beyond that, and we need to support uh corridors like uh Ms.

Varner, instead of all of this.

We don't need another stadium.

Thank you.

Next caller, please.

Our next caller is John Sarge.

All right, caller, the floor is yours.

You have a minute 30 regarding line item six.

My bills we can hear you, yes.

Um I live in the uh zip code just out of the CBO.

I've been a supporter of Detroit City Football Club near it's a club that and the people around it that deals the folks around them uh and very ethical, open and uh sharing uh uh process.

If you'd attended the CBO meetings, you would have seen the real attempt to reach agreements among things.

People can't build a new stadium if you look at the fake the figures that were announced earlier without some of these tax that maybe some of these zonal uh additions.

They're also decided to build in an area that will remove one of the last great signs of light uh here in Detroit as you come into the city.

It's always a target of uh things that are going wrong, and it helps the tie to communities together.

I kind of span both of them.

I'm from very familiar with the Bagley Verner area and also familiar with Corkown.

I live off Michigan Avenue to the west of the CBO, but it'll help tie those communities together and get the populations going.

Thank you.

Next caller, please.

Our next caller is please answer our questions and serve with integrity.

All right, caller, the floor is yours.

You have a minute 30.

We like regarding line item six.

May I be heard?

Yes.

I hope we get more than 30 seconds for those massive zoning change hearings.

But anyway, you know, I do support soccer.

I lived in South America.

I saw how important it is, and it's like the I I was ambassador for the World Cup in 1994.

I brought soccer balls to the school I worked at that in Detroit that didn't even have a playground, and subsequently got bulldozed.

Geez, surprised there aren't any more kids, not as many kids in this in the area.

However, I do have a problem with uh uh uh uh the that that this is was a hospital, and even member Callaway said y'all follow the charter sometimes and other times you don't.

Charter Section 7-201.

We don't have a proper health department.

You do this protect the crown stuff, Mr.

Tate, but there are no mental health services that I am aware of being provided by the city of Detroit in violation of charter section 7-201.

I am because this is a foreign.

Sir, you're interfering with my right to do public comment.

This is a former hospital.

This was a former hospital, and this city let Walker Williams be shut down to make it a COVID testing back site.

So I do agree it'd be great to have a stadium, but uh is this the right way?

And are you really listening to the NAC members?

And that CBO thing probably got cheated in.

I wouldn't be surprised.

Next caller, please.

Our next caller is Kathy Schneider One.

Caller, the floor is yours.

You have a minute 30 regarding line item six.

May I be heard?

Yes.

Hi, this is Richard Nordel.

Kathy would be next.

Uh, she's on her phone.

Uh, good morning, everybody, council members.

Uh, I would like to support the DCFC redevelopment district.

Uh Sean and his team has done a great job, and we've been working with them.

We live and own the old Western market in a building right across the street.

We are most affected by what's gonna happen in that stadium.

And Sean has a great plan.

It's gonna be great.

Obviously, the parking needs to be worked out, but eventually it will be because Sean is a great guy and we'll work it out in time.

As you may know, we've been the last 10 years trying to develop our property at 2640 Michigan Avenue, which is again across the street from uh the new stadium.

Uh we are we want to uh put in almost 10,000 square feet of commercial property correct and be a commercial corridor that would be uh combining with Sean's uh different people in the different businesses.

So this is a great project.

We need to have places to shop in the city of Detroit with having a big area and have a critical mass of stores and shops, we will be able to move forward.

So we'll you'll be hearing from us.

You've had heard us for the last 10 years slowly moving forward.

We don't have millions of dollars to move forward, but we will do again.

We support it, and we also will uh take the knack uh and answer the questions that they haven't answered for us.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next caller, please.

Our next caller is Kathy Schneider too.

All right, caller, the floor is yours.

Minute 30 regarding line item six.

Hello, may I be heard?

Yes.

Hello, I am Kathy Schneider, vice president of the Western Corktown Association.

I own two properties on Michigan Ave and 18th, 2572, where I've lived at for 25 years and raised two kids there.

And 10 years ago, bought two 640, which is the land that housed the original Western market here in Corktown, which I'm trying to bring back to the community.

So just look for the big white tent on the land there.

Um but anyway, just wanted to say that I am in favor of the DCFC redevelopment district.

I attended every single one of those community benefits meetings and realized just how important this project is for our surrounding communities in Corktown and Southwest.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Next caller, please.

Our next caller is William M.

Davis.

Mr.

Davis, the floor is yours.

You have a minute 30 regarding line item six.

Uh good afternoon.

Can I be heard?

Yes.

I think the city should be doing more to help to promote the soccer.

When I was growing up, we were playing baseball and basketball, but like my sons that's in their 30s, you know, they grew up with soccer.

I think we need to be expanding the use and understanding of soccer, especially in black neighborhoods.

Um in general, I'm in favor of it, but I think there's going to be problems as it relates to the parking and congestion and also uh you know pollution from the vast number of cars.

I I think that it might have been better in my opinion.

I I'm all in favor of the Southwest Hospital area being uh redeveloped, but I think that's going to be a drag on the community as it relates to parking noise and other things.

So um I'm I guess I would be split on this.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next caller, please.

Our next caller is Todd Scott, Detroit Greenways Coalition.

Todd Scott, the floor is yours.

You have a minute 30 regarding line item six.

Yes, thank you.

Uh Todd Scott, Detroit Greenways Coalition.

And um, I want to applaud DCFC for considering all modes of transportation for the people who will be um attending their events.

Um, it's a refreshing change from um what we've gotten with other um similar organizations in Detroit.

Um, I think it's especially important for them because of Michigan Avenue being reconstructed by MDOT.

