Planning and economic development standing committee back to order.

Madam Clerk, will you please call the room?

Councilmember Letitia Johnson present.

Councilmember Gabriela Santiago Romero.

Member Santiago Romero did indicate that she would not be present today.

Clerk has noted Council President Pro Temper Comune the second.

Here.

Thank you.

We are back in session.

And we will return back to the 1020 public hearing.

And my apologies, Mr.

Rosenhouse.

You may proceed with your presentation.

Sorry about that.

Absolutely.

Thank you so much.

My pleasure.

So as far as uh construction jobs and the construction component of this project, Uniland works with all of our subcontractors and local suppliers and encourages them to source Detroit-based workers, many of the contractors and a few of the suppliers.

And please keep in mind nothing is in contract right now, but uh are intended and are currently Detroit-based companies.

Uh we also encourage our contractors as well as any self-performing staffing needs that Uniland may require uh to use Detroit at work as a resource.

Uh and then, you know, we are uh uh contractors as well as we have uh partaken alongside Bobby in uh our little part of redeveloping a few buildings in the city, and we have found uh not only to it be an advantage to the city, but frankly an advantage to the project uh when we do source Detroit-based workers and contractors, and that is our plan uh for ultimate success for this project.

You're muted, Bobby, if you're talking.

Next slide, please.

So in terms of uh community engagement, uh wanted to be noted that we are working with a uh third-party vendor mission list to um really leverage the um potential in terms of reaching the community in a way that we really get the feedback to have their input that's gonna guide us and uh bringing this project to market.

Um this just lists some of the things that have already happened.

Um we've uh done some cabin thing between um Central and Wildermere going door to door.

Um the next one just shows some of the partners that we are working with already, but that's not an inclusive list.

We will expand that.

Um the last one is the uh a naming process.

If that was something that um the community would want to do, and we we feel strongly enough about this building, this project, um bring it back to the state of usability by the community.

That um you know, if there's a desire to put a name to the building, then we certainly engage that process as well.

So I want to conclude this uh slide by getting some feedback from um uh from Luis, who is a resident of the area.

And if you could add your comments in terms of our community engagement, that would be helpful.

Yes, uh happy to uh being a resident of these district and uh an architect of El Barrio of the region.

Uh, have done many projects and I have seen many on Werner.

I think this portion of Werner really is needed for the community.

It it needs opportunity to bring uh affordable housing, but also um uh some interesting businesses to the side of of Werner, that is a kind of uh getting quiet as it goes to their one.

Uh so I think it uh the community and what they have expressed all the time is is about re-engaging and getting all these vacant lots and and buildings that are empty and not functional backing in in the works in this side of the community.

So very excited that this project is going forward and and happy to see it on my neighborhood.

Thank you, Luis.

I think that concludes our presentation.

Thank you.

All right, I will kick things off um with a few questions.

Just curious to know if the the back of the building, if you will have any fencing or if it is open to the Joe Lewis Greenway.

So the intention is that it would have uh around uh five feet um uh gate that is semi-transparent.

The gates can open.

So the idea is that obviously for safety and things like that, it would stay close, but it's semi-transparent.

And then use light it to completely open the backyard for for people and things like that.

So and also it's five feet, so you really can see on top of it.

So it's not intended to be a 12-foot uh fence, it's in intention to be a low a low fence that interacts with the Joe Luis Arena.

Okay, thank you.

It looks like a beautiful building.

Um can you all talk about your projected timeline?

So we're currently working on securing the funding and of which this is a part of that uh process.

Um so after we've secured that, um if you could just speak to the timeline in terms of the construction of the um building itself or um renovation of the building itself, I should say.

Yeah, absolutely.

So as soon as we uh collectively all work and make our best efforts to meet the starting line, then then I I get to have my fun.

Um so as soon as we have permits, as soon as uh uh lending is secured and the financing is closed, we project a six-month duration to redevelop the building.

Okay, thank you.

And Mr.

Rosenhaus, you indicated that um, or it sounded like you have prior experience working doing rehabilitation projects or construction in the city of Detroit.

Um, do you have a general contractor that you typically work with?

I'm not asking you to name who they are, um, but just wondering if you have like a construction team that you can tap to be able to execute this in six months.

Yeah, absolutely.

So uh Unit Corporation, which is the company I'm representing, we are a construction management and general contracting firm.

Okay, got it.

All right, thank you for that.

Um, and in regards to the four um apartments, they are going to be rentals, correct?

And if anyone can just indicate whether or not the utilities will be included within the rental rates that have been provided.

Utilities will not be included in the rental rates that are provided.

But each of the four units are affordable.

About 60% AMI or less.

Okay.