They're gonna be improving um the walking and biking and transit along Michigan Avenue.

Um, and I also think that in the future I'd love to see um Ford Motor Company extend the Southwest Greenway um all the way to the stadium.

I think that would be just an amazing connection between uh the stadium and the riverwalk and the new Ralph C.

Wilson Centennial Park.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next caller, please.

Our next caller is not that caring.

Caller, the floor is yours.

You have a minute 30 regarding line item six.

Yes, uh.

Hello.

Yes.

Um I originally had a question about the similarity in names, a man and a man's, but now you've taken care of that issue.

Uh hat how's one of these guys were related?

Um, I think that uh we should rely more less on uh taxes from the uh general public and more on tax entertainment tax.

Um it seems to me that people who use uh a certain venue should be responsible for the financing of that venue.

So I don't think that it's fair, or I don't think that we should, not whether it's fair or unfair, but I think we should rely more on those entertainment taxes to build and sustain these areas.

Um I've never been to either any of the Comerico Park once, and other than that, I've never been to any of the stadiums, yet my taxes are not filtered out in such a way that where I participate.

So I think it's unfair for people who don't use those venues to be responsible for having to help with the taxing part of it.

Um the parking is a huge issue.

If you're gonna have a 15,000 seat stadium and only parking for 2500 vehicles, then even if it was four people in each vehicle, you'd still be 5,000 parking uh positions.

Sure.

So I think we need to do a better look of that, have to try to figure out maybe you could uh work out a shuttle, you know, uh so far away, get yourself a shuttle and rely on the shuttle to bring people in the further the better to keep the uh exhaust room from the city.

Thank you.

Next caller, please.

Our next caller is Clark Park staff.

All right, caller.

The floor is yours.

You have a minute 30 regarding line item six.

Hi, my name is Anthony Benavides.

I live and work in Southwest Detroit, close to the DF DCFC area.

I live in the impact area for the community benefits agreement.

I fully support the DCFC plans to build a stadium and and other amenities in the area.

Uh, this project will be an asset to our community for for our families and just for everyone that lives in the area or in Detroit for that matter.

It will bring vitality and um and also providing jobs and entertainment for everyone that wants to go there.

I'm excited to see that this project uh come to uh come to get approved, and this will be an asset once again for our community, providing you know a professional soccer team and strengthen uh our communities, and uh I think it's just it's a it's a good thing for our our community.

Thank you.

Next caller, please.

Our next caller is Erica Santini.

Caller, the floor is yours.

You have a minute 30 regarding line item six caller, are you there?

All right, let's put that caller at the end of the queue and go to our next speaker.

Our next speaker is Carrie Brainard.

Caller, the floor is yours.

You have a minute 30 regarding line item six.

Thank you very much.

My name is Carrie Brainerd.

I am a 21-year now Corktown resident.

Uh on the edge at six of Michigan.

I'm really looking forward uh to having professional sports in the neighborhood.

I came slightly after uh old Tiger Stadium closed down and didn't have that.

So that was a 50,000 seat venue.

Uh you know, that saw 80 to 100 events a year, depending upon the season and uh the time that it was in.

And I'm just excited and very supportive of the project to have that back in the neighborhood and to see that additional vitality.

I understand the concerns that some people have with the parking with the additional traffic, but considering you know, I-75 and the commuters lie right there.

I think what we'll see additionally from traffic is inconsequential compared to the day-to-day the traffic flowing through, and as far as the neighborhood being crowded or busy, it's that's downtown.

And I think a lot of us who live here are really truly looking forward to having that additional density, the additional events, the additional excitement that comes from that.

And again, fully supportive of the project.

We hope to see everything approved by council.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Next caller, please.

Our next caller is Michael Ransom.

Michael Ransom, the floor is yours.

You have a minute 30 regarding line item six.

Hello, uh good afternoon.

Can I uh can I be heard?

Yes.

Hello, we can hear you.

There let's put uh Mr.

Ransom at the end of the queue, give them an opportunity to clear up the issue on his end.

We'll go to our next caller, please.

Our next caller is Marguerite Maddox.

Margie Manox Scarlet, the floor is yours regarding line item six.

Okay, me.

Yes, ma'am, we can hear you now.

Okay.

We deny anything about the seating area.

Because I travel from different stadiums.

The only stadium.

Do everyone is the man.

Yes.

Well, the other stadiums.

Like this marina.

My question is an open stadium.

Well, it's stadium.

Open stadium.

Oh, closed stadium.

That is it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next caller, please.

Mr.

Chair, we're back to Erica Santini.

Erica Santini, the floor is yours.

You have a minute 30 regarding line item six.

Hi, sorry about that.

Can you hear me now?

Yes.

All right.

Thank you for the time.

My name is Erica Santini, and I'm calling on behalf of Super Val.

We are a business located in Corktown at 2442 Michigan Avenue.

I am calling to express strong support for the DC FC project in our community.

UCFC has been a major driver of community pride and local growth.

This project will help create jobs, boost economic activity, and bring even more energy and opportunity to Corktown and our surrounding neighborhoods.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Next caller, please.

Mr.

Chair, we're back to Michael Ransom.

Michael Ransom, the floor is yours.

You have a minute 30 regarding line item six.

Michael Ransom, are you there?

Going once.

Michael Ransom, are you there?

Unfortunately, we're gonna have to move on.

If you would like to provide your comments to the clerk's office, they will be placed on to public record.

I believe that takes us to the end of our public comments.

All right, we'll give you uh all an opportunity to respond to some of the questions to the questions that were provided by our residents.

The floor is yours.

Uh yeah, no, I appreciate the comments and questions.

Um there was a question in terms of our employment.

We were um I mumble, but we've gone from four uh full-time employees and actual full-time employees in 2018 to we're right around 60 right now, and the average wage uh is just north of 70,000.

Um last count I had 32 of Almore City Detroit residents.

Um, and we look to build on that um with the new uh facility here.

Um Mr.

Scott made the comment about the connections.

Um, so we are you know in regular touch with the city and the folks at Michigan Central um about how to make the site as accessible for non-motorized how um eventually we can get the Southwest Greenway to uh terminate at our site um with the prospect of a rail station next door to the old Michigan Central.

So that's something that's actually top of our mind to make it as bike-friendly as possible.

Um the comment about the 2500 parking spots.

Um so that is city code, but what we found with uh the study, the parking study and track study commission of WSP.

Uh they looked at uh major league soccer stadiums, which have similar uses to what we're projecting in cities like Austin and Minneapolis.

Um that are car-centric cities and their sites are not necessarily transit uh connected.

And uh each of those teams had less than 2500 parking spots.

Um when we say 2500, those are spots that we control.

Um it does not include like ones that are naturally already in existence and open to the public in the surrounding area.

But uh, you know, one of the things that we saw looking at comps and from our own data that we anticipate that 20 to 25% of our attendees are gonna be uh attending games by ride share.

And so that's working with MDOT and the city uh to make sure those pick up the drop-offs are as efficient as possible, and they work with Richard and Kathy and our friends at SuperGuile.

Um, so that people are getting dropped off um down 20th and coming and going as easily as they can.

Um and then uh Miss Maddox comment about the accessible seating.

So yes, the the stadium will be open.

Um the design does uh um have uh 100% canopy over the permanent seating, but the the field is uh is definitely open.

And uh yeah, I mean we are working with uh Detroit disability partners to um make sure that you know we're not just meeting uh ADA, but that the experience goes beyond that in the stadium uh to the best of our ability.

Those were the main question, and we want you to kind of walk us through it and do so in the Cliff Note version because again, we're way behind, but I did not want to leave this item off the table.

It was mentioned that there was no public dollars that were uh assigned to this project.

There was a slide that came up.

You can pull that slide back up and walk through it very briskly um to clear up any confusion uh or to uh clarify any information that you stated.

Yes, sir.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

I think this is the slide in in question, sir.

Yes.

Uh through the chair, of course.

Uh so I think Miss Ms.

Uh Hughes uh question uh the far right column, the public sources or the the public funding sources and called out, I think uh the DDA, MSF, uh Wayne County.

These are again uh the three stadiums are publicly financed.

Uh uh excuse me, uh with the sources of taxpayer money coming from the state, uh coming from the DDA, coming from Wayne County.

Uh those funds are actually taxpayer money, uh, actual cash that anures into the project at the beginning to complete the construction uh of uh that used to complete the construction of the stadiums.

In the instance of a tax abatement, the 255 uh that's being requested today, uh the two fifty-five just uh results in or or actually lowers the tax burden, uh the property tax burden uh to allow for the project to be feasible uh with respect to a tax abatement.

There is no actual cash that annures from the city to the developer.

Again, it's just a reduction in taxes.

Okay.

So I I appreciate that just in in future, just to make sure that it is very clear.

Um I understand what you're saying, but uh I think it's imperative for us to still keep in mind that any reduction in taxes are dollars that could go towards uh residents, uh, but understanding that if the incentive was not put in place, then the project wouldn't have been built.

I think it's always fair just to be honest about, and I don't think you're being dishonest, but just lay it out for folks, make it real plain, make it understood, sir.

All right, thank you so much.

All right, colleagues, any additional questions, comments, concerns regarding this particular item.

Seeing none, is there a motion?

Mr.

Chair move to send line item six or 1030 a.m.

Uh public hearing informal with the recommendation to approve.

There's a motion to send line item six to 1030 uh public hearing to formal with a recommendation to approve.

This is for the district at this point.

See no objections, that action shall be taken.

Thank you so much.

This now closes out our 1030 public hearing.

We'll now like to call back to order our 1050 public hearing.

Will the parties who are participating please cue up the 1050 1050 discussion, excuse me, public hearing is the uniroyal request for uh Uniroyal uh a public act to 10 and this is to establish a commercial rehabilitation district for W Detroit LLC in the area of 6,000 East Jefferson, Detroit, Michigan, in accordance with public act two ten of 2005.

And this is to establish a commercial rehabilitation district for W Detroit LLC in the area of 6,000 East Jefferson, Detroit, Michigan, in accordance with Public Act 210 of 2005.

Will the parties who are participating?

Please introduce yourselves for the record.

And again, uh noting that we are woefully behind because of this schedule that we have today.

So please be brief, be succinct, and be on point.

Justice Cook Housing and Revitalization Department.

Hassan Beidoon, uh group executive of economic development for the city.

David Howell, DGC, Eric Head, D G Crandal Lockhart, Economic Development.

Richard Haddad with W Detroit.

Richard Burr from Honigman on behalf of W Detroit.

Adam Patton, pension environmental consultant on behalf of W Detroit.

Stephon Wilts, W Detroit.

Mr.

Cook, floor is yours, sir.

Thank you.

It's requesting our commercial rehabilitability and district in the area of 6,000 East Jefferson, Detroit, Michigan.

The legislative body of a profile local government unit may establish a district on its own initiative or upon a written request filed by an owner.

The DGC and petitioner is present to answer any additional questions.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Would like to proceed.

Good morning, Mr.

Chair and Committee members.