And my last question is in regards to the restrooms on the uh ground floor where the commercial space is.

Do you have you already identified how many there will be and will they be accessible?

They will be accessible.

Uh we're leaving it once the tenant improvement happens.

So but we made uh the accommodation and the design that you will have it accessible uh completely wheelchair accessible.

And are you they would not be built during this phase?

It's it's gonna be left as a white box until we have actual tenants and and then we can completely decide uh uh according to the uses where and how uh the bathroom is definitely intended to be towards the back where the ADA accessible entrances.

And how many retail spaces will you have?

Uh it could it could be uh we're thinking four, uh that was original uh because of how the structure, but it really can be one big one.

But the idea is that it's 3600 square feet of commercial, and it depends on that on the on the tenants that that Bobby will be able to get.

Uh so it's flexible.

The idea is that we it would be with tenant improvements as as we get those tenants.

Okay, thank you.

As you move forward, it would be great to share that information.

Um how I'm really always interested in how the retail space is broken down just to make sure that um is not cost prohibitive for smaller businesses that are Detroit-based businesses.

So as you identify that.

And I wanna please share that with us.

Yes, I I want to add a little bit more on that on your interest.

Uh we obviously have worked with several of these tenant improvements for commercial on Verner.

Uh, we want to take advantage of what is called uh the main street overlay, meaning that we don't submit uh we don't need to put uh parking uh if we don't go farther in a bigger sense.

So we want to have that because obviously there's no no much parking in the area, and we don't want surface parking or burners.

We have then I've already had meetings with Motor City Match, and uh very very supportive of the activity that they do, and we would love to get a candidate that's come through their program.

Uh, I think it would be a great match.

You know, of course I'm a little biased, but I think the area will uh we have to have a successful retail tenant there, so I'm very conscious of being deliberate in that process and not um you know putting what we think will work there, but listening to the community in terms of what they want there, and of course I'm seeking some feedback from our partners to make sure if whether it's one tenant or four tenants that it works well for that space for that community.

Excellent.

Thank you so much for that.

Pro Tim Young, no questions.

All right, we will turn to the public.

If there's anyone here joining us who'd like to make a public comment regarding the public hearing that was just presented, please raise your hand, please raise your hand, whether you're in person or virtually going once, going twice, going three times, the collection of public comment has concluded.

Aaron, how many hands do we have raised virtually?

Madam Chair, we have three hands raised.

Okay, um, because we have four public hearings.

I am going to allow one minute for public comment regarding our public hearings, and we do have Mr.

Foster, who's here in the commute committee of the whole.

I was about to say the community of the whole morning dog through the chair.

Just a couple of quick questions.

Uh considering that this public act was established in 2000, and this is 2026, it's rather old.

We had over 900,000 residents at the time.

Has anyone evaluated the effectiveness of this act here in this city?

Um as far as addressing obsolete buildings.

Secondly, per this establishment of this act, it rule number five, it outlines that these properties cannot have simultaneous tax exemptions.

So if it's Joe Lewis Greenway, if it's any NEZs, if it's in the IFEs, industrial facility exemptions, then those things have to be included in the qualified qualifying uh purposes of it.

And just moving forward, um, with all ordinances and this being an election year, I think it's important that anybody that's running should have in mind the current uh conditions of these and and you know produce new rules.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Who is our first virtual caller?

Our first virtual caller is Marguerite Maddox and Scarlet.

Ms.

Marguerite Maddox and Scarlett, you have the floor regarding the 1020 public hearing.

Yes, good morning.

Can you guys hear me okay?

Yes.

Okay, um ish is the hit as a mate do okay.

And the A and shot by side but that is important.

Um DC more should be dying.

Um the ADA sensibilities.

And the first never.

The public.

And the I hear no parking lot.

Um then.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next caller.

The next caller is phone number ending in 534.

Caller ending in 534.

You have one minute for public comment regarding the public hearing.

Yes, good morning.

May I be heard?

Morning, yes.

Yes, okay.

So since the city decided to resort to the drastic tool of taking people's property for allegedly to release greenhouse gas emissions, is this project and other projects are they required to do solar or what energy efficiency are they doing?

I do recall uh a project that came before, and the person was installing solar.

So why isn't the city encouraging all these people to do this if you think it's okay to take people's private property for solar farms for DTE?

So I didn't hear anything about solar panels, or maybe I might have missed something about energy efficiency, but I'd like to hear about that and why the city is not requiring more of that since all of these developments are adding load to the grid.

Thank you.

And the next caller.

The next caller is Cindy Dara.

Cindy Dara, you have one minute for a public comment regarding the public hearing.

Public hearing.

Well, uh, I agree with uh Joanne.