Uh so again, I'm Hassan Be Doon, the city's group executive of economic development, and I'm here today to introduce and ask for your support on a truly extraordinary project.

So it's it's no secret, Mr.

Chair, that the former Uneroyal site is perhaps the single most challenging site to develop in the city's portfolio.

And that's because of decades' worth of the worst kind of environmental contamination, which is particularly concerning given the close proximity of the site to the Detroit River.

And even after tens of millions of public and private dollars spent to clean up the 42-acre site, it still remains heavily contaminated.

So why has this remained a problem unsolved for so many decades?

It's certainly not for a lack of trying.

The city has explored just about every conceivable type of project, but nothing ever ends up materializing.

And that's because of the economics of the site.

The cost of cleaning up and preparing the site is far too exorbitant for the city to pay for itself, but also for any private development to uh for it to work for any private development, even with public assistance.

To illustrate, look at the recently completed stretch of the river walk on the southern edge of the site.

That project was a mere walking path without any vertical construction on a piece of property just 50 feet wide and less than a half a mile long.

And yet it took over 11 million dollars to complete just because of the environmental hurdles involved.

Now you scale that to a site of over 40 acres with vertical developments, and you'll have an idea of how cost prohibitive this site is to develop.

And that dynamic has led to pie in the sky proposals over the years, ranging from a theme park to a casino to most recently luxury condos.

Uh, because only uses that generate the highest rents and revenues can justify the cost required to privately develop the site.

And that problem self-reinforcing, uh, because the need for such a high level of revenue generation typically means a larger and more intensive development.

And because the way the soil on the site is arranged, compacted and contaminated, remediation costs are essentially proportional to the scale of any development.

And so it's a seemingly impossible problem to solve.

Uh, and that's why no project has ever been able to deliver.

Uh, but instead of continuing down that same failed path of hopes and prayers, last year we decided to terminate the city's decades-old development agreement for luxury condos on the site, and we went back to the drawing board.

And we rethought our approach to Uniroyal and found inspiration in what's been accomplished along the riverwalk, uh, from and uh through the uh new Ralph C.

Wilson Park and up uh the Southwest and Joe Lewis Greenways.

We arrived at the clear conclusion that the Uniroyal site needs to be treated as an extension of the amazing progress we made along the riverfront, and that means more green and accessible community spaces that directly benefit Detroiters.

But that realization didn't change the underlying economics.

And that is until Arn Tellum and the Pistons reached out looking for a site for not just their new WMBA team, but also a new youth sports and development academy to serve the public.

And the more we talked, the more obvious the solution became.

The Uni Royal site was the perfect fit for their exciting vision.

And it's the only proposal I've seen that can truly make the site's economics work.

And that and it does so while transforming it into a community asset.

And so what we have here is is a deal that we structured to advance both their vision and the best interest of the city.

More specifically, the city will lease the south southwestern portion of the site to the WMBA team for its beautiful new practice facility in exchange for the developer remediating the entire site and facilitating the completion of a youth development academy, which will be constructed and leased by a new nonprofit entity on the remaining portion of the site.

And that deal structure allows us to use multiple tools at our disposal, such as the Brownfield TIFF reimbursements and a property tax abatement for the WMBA facility to help offset the remediation costs without the city having to provide any funds.

And because a large portion of the site would consist of low-intensity development like athletic fields and parking, uh remediation costs are more controlled than they would be with a large multi-use or industrial development project.

And critically, that deal structure ensures that there's no situation in which the city would be worse off than it is today.

Even in the most unlikely scenario that development isn't completed, the property returns to the city in a cleaner and more developable developable state.

In some, what you have before you is an elegant win-win solution that checks all the right boxes.

It cleans up one of the city's most contaminated sites that has long posed a threat to the public health and our environment while keeping it as a city-owned asset.

It involves a partnership with a trusted organization that has proven its commitment to the betterment of Detroiters and that has long made good on its promises.

It will help catalyze private investment along the riverfront in the Jefferson Corridor.

It brings another major sports team to the city, and more importantly, a woman's sports team, which will not only bring more economic activity and bolster our unique draws of sports town, it will help inspire and elevate our young girls.

And it provides public green space and programming for youth to train, engage, and compete, and that they can easily access from various neighborhoods without a vehicle through the Joe Lewis Greenway and the Southwest Greenways in the Riverwalk.

And lastly, it helps achieve the collective vision of revitalizing the riverfront and returning it to the people.

And with your permission, Mr.

Chair, I'll tag in my colleague David from the DGC to dive into the requested incentives and the economic impact of the project.

You may proceed.

Thank you, Hassan.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

May I share my screen, sir?

Yes.

I will keep my uh comments very brief, sir, in the interest of time.

Uh just a brief overview of the project.

Uh the WMBA facility uh is estimated uh to cost uh 50 million dollars uh to construct.

Uh there is uh set there are 71 new direct jobs that are anticipated uh from the project, 129 construction jobs over a 33-year period.

The net benefit to the city is estimated to be uh 19 million dollars.

Uh and uh as a result of uh the development of the facility, uh, we're anticipating about 49 million dollars of new annual economic activity uh in the form of hotel rooms, uh uh hotel stays, uh, restaurant visits and the like.

Again, we're looking at uh remediation of the 42-acre site.

Uh the uh WNBA headquarters and practice facility uh is estimated to be about 75,000 square feet.

Uh overall, uh, we uh the uh project uh will request uh to a PA210 and a brownfield TIFF plan.

Uh and today's request is for the uh 210.

Hello?

So the the uh project or the Uniroyal site is located at 6,000 uh East Jefferson is in District 5.

The neighborhood is Rivertown.

Uh and of course, uh we are looking at the former Uniroyal site, which is just west of the Bell Isle Bridge.

It's a tad bit of history on the site, uh heavy manufacturing from the late uh 1800s through 1980.

Um 1980, Uniroyal ceased operations.

The rem the last remaining building was demolished on the site in 85.

Uh as uh Hassan just indicated, there's uh significant contamination at the site.

Uh, and it's been uh dormant for about the last 45 years.

Uh, and as he indicated, the uh redevelopment uh efforts uh of the past have been very challenging.

The uh two incentives requested today, or or the two incentives uh overall are again the uh PA210 and the Brownfield Plan.

Uh, we are here uh to discuss the uh request of a PA210.

Uh, it provides uh reduced tax rate on the value of commercial improvements, uh, and it is up to 10 years.

Of course, all incentives are performance-based and contingent upon the project being completed.

The Brownfield TIFF uh captures incremental tax revenue uh to reimburse eligible project project costs uh and could last up to uh 30 years.

The uh fiscal benefit analysis that I'd like to present uh indicates on the far left, you will see uh given that the site is publicly owned.

There is no fiscal benefit to the city uh uh again because it's publicly publicly owned.

Uh, after the construction of the WMBA facility, uh, we're looking at the uh estimates suggest that the city property taxes will be about 2.4 million city income tax nearly 17 million.

Uh 200,000 in utility users taxes and about 540,000 in miscellaneous uh taxes and fees.

The cost of city services uh is deducted from uh the revenue uh sources, and we're left with uh a projected net fiscal benefit uh to the city of again 19.4 million dollars.

The cost of city services is uh encompasses things like uh added police and fire uh costs uh related to the uh development uh of the facility.

So again, the uh today uh no fiscal benefit to the city, and we're looking at about 588,000 uh a year over the 30-year period.

And just to reiterate uh the projections of about 50 million dollars uh activity, economic uh activity generated by the construction of the facility.

So now I'd like to uh pass the presentation, Mr.

Chair, uh, along to Rich Haddad.

You may proceed.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair and committee members.

I'm honored to be here with this team on behalf of the ownership group behind our efforts to bring a WNBA team to the city of Detroit and to facilitate the development of a youth sports academy that will serve the children of this community.

We were recently awarded an expansion team by the WNBA.

It was a very competitive process where we beat out 15 or more other cities.

We're thrilled to be in position to bring this to Detroit, and we're planning to start play in 2019.

This facility is a necessary piece to our plan to bring this team to Detroit.

And our goal with this facility is to develop a first-class state-of-the-art facility that allows us to compete with other WNBA teams, but also serves this community as an asset that's open to and adds value to this community.

Our vision here is to develop this as the same type of community asset as we did with the Pistons Performance Center that serves as our headquarters and training facility for the Detroit Pistons.

The broader vision here includes the development, as Hassan said, and as David said, of a youth development academy and a facility to serve the public and the community that will serve as a destination to bring visitors and generate economic impact and activity across the city of Detroit to serve as a hub for youth sports and give schools and philanthropic organizations the ability to field and support teams and give kids an opportunity to participate in sports that they wouldn't otherwise have access to.

David, would you mind going to the next slide?

And as we put this development vision together, our vision here is to create what's going to be a vibrant hub for youth sports and for women's sports that serves as a community asset that generates economic impact and activity for the betterment of the city and its residents and transforms what's been a blighted property in a way that helps to complete the riverfront and returns and opens this part of the riverfront to the community.

Next slide, please.

So you'll see here our current site plan.

It includes a 75,000 square foot building for the WNBA facility and a hundred thousand square foot building for the youth development academy.

The youth development building will include eight basketball courts, which convert into 16 volleyball courts, and the rest of the site would include six outdoor athletic fields and a total of 875 parking spaces.

160 of those spaces will be dedicated to the W facility, and the remaining 700 plus would be dedicated to the Youth Development Academy.

And as we've worked with our architects and planners to develop this site plan and this vision, we focused on maximizing pedestrian access, maximizing the connection to the riverwalk, and also integrating this with the Joe Lewis Greenway.

We've also engaged a traffic consultant to ensure that we minimize and mitigate any disruptions to traffic both during and after construction.

Next slide, please, David.

And Hassan and David both touched on the environmental conditions and the history of this site.

I won't go through all this in detail, but as we've worked to assess the viability of this site for our purposes, we've spent a lot of time and effort and money to get our arms around the site conditions and the work that's necessary to make it viable and safe for the type of development that we are planning here.

We did all of that to make sure that we go into this with our eyes open and we're prepared and committed to remediate this in a way that makes it 100% safe.

Safety is going to be our absolute priority on this, and we've taken great efforts to make sure that's the case.

Next slide, please.

And just to quickly touch on universal design, we're committed to designing this and developing this in a way that maximizes accessibility for all.

We plan to exceed all ADA requirements and to incorporate universal design principles through every aspect of this project.

And on the next slide, the same goes for sustainability in the interest of time.

I'll move quickly through these, but we're focused on sustainability in every aspect of this development, and that's going to be the case throughout.

And if we go to the next slide, as we've engaged with the philanthropic community organizations across the city of Detroit, as well as public schools and charter schools, we've been blown away by the positive feedback that we've gotten.

We see that as reflective of our commitment to develop this in a way that's transformative for kids in and around Detroit.

And I'll pass it to my colleague Stefan to speak a little bit more about the engagement that we've done and the feedback that we've received.

Yeah, thanks a lot, Rich.

And Mr.

Chair, thank you so very much for your time.

It's been a great uh process in engaging with the community as you see in front of you.

This is just a small sample size of some of the organizations that we've gotten to engage with.