And I'm I'm glad that you're involving the neighbors on this, but uh I don't see any way that you enforce your you were encouraged, but you don't have any way to uh make sure that people do what they agree to do.

So uh if you don't have that, uh I didn't hear that anyway, but I didn't list the whole thing.

And um I would just say uh that how about stormwater removal?

You know, if they're gonna have a parking lot, can they put a stormwater system to collect it and flush the toilets with it so they can keep the water bill down and is there room to put some solar panels either on the ground or up on the roof?

I don't I don't know if I didn't see it, the pictures whether it's a flat or slope.

So those are my questions.

And uh by the way, uh you're saying uh I couldn't even see the clock last time.

I had to go go back in to get my hand.

And I believe that concludes public comment.

And we will okay, thank you.

We will turn to the presenters to respond to the questions.

Who'd like to go first?

So I'll start.

I uh hopefully captured most of the questions to be able to respond with um Luisa's help here.

The first one, the public comment had to do with the effectiveness of Oprah.

I'm not sure if you know us on the development side would be the appropriate parties to respond to that.

You know, I think the city would have much deeper um statistics in terms of the impacts of this program than me, but from the developer standpoint, without programs like this, these projects would be very hard to bring to market.

Thank you.

Mr.

Lewis, if you um would like to just respond to the ones that are pertinent to you, um, Alton Williams can respond to that question.

Okay, great.

Thank you.

Um the second one for Miss Mano.

Um, I can speak directly to uh number one and number five.

The questions about the automatic door openers, yes, during the presentation.

We did say that we will have automatic door openers toward the rear of the building close to the accessible parking spaces.

And then uh yes, we will have public restrooms on the first level that will serve as the retailers.

And the other questions were related to universal design.

Um there was a question about side by side, and I'm not sure if I captured their question clearly.

And then ADA accessibility.

I'm gonna um you know call on Luis to see if he can respond to those questions or the ask for clarification if you didn't hear them as clearly as I did either.

Um yeah, well, it was in relationship about the public restrooms and ADA accessible restrooms in the first floor.

And and uh the if I if I'm for hearing correctly, the the bars and the side-by-side bars, so the grabbing bars uh in the restrooms and those when when we go the the question was actually in response to side-by-side washer and dryers in the units.

Oh uh the side there's no space in this in these floor plan for side-by-side washing uh there's stack uh washer and uh units, but they are energy efficient, uh but the the units that we were able to supply.

Uh but uh uh and most of the of the utilities are energy star that would be in the place.

But definitely ADIA universal uh design features are part of the intention of the units, and in the first floor, once those tenants' improvements happen, we will include them and obviously have the restrooms that are ADA uh accessible.

Thank you for that feedback, and I think the next two callers could be summarized with two questions that I'm going to again ask you to speak to uh and may have to do with energy efficiency, uh solar panels, and I think Ms.

Dara asked about stormwater removal if we have a parking lot.

Um so if I've missed any in any of that question, um, if we could please get clarification, and if not, if you could just respond to the energy efficiency of the solar panel question and then stormwater removal system.

Uh the right now there's no solar uh panels uh uh in the project.

Uh although, as I mentioned on the presentation, we are converting hard surfaces on the back for permeable areas.

Uh there's no uh uh stormwater retention or recycling uh that probably doesn't allow it to have these these infrastructure cost, but uh but again, we're trying to do as much as we can on materials, in increasing significantly the envelope of the building uh all around, the better our value for the walls, uh the party walls and everything that is there.

So we are conscious to reduce the the what this building, the footprint, uh the carbon footprint that this building had with these type of things, and and again, energy efficient uh uh appliances, energy star.

Thank you.

So I think that concludes our addressing the public comments and our team remains uh willing and accessible and available to answer any questions from this honorable body or from the community related to this project.

And through the chair, I can um address Mr.

Foster's question.

So uh I do know currently as we sit here that there are conversations being had at the uh state level with local officials as well, uh, with regard to um the abatements, not just the Oprah abatement, but also the uh PA255, which is the commercial redevelopment um abatement, the PA210.

There are active uh conversations that are being had right now with regard to um possible updates to make those abatements uh you know more efficient for us, you know, as the DGC and the uh legislators as well.

So I'm not a part of those conversations, but I do know that those are taking place actively as we speak.

And Mr.

Williams, can you also um respond to the having more than one exemption on a project?

Uh more than one exemption is allowable.

Uh as you you know, sometimes you may see where there will be a PA 255, which is the commercial redevelopment um abatement that I mentioned, but there may be an NEZ for the housing.

So the PA255 would be just for the ground floor commercial and an NEZ would be up top for the residential.