Uh, one of the things that we know in the city of Detroit, based upon the feedback that we've heard is that yes, there are sports opportunities and athletic opportunities in the city of Detroit, but based upon what we've heard from the YMCA, what we've heard from Detroit PAL, what we've heard from uh the boys and girls club, and the list goes on and on, the Detroit Public Schools, charter schools, homeschools.

There still isn't enough space-time, uh, people and resources to field teams, especially within that kindergarten and eighth uh kindergarten through eighth grade range.

Uh, and so we're really focused on that.

Uh, and they believe through an opportunity like this, this will help support many of the challenges that they're having uh as youth sports organizations.

Uh, as we go down, you continue to see some more engagement that we've had.

Uh, like I said, uh, we can go to the next slide, David.

So say that uh, you know, it's the the engagement has been overall positive from the community from uh local uh uh community organizations to small businesses.

The list goes on and on.

Um, you know, we've had great conversations with our friends at the Broadhead Association uh with Chip Roadie, uh Detroit Disability Network, excuse me, Detroit uh disability Detroit power, Detroit Disability Power, excuse me.

Uh, we had a great conversation with Dessa about this opportunity as well.

Uh and so we're gonna continue to make sure that we have engagement throughout the city and continue to gain feedback because we do believe feedback is a gift.

Um so if we go to the next slide, you'll see some of the meetings that we have that we've had, but also there's some meetings that we have that are already baked into December, January, and February.

So we're gonna continue to keep going with this momentum uh to gain feedback and to draw up interest and get that uh you know, get that really uh big buy-in from the community as well, too.

So we're extremely excited about it and thank you for the opportunity.

Mr.

Chair, that concludes our presentation.

Okay.

Colleagues, any excuse me, uh questions, comments, concerns regarding this particular item.

Mr.

Clerk, if you can note that we've been joined by Member Benson, he is lurking in the room.

Mark Wilson.

All righty.

Member Johnson.

Uh, thank you, Mr.

Chair.

I know we don't have a lot of time.

Um, and so I just want to put these two questions out there.

Um, perhaps for a future discussion as it relates to the environmental uh contaminants that are on the land.

Um I'm really interested in the capping process and what entity has approved of that process for it to be safe to um develop on.

Um it's something that we recently did in District 4 in one of our parks, and I'm just interested in knowing um the entity that has approved of that.

And I'm wondering if anyone knows if the capping, if the material prevents any contaminants from leaching into the new soil that is put um down after it has been capped.

So my understanding is that there are I believe two feet of material that's removed, a membrane is put down, and then clean feel is added on top that then allows for any development to take place on the clean feel.

Um just curious to know who who approved of that as a way to address contaminated soil.

I know we have contaminated soil throughout the city of Detroit, uh, some worse, some areas worse than others.

Um and then the other question that I wanted to inquire about was the nonprofit organization um that will work in tandem with I'm not sure if it's W Detroit because that one kind of threw me off as wheel.

Um with W Detroit or the developers to facilitate the entire project.

Those were the two questions that I had.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Thank you.

You may proceed with responses.

On the first question, I'll ask Adam Patton, who's our environmental consultant to respond to that.

Yes, thanks very much.

Uh your description of the remediation and the capping process is very accurate.

Uh that process uh is one that is rooted in uh existing Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy Guidance, and follows specifically their capping requirements.

Uh the soils that are going to be placed on the site will be tested to be clean before they're brought in.

And that demarcation barrier, that membrane that you had mentioned, actually provides not only separation, but it it really makes sure that everybody understands what exists and what that clean fill that's placed in top is and where that boundary is.

So there's no opportunity for intermixing of that particular material relative to approvals, uh, due to the involvement uh specifically of uh the 210 and the 381, uh the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, uh excuse me, Eagle, uh uh ultimately will be reviewing and approving all of the activities at the site.

Thank you.

Okay and Councilmember Johnson through the chair on your second question, there will be a uh separate nonprofit entity that will develop and own and operate the youth development academy.

And work in collaboration with uh WNBA team and entity on remediating and developing the entirety of the site.

Thank you.

And through you, Mr.

Chair, Mr.

Haddad, is that an entity that has yet to be formed?

Um, or do you already have an idea of what entity that will be?

Yes, it's the former, it has yet to be formed.

Okay.

All right, thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Thank you.

Just a question.

Uh I I know there's been some debate question, concern, investigations about dirt.

Uh where do you plan to source your clean fill from?

Has that been determined to the chair?

Yes.

That has not been determined at this point in time due to the volume of material, but we will be sourcing it from likely a variety of places, but as I've mentioned before, it will be tested and documented to be cleaned before it's imported.

Okay.

Colleagues, any additional questions, comments, concerns before we go to the public?

Seeing none.

If there's anyone from the public who would like to speak, please raise your hand now.

If there's anyone from the public who would like to speak, please raise your hand now, going once, going twice, going three times.

Collection of public comments have now concluded for line item for line item seven, excuse me, the 1050 public hearing.

Um Ms.

Ramsey, how many callers did we have?

And who do we have first?

Mr.

Chair, we have eight callers with Todd Scott, Detroit Greenways Coalition being first.

All right, Todd.

Scott, the floor is yours.

We have a minute 30 regarding line item seven.

Thank you very much.

Yeah, so uh my question is will uh there be um a trail easement maintained along the former Conrail Rail Corridor.

That rail quarter ran um from the river uh north.

Um there is a currently a culvert underneath Jefferson uh that DPW installed with the anticipation that there would be eventually be a trail here.

I know there are some um private land issues north of Jefferson, but um over time we hope to get those resolved.