So that is allowable by the statute.

But you would not be able to have multiple exemptions for housing, a housing uh project.

You that is correct.

If you were to do like an NEZ and a pilot, maybe something like that, you would not be able to do that.

That is accurate.

Thank you.

And Mr.

Cook, I wonder if you can respond to the enforcement aspect of this.

Um, there was a comment in regards to how do we know that developers do what they say they're going to do when they present to us.

Thank you.

To the chair.

HRD has a team that we um go through for compliance for affordable housing.

It is our NCS.

So we monitor after development is built.

We monitor to ensure that the developer is utilizing these units at the AMI.

They put in their agreement so we hold them accountable for the lifetime of the abatement.

Thank you.

All right.

Uh anything?

Did I miss anything?

Any questions?

Anything further from the presenters?

No.

All right.

Pro Tim Young, is there a motion on line item five?

Is there a motion to send line item five to formal with a recommendation to approve?

Motion to send line item five to formal with recommendation to approve.

Hearing no objections, that action shall be taken.

Thank you all so much for joining us.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That now closes out our 1020 public hearing.

I'd like to call back to order the 1025 public hearing.

The 1025 public hearing is to establish an obsolete property rehabilitation district on behalf of Landy Land LLC in the area of 3135 through 3161 Woodward Avenue.

Everyone who is joining us for line item six, please introduce yourself for the record when you see yourself on the screen.

1025.

Justice Cook, Housing and Revivalation Department.

Hello again.

Alton Williams, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation.

And Ms.

George Roberts from Landeland LLC.

My partner Kevin Kabachevich should be in the Zoom too if he can be promoted to introduce yourself.

Okay, I'm here.

Can you guys hear me?

Yes, please introduce yourself for the record.

Yes.

Kevin Kavachevich, I'm part of the Landy Land LC development team.

Good morning.

And who would like to begin?

I will.

Thank you.

To the chair, Landy Land LLC is requesting an obsolete property rehabilitation district in the area 3135 through 316 Long Warren Avenue, Detroit.

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

The DEGC and developers are here to answer any additional questions.

Thank you, Alf.

All right, Madam Chair, may I share my screen, please?

Yes.

Thank you.

All right.

Good morning again.

Um so today uh 3139 Woodward Avenue, led by George Roberts is requesting the establishment of a PA 146 obsolete property rehabilitation district.

Uh there we go.

PA146 was enacted by the state of Michigan to promote the redevelopment of obsolete commercial and or commercial housing properties per state statute.

The value of building improvements receives a 100% tax exemption from local mills, with the exception of DPS operating and state education tax.

The exemption may be approved for up to 12 years.

There is no reduction to the existing property taxes that are paid, and the incentive benefits are not generated until after the completion of construction.

On May 7th, 2026, the Assessor's Office for the City of Detroit provided a letter confirming this project's eligibility for the PA146 Oprah exemption.

This project is located at 3139 Woodward Avenue in Midtown Council District 6.

3139 Woodward Avenue is a $6.4 million mixed use project.

Upon completion, 22,736 square feet will be reactivated to provide 5,190 square feet of residential space in which the developer is committing to four units between 70 to 80% AMI for the full term of the abatement.

The development also consists of 17,546 square feet of commercial retail space.

The DGC has conducted its evaluation of the project.

As part of our evaluation, we ensure that every project meets specific policy objectives.

And projects should provide strategic benefits that align with the city's goals and initiatives, economic benefits that create opportunities for Detroit residents and businesses, and generate fiscal benefits for the city.

Projects should also meet the butt four requirement, indicating that financially the project could not proceed without the incentive.

3139 Woodward demonstrates strategic benefits by providing new affordable units with the developer committing to those four units at 70 to 80% AMI.

It helps to eliminate blight, reactivates a vacant and historic building, and it provides a new community amenity.

3139 Woodward demonstrates economic benefits by creating 60 temporary construction jobs and creating one permanent FTE job by also providing 90 tenant created full-time equipment jobs.

3139 Woodward generates a 12-year benefit of 210,169, which is approximately 17,514 per year.

Through the DGC underwriting review, we have determined that the project meets the BUP4 requirements due to the developers' inability to cover their debt service payments without this incentive.

Through the DGC's analysis, we have determined that the existing annual taxes on the property are $36,160.

Upon completion of the project, the new unabated property taxes are estimated to increase to 146,520 with the abatement applied.

The total annual property taxes would be reduced to $68,729.

This concludes my portion of the presentation.

I will now turn it over to the developer to discuss additional details regarding the development.

Thank you all.

Thank you.

Thank you, Alton.

And thank you, Councilmembers and everyone here.

I'm really excited to share this project.

These buildings here on Woodward Avenue have been vacant for quite a long time.

Really sort of create a gap in the energy between our growing downtown and midtown, a big space where there just hasn't been enough going on for a lot of years.

So we're excited to bring a number of commercial spaces, a really significant chunk of commercial spaces online.

And really try to create a district where folks are living and working at in the same place and shopping and eating and doing all these things at once.

So excited to dig into it more.

There's a little bit more about some of the projects that I've been involved in here on the screen.

We can share more about background if any of those come up, but let's jump into the project, please.

Go to the next slide.

So here you see a rendering of the buildings.

Alton mentioned that the number of commercial square footage that we're talking about.

It's um in that white building, the Walker building there, you see uh three ground floor commercial spaces in addition to a lower level commercial space.

Um, the building was formerly the Walker Brothers catering hall restaurants many, many years ago, and there was a pool hall in the basement, the Goodman Brothers pool hall, later known as Woodward Recreation.

Um, that center building where you see the black cornice and the pink awning uh there is a um uh was formerly a restaurant called it's called the Wagner Building, and in the Pierce building, there's um three commercial spaces there on the ground floor that are each about 1500 square feet.

Um, for each of these commercial spaces we are targeting um local small businesses, um, uh food and beverage, neighborhood uh uh needs, um, hospitality entertainment, um, really anything that we think will be a great vitality and vibrancy added to this block.

Um and I'm I'm really excited to say without getting into too many details and revealing anything uh that might be confidential.

We have um two leases signed at the um the the Pierce building.

That's the the white building on the right side of the screen at the northern end there, um both of which are minority-owned Detroit-based businesses.

Um we have an LOI in very uh advanced discussions for a um restaurant where you see that uh pink awning, um, that is a Detroit-based um uh Detroit resident, uh small business that has one restaurant now that is looking to open up their second.

Um, and then the white building, the walker building there, we've got one lease sign with a first-time um um entrepreneur, uh Detroit resident, Detroit-based business, uh, where that red awning is.

We've got an LOI for a for the significant commercial space, a letter of intent to lease.

Um, actually, we're in lease negotiations, I should say, more specifically for that lower level 8,000 square foot space.

And um have a um have interest in the space where that white awning is.

So really have been excited to to bring these spaces to to folks and have seen a ton of interest in being part of of these buildings.

Um the Oprah really is the is the thing that makes that that possible for us to invest in these buildings and bring folks in.

Um parking, just to quickly go back to that since I didn't totally touch on it.

I'm um I apologize to not have the the aerial view here.

But if you were to um uh go overhead or go just behind these buildings, you would see that there is um um parking uh surface parking lots behind um the the northern two buildings.

Um that's the the Wagner building and the Pierce building there.

And then there was a surface parking lot just to the south of the Walker building there, and then across the the alley to the west, um, there is an additional significant surface parking lot.

Um fortunately, we control a number of the parcels in this this two square block area um and have been working closely with the city to um organize and um uh improve um uh surface lots and parking lots so that they can be used uh to support these small businesses and and other event entertainment traffic around downtown um here in the district.

Um we're also, of course, um we have a MOGO stop right in front of us, and we're on the queue line and and a number of bus routes and and a great proximity to walk to downtown and to Midtown and Brush Park and new U of M Center for Innovation, a number of different spaces here.

As far as accessibility, um uh these are uh historic um uh buildings um uh where we're reactivating second floor apartments.

Um and within those apartments, while they won't be accessible by an elevator, they they will be walk-up apartments.

Um we are doing everything we can to make those those units um in line with universal design and accessible for folks who um uh who are able to access those units as residents.

Uh and the ground floor um um working with with our tenants and have been working closely with our architects and contractors to make sure that we are um uh making those spaces accessible as possible, um making sure our our um uh storefronts and and curb lines and everything else are accessible, um both from the the Woodward side and from the the parking lots and in the rear of these buildings and the alley in the case of the walker building, which butts up right at the alley.

And um uh because we're we're grateful to the council for placing such priority on this accessibility.

We really when we start a project with our architects, we stress to them that we want to go above and beyond.

Um we know that funds are tight on these projects and we can't overspend on on anything, but um thankfully, um really because of the the push from this body, um, we have found many ways that we can go um about making our buildings as accessible as possible and going above and beyond what is required that don't add too much cost.

So you'll see examples of that within our project.

Um, of course, the parking will also be accessible as we do in any parking lot.

We we make sure that we have uh ban accessible and ADA parking spaces in in all of these spaces.

So um this building would be these buildings would be no different.

Um there would be um places for folks to to park in a in a uh accessible space behind the building to be able to access these buildings.