Uh but south of Jefferson, we'd like to see a uh trail easement maintained so it we could better uh connect the community to this new facility and make it so that people can get to it without having to cross um Jefferson.

They could just go underneath the tunnel, similar to what's done with um the Southwest Greenway in Fort Street.

Thank you.

All right, thank you.

Next caller, please.

Our next caller is please answer our questions and serve with integrity.

All right, caller, the floor is yours regarding uh line item seven only.

Yeah, good afternoon.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Thank you, Mr.

Tate, for uh asking about the dirt since we have these dirty dirt problems since Guyanga allegedly got caught putting dirty dirt in the holes.

But so on that note alone, I would say hold off this project until you know exactly where they're gonna source that dirt from.

I also uh second the emotions of that last caller.

There should be a public easement to go in front of it.

I've been multitasking here, but I would also like to know what public access will people have to that because if this is like uh recreational facility, etc.

Would it be part of the rec department?

Can we all access it?

Since like district seven still doesn't have a rec center, yet you would go ahead with this.

So again, I would say do not advance this.

Not saying that you know it's not a creative idea, but do not advance this until you know exactly where the dirt would be coming from.

You don't want to allow another dirty dirt problem, and who cares what the paperwork says, you gotta actually test the dirt before it goes there.

So please, like there's litter all under the soil all over the city.

People don't seem to care about that.

And will the public have access since this is a public site, and why aren't you making the former company pay for remote?

Thank you.

Next caller, please.

Our next caller is Cindy Dara.

Cindy Dara, the floor is yours.

You have a minute 30 regarding line item seven.

Cindy Dara, are you there?

All right, let's put Ms.

Dara at the end of the queue and go to the next caller, please.

Our next caller is John Perkins.

John Perkins, the floor is yours, sir.

You have a minute 30 regarding line item seven.

Good afternoon, honorable body.

Uh John Perkins, business representative with the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Mill Rights here in support of the redevelopment of the old unirol site.

As you all know, I represent the men and women who build things.

But revitalizing this site is not just about building a new sports facility, it's about rebuilding the community.

This is our chance to turn a once forgotten stretch of our riverfront into something extraordinary.

Because this is bigger than construction.

It's about giving the next generation a foundation to build on.

Showing our young people what it means to create something lasting.

This project is more than a development.

It's about people, it's about creating good union jobs, opening doors for lasting careers, and keeping opportunities rooted right here in the community.

It's about the kids who will benefit from the youth programming that will be created.

It's a win for working people, a win for our youth, and a win for our future.

This project reflects who we are.

Strong, skilled, and united.

It's about uplifting Detroit, expanding opportunity, and elevating women's professional sports.

The same determination that built this city.

Yeah, we strongly support this project.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next caller, please.

Our next caller is Owner Papa.

Oh, good uh afternoon.

And through the chair, may I be heard?

Yes.

There are um a lot of stadiums on the agenda today.

Uh Detroit needs a lot of stadiums when people are going to be food.

Um deserts, and at any rate, I'm glad the site is being cleaned up.

I'm not sure if we're ready to go with this, and I'm agreeing with uh Joanne.

We need to find out where you're gonna source the dirt from.

Um those things need to be worked out before this project goes forward.

Um we we we don't want to find out afterwards that you didn't do the right thing.

We need to know up front that you're going to do what you say you're going to do.

And um what I like the fact that you have uh the youth that you that you plan on uh involving uh the youth in this, and I'm uh Joanne Walwick's question was what youth and how are they going to be engaged?

I like the fact that you have a lot of organizations that support this, but uh I also believe that 30 years is uh too long a term and um for tax abatements and those types of uh uh amenities that we give that we give out.

So I would I would say this project should wait until we have some specifics on how you're going to remove the dirt and what dirt are you gonna replace it with.

Thank you.

All right, next caller, please.

Our next caller is Chip Rhode.

All right, Mr.

Rhode, the floor is yours.

You have a minute 30 regarding line item seven.

Thank you.

Can you hear me, Mr.

Chairman?

Yes.

Thank you.

Uh Chairman Tate, uh, Councilmember Johnson, thank you for your time.

I am Chip Rhody.

I am president of the Rivertown Detroit Association, also president of the Broadhead Association.

Um, I'm on this call today uh to support the development of this project uh area.

I have reviewed the plans, and I will say we are excited to bring this type of facility to the uh eastern end of Rivertown Detroit.

We see the involvement of youth, we see the development of new jobs, and more importantly, we see part of the completion of the riverfront that there has been so much work done in that area.

So I strongly support this, and I encourage uh Mr.

Chair and the rest of the council to support this going forward.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Next caller, please.

Our next caller is Marguerite Scarlet Maddox.

It's Margaret Maddox.

Carlot, the floor is yours regarding line on the seven.

Yeah.

Because they are youth that to vote.

And we vote.

But the woman MDA.

Not human.

About how many packing with other people.

I'm getting thank you, Miss Benock.

Next caller, please.

Our next caller is John George.

John George, the floor is yours regarding line item seven.

Good afternoon, uh, Councilman Tate and assembled individuals.

Uh I am just calling uh not only as the executive director of Blightbusters, but also as the chairman of Brownsfield board.

I fully and completely support this effort.

Um, I can't think of a better use uh for the land.

The fact that the splighted contaminated space will be cleared and cleaned and be accessible to our youth.

I think it's a perfect use.

And uh again, I fully support this and uh looking forward uh to this development.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next caller, please.

We are back to Cindy Dara.

Cindy Dara, the floor is yours regarding line item seven.

Ms.

Dari.

Yeah, uh I just want to mention that I'm not sure of what the boundaries are for the downtown.