Not to go into to every detail here, but just some of the examples of things that we've found that are not big cost uh adders, but can make these spaces more accessible and and are uh once again grateful to this body for really um being the the activists we needed to push us towards towards making a lot of these things happen.

And and George, if I could really quickly just touch on um the the debt and the equity portion of this transaction.

Um again, my name is Kevin Kovachevich, one of the developers in this project.

Um I'm also the principal of District Capital Detroit, a Detroit-based mortgage banking firm located directly across the street from this at 42 Watson.

I've been there for the past uh eight years and and love the location.

Um, I'm I'm I'm there every day across the street from this project.

So overseeing this project uh, you know, with a daily uh eye on the project is very important to moving this thing forward.

Um from the debt and equity standpoint, we are fully arranged on both the debt and the equity.

Um the lender is fully approved and just awaiting um our green light.

Uh once we once we uh can lock up the Oprah portion, uh the lender is ready to move forward um to provide us the necessary dollars to start this project as quickly as possible.

As George mentioned, we have multiple tenants in different phases of negotiation of leases and LOIs, and so we are um chopping at the bit to start uh working on the interior of this project as quickly as possible.

Go to the next slide here.

Um, sorry, I mean I did um uh I I did I didn't talk all that much about sustainability efforts, um, but um you know, really pushing to uh include high efficiency HPAC, um energy star appliances um to to make these buildings more accessible, more um efficient in terms of uh heat loss um and air conditioning loss as it relates to putting in new storefronts and um uh repairing masonry and and windows in these buildings.

So um historic buildings, um, but we're we're doing everything we can to make these as uh sustainable uh as as they possibly can be.

Uh Alton talked about our our job creation here.

Um we're really excited about the fact that this is going to bring a number of of new commercial operations uh to this part of Woodward Avenue, and we think be a really a big job creator because of the number of different commercial spaces we're bringing on.

Um just to reiterate, this is about this is um uh probably a minimum of eight new businesses on this block, each of which will be hiring new people.

Um and then as far as the construction plan, um, I'm sorry, our our contractor couldn't be here today.

Um they're on site for another project of ours here in the city.

Um, but our contractors are are well versed and and experienced.

They're called uh ideal contracting and are well-versed and experienced and in hiring uh Detroit-based workers and and working with Detroit as work to do so.

Um this is a priority for us, all of our projects, and certainly we'll be here.

As far as community support uh on this particular uh project and on others throughout the district, we've met with neighbors in the district and in neighborhood groups.

Um really a big emphasis of this has been engaging the existing small business community in the neighborhood.

So that's um businesses like Fa Lucky and uh Chen's formerly known as Top China One, and um seeing what they want to see on this block along with them, how we can help grow those um minority-owned businesses here in the city.

Um and um we've previously received a number of letters of supports for our efforts for abatements um uh and for when we were going to the historic district commission on a number of these buildings and and feel great about about the neighborhood uh support behind in filling this sort of missing tooth of vibrancy here on on Woodward Avenue on our city's main street.

And and thank you very much for the time.

Happy to answer any questions about the project.

Very excited to get going here.

Thank you.

Does that conclude the presentation, Mr.

Williams?

That does, madam chair.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh Pro Tim Young.

No questions.

Um, I did want to ask about the affordable units.

Does do the um does the rental rate include utilities?

The rental rate does not include utilities.

Okay.

Utilities would be separately metered.

Okay, thank you.

Uh Mr.

Cook, can you make sure we have this conversation about affordable units and utilities being included?

I've had the conversation previously with Miss Lebau, but just want to make sure we are all on the same page as it relates to that.

Thank you.

All right, we will turn to the public.

If there's anyone who'd like to make a public comment regarding the public hearing we just witnessed, please raise your hand.

Whether you're joining us in person or virtually, please raise your hand.

Going once, going twice, going three times.

The collection of public comment has concluded.

I did not see any hands raised in the committee of the whole.

Aaron, how many hands do we have raised virtually?

Madam Chair, we have three hands raised.

Thank you.

If you will please set the clock for one minute, we can get started with our virtual callers.

The first caller is Cindy Dara.

Cindy Dara, you have one minute for public comment regarding the public hearing.

Joel Landy got the Addison Hotel years ago.

That Barbara Green's mother and her husband owned the drugstore, and they put he put pressure on them because they were selling marijuana paraphernalia.

And so they uh were forced to sell to Joe Landy.

And he's got a lot of money in the past from the city.

Hasn't he already got money to fix up all those apartments in the Addison Hotel?

I bet he has.

Better look back.

You know, because I uh this is uh and Landy is dead now, and I think Midtown, or I don't know how who got it, but uh you know he owned the the school on Peter Burl and uh Cass and a bunch of buildings, and uh now I don't know who owns them, but uh the new owner.

I've heard complaints by the ones that living in the castle, they don't like the new owner, so be careful.

Thank you.

The next caller.

The next caller is Joanne Warwick, Joanne Warwick.

You have one minute for public comment regarding the public hearing, Miss Joanne Wowick.

Are you there?

Am I unmuted?

Yes, we can hear you.

Okay, so I don't know how that happened, but um so I looked up a couple of these properties, and uh it says one of them was sold like years ago for 50,000, and so if this is just to get some obsolete whatever, was this a planned obsolescence or why were these sitting vacant for so long?

Also, I do like historic preservation instead of demolition.

And once again, I'm gonna ask any solar panels since the city wants some people to go solar, is shoving it down some people's throats.

So why aren't you shoving it down the developers' throats over here?

Why can't they put solar on the roofs?

Or or side mount solar or on the windows.

There's all sorts of ways to do solar.

So we'd like to hear that.

Wondering why the city's not asking everybody else to go solar as they thank you.

The next caller.

The next caller is Marguerite Maddox and Scarlet.

Ms.

Marguerite Maddox and Scarlet, you have the floor regarding the 1025 public hearing.

Yes.

Thank you.

Um I know the area.

And my biggest will be gonna be one way in the middle of the year, yeah, yeah.

The building.

And this could be one.

Okay.

I did not hear.

I did not hear anything about the second bill.

And not question is they gonna be a side by side.

Again.

And what the ready and the regular unit.

I'm done.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

And that concludes public comment regarding the public hearing.

Who would like to begin with responses?

I'm happy to jump in.

Um with the uh last question first, Ms.

Maddox.

Um if I understood the the question correctly about number of doorways entering into the commercial spaces, I I think was maybe the first question about whether there'd be one or or multiple.

Um sorry if I misunderstood that, but um, there will be actually uh probably about eight different commercial entrances from the the first from the spaces, um, which we think will will be a good thing for um accessibility, but also for vibrancy and and um sort of visual excitement on the block to have multiple different spaces where you can get in and out of the of the commercial spaces in the building.

Um as it relates to the residential units and and side-by-side washer dryers, um, these are our second floor walk-up units.

Um they are they're pretty uh uh um um efficiently laid out, um, but they do not quite have space for um the side-by-side washer dryers.

That said, I've I've made a note on this, and I was grateful to Mr.

Williams for for sharing in advance about the the side-by-side washer dryers that when we are building ground floor and and otherwise accessible units in in high rises or other buildings in the future that we will make sure that we have uh non-stock side-by-side washer dryers.

I that it's it's one of those things that I would not have thought about.

Um, and I'm grateful to to to be aware of and we'll make sure that it's something that we include in the future, um, wherever wherever possible in terms of unit layout.

Um Ms.

Warwick's question um about the buildings being purchased for 50,000 dollars and um uh planned obsolescence.

Um, I guess I'll I'll connect it a little bit to uh Ms.

Dara's question above uh yes, these properties were at one point owned by uh Joel Landy.

Uh Joel has since passed um our group um acquired the um the properties, um our purchase funded a foundation called the Joel Landy Foundation that now funds um projects around the city, including I think uh recent grant to the Randolph School.

Um and uh Joel may have uh received funds um um uh many years ago for something like the Addison.

Um I will tell you that by the time we acquired the Addison, there was much much uh capital investment needed, which we have have made in that building.

Um and um uh I can say that we acquired these buildings, or would be will the empty that's doing this project will be acquiring these buildings for significantly more than um uh 50,000 dollars, and that they were certainly obsolete uh as we began approaching them.

Um no planned obsolescence on our part.

Um uh quite the opposite.

We're really hoping to invest a lot in these these buildings and to to bring them um up to the standard that they should be and and to um take uh take care with historic preservation and reactivation of these spaces.

Thank you all.

Please let me know if there's anything I didn't I didn't address.

Uh Mr.

Roberts, uh thank you for the responses.

I was just going to add um you indicated that there may be eight doors for the retail spaces.

Did will they all be automatic doors?

Um automatic doors meaning push button doors where um uh for folks to enter um without pulling a door handle.

Sure.

Yes.

Um I I guess I I am less familiar on whether that ends up being something that tenants elect to do, but I certainly if that's if that's um part of the code or something that that is determined is the right thing to do that that we will um uh work with our our uh the tenants who end up taking the commercial spaces to to incorporate um the the push button door or another way of accessing these these spaces um um if one is um is not physically able to to hold manual door.

So let me ask you about the layout.