But the DDA, I thought they were supposed to just take money out of downtown area, and I didn't know that the downtown boundary went all the way to Bell Isle.

Uh in my block on Peterborough, uh, Illich has a building across the street that is not in the downtown area, and yet they say they're part of this project, community benefits project.

So I don't know what's going on, but I I disagree with the idea that Brownfield was uh amended, I think in 2017 at the urging of Dogan to allow it to be used.

The brown field can be used for development, not just for cleanup.

That should have been cleaned up a long time ago, and I don't know if that uh uranium thing from the Manhattan Project ever got cleaned up over there, but it's in the same area.

And uh I just wonder I I'm not for football.

I don't know what kind of stadium you're making, but when people uh go to school at Castech to get their brains uh developed and then they go and bang them together, and football doesn't make sense to me.

So I'm I used to be an athlete, but I'm not a spectator.

Okay, that's it.

Thank you.

Yes, um, Chris Christie Ann Sims is back on, and she was on prior to the cutoff.

All right, Christy Ann Sams, the floor is yours.

You have a minute 30 regarding line item seven.

Christy Ann Sims, are you there?

Going once.

Can you hear me now?

Yes.

Hello?

Yes, we can hear you.

Good afternoon.

Okay, thank you.

Um, I'm with the Joseph Barry Subdivision Association.

I've been a lifelong Detroiter and a resident over in the Barrie for 44 years, and we are very excited to have the new development coming.

Uh, it will only increase the economic growth and development along Jefferson, encourage kids to actively get engaged with their bodies, not just with their thumbs playing games and on their phone.

Uh look forward to the youth academy, and it'll just be a beautiful addition, and we are in full support of this project.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And that takes us to the end of our public comments.

I'm gonna give the uh presenters an opportunity to respond to the questions that were provided.

And whoever would like to begin, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair, and thank you to everybody who called in.

I'll go through the questions that we just heard.

There was a question about whether there'll be a trail easement maintained along the Conrail corridor and a question about public accessibility.

I will say that the goal here is to create and maximize public access to the site and to integrate this with the greenway.

We've been working closely with the city and we'll continue to work closely with the city to facilitate all of that, specifically with respect to the easement and the connection to the greenway or reserving space in the site plan to connect a future greenway north of Jefferson through to the riverwalk.

The ground leases that have been referenced here will reserve public access across the site to develop that greenway link to the riverfront.

And we're committed committed to maximizing public accessibility to this site and through this site.

I think the next question was about the source of the dirt.

As you heard Adam Patton mentioned before, any dirt that's brought in has to be tested and approved and confirmed to be clean.

That'll be subject to Eagle standards.

That'll be subject to EPA standards.

All of those standards will apply.

There is a question about the youth that will be served here.

The plan here is to work with Detroit Public Schools, Detroit Charter Schools, and many of the organizations that Stefan mentioned that are involved with and support the youth sports base to program this facility and the outdoor fields and to make this accessible to the children of this community.

There's a question about this being a stadium and this being in the DDA.

I just want to clarify this is not a stadium.

The plan here is to develop a practice facility that will serve as the headquarters and the training facility for the WNBA team and to develop a youth development academy to serve the children of Detroit and of this community.

And this is not part of the DDA.

I think there's a question about this being part of the DDA.

And the last question, I think, was about accessibility.

And I touched on this in the slides that Mr.

Howell put up.

We're committed to maximizing accessibility throughout this site through the practice facility.

We're committed to incorporating principles of universal design and exceeding ADA standards.

That will be our commitment throughout all of this.

Thank you.

And uh I just got word, so I was looking at my phone about uh a separate issue.

Did we talk about the trailway?

And please re-reporting the Mr.

Chair on the trailway, just to reiterate the ground leases that are anticipated to be entered into here.

We'll reserve public access across the site to develop the greenway link to the riverfront.

Beautiful.

All right, thank you.

All right, colleagues, any additional questions, comments, concerns.

Seeing none, is there a motion?

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

I move that we send line item six.

I'm sorry, line item seven, our 1050 a.m.

public hearing to formal with a recommendation to approve.

There's a motion to send line item seven to formal with a recommendation to approve.

Seeing no objections, then action shall be taken.

Thank you.

This now closes out our 1050 public hearing.

Um colleagues, we I want to take us back to line item six.

And this was one of the messages that distracted me a bit, and I'm glad that they gave us a heads up about it.

We've been notified that uh we are not able to approve line item six until there is an approval.

No?

We're good now.

All right.

Again, lots going on behind the scenes.

Sounds like we're good now.

Member Johnson.

Mr.

Chair, um, I know we just closed out the last public hearing, but since the gentlemen are still online, I'm not sure if anyone responded to Ms.

Maddox's question relative to uh disability or sports sporting activities for um folks that are disabled.

I'm not sure if they have a response to that.

And I got that one by me.

All right.

You got an opportunity to respond uh to our presenters, please.

Yes, through the chair, we're we're committed to maximizing accessibility throughout every aspect of this site.

Uh we're committed to incorporating principles of universal design to find ways to include everybody who wants to participate in this site and to maximize accessibility throughout.

All right, thank you.

And look forward to some more specifics relative to that.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Thank you.

All right, uh colleagues, we are at the one o'clock hour.

Actually, we're on 102 in neighborhood and community services standing committee.

Uh, we'll be um convening very shortly.

We still have a public hearing and a full agenda left.

So uh colleagues, if there are no objections, we would I would like to recess to the call of the chair and reconvene at 2.05 p.m.

So I'll move.

See no objections.

We shall uh recess to the call of the chair and reconvene PED at 2 05 p.m.

There's no objections, and action shall be taken.