So um if there are seven or eight different retail spaces, is there an interior um space where they all come together or are they all separate um in one of the buildings there is an interior space where all three spaces or at least two of the three will be connected um because it's three different buildings.

One building has a sort of shared elevator lobby um that accesses the lower level and the ground floor.

Um the second floor in that building is condominiums that were that were sold that we do not own.

Um the uh the center building, the Wagner Building, will have its own um front and rear entrance, and then the the northernmost building, the Pierce building will have um three front doors and three rear doors.

Um the Wagner building and the Pierce building will be each of those retail spaces, that's four spaces, will be separate and distinct from each other, and one would not be able to access the other building from one of the spaces.

Okay, thank you for that.

Um and so it is a request of city council that um all of our residents be able to access and utilize um the buildings, the spaces that of course that we support.

Uh and so I would like to ask if you can make sure that each one of the buildings um or each one of the retail spaces that are uh separate have a an automatic door.

If that is a push button and the door automatically opens, we do ask that you incorporate that to make sure that all of all of our residents are able to utilize these spaces.

Okay.

All right, understood, thank you.

Pro Tim Young, anything further?

Seeing none.

Uh, is there a motion on line item six?

Motion to move line item six to formal session with recommendation for approval.

There's a motion to send line item six, the 1025 public hearing to formal with recommendation to approve.

Seeing no objections, that action shall be taken.

Thank you all so much.

Thank you.

Thank you both very much.

Thank you.

That now closes out the 1025 public hearing.

I'd like to call to order the 1030 public hearing.

And the 1030 public hearing is to amend chapter 50 of the 2019 Detroit City Code.

And I will leave it there.

I'll allow Mr.

Fizzini to uh to share with us what we have in the 1030 public hearing.

Please introduce yourself for the record.

Uh good uh good afternoon, uh Madam Chair uh and Pro Tem Eric Vizzini, CPC staff, as well as um other um members of the applicant team in uh from the city uh joining virtually, if they could uh please be promoted.

Okay.

Uh I don't believe Mr.

Roberts is joining us for this, so uh Aaron, can you just thank you?

Um and we have several individuals that are joining us.

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

Good morning, and through the chair to the honorable body.

Uh my name is Asmod is Hawk Osman, jobs and economy team in the mayor's office.

Morning.

Good morning, good morning.

Please introduce yourself for the record.

Good morning, Jacqueline Young, Senior Director of Business Development, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation.

Still morning.

Good morning, Edwina King Planning and Development Department.

Morning.

Jason Watt, Airport Director.

Morning.

Morning.

And I believe I have a couple of other folks, but uh Mr.

Fizzini, if you'd like to go ahead and kick us off.

Yes, if I may share my screen.

Yes.

Thank you.

So the uh proposed uh rezoning site is in City Council District 4 in the Grashet Findley neighborhood.

Um for your um this is on the east side of Connor, north of Grashet, and then further north from Harper.

Um in this area are two uh solar neighborhoods.

Uh to the west of the airport is a solar neighborhood being uh constructed now, and then also um at the top um near that triangular triangular area where East McNichols meets Grashet is the Graschett Finley uh solar neighborhood, just so you're aware.

Um here's uh the rezoning boundary of the site looking east.

So at the bottom uh is the airport uh property, then to the left or north is Flanders Street.

Uh so the site is surrounded by residential on the north, east, and south sides uh with commercial along the uh Connor Street frontage, uh both to the north and south of the site, just to the south appears to be some type of auto-related use, uh, possibly a junkyard or tow yard uh or similar.

And then here's that aerial again with the zoning map for the area uh showing the B4 along Connor uh on the east side.

This is kind of the tail end of B4s, the tail top or north end of B4 zoning along Connor with R2 uh primarily to the uh sides or surrounding the site.

Uh some photos just walking around the site.

This is the Connor Street frontage, uh looking from the airport, uh vacant site with fencing, and then this is looking north down the Connor uh frontage with the airport uh to the left in the image and the site to the right, and then this is that auto use uh to the south of the site across from Glenfield zone B4.

Uh now looking at uh the surrounding residential.

Uh this is Glenfield Avenue to the south of the site.

Uh significant uh vacancy here uh of these residential lots.

Um now from the rear, uh looking north down uh Wilfrid, uh which sort of acts like an alley um for some of these lots to the rear for access.

Um now looking from the middle rear point of the site across the site back towards Glenfield that we saw previously, and then looking um from the midpoint uh directly across the site towards the airport, and then looking across the site at Flanders, uh which is uh seems to be nearly a hundred percent occupied uh residential lots and another uh look at Flanders.

Uh so the uh owner of the property is City Airport and the applicant is city airport.

Uh we've worked with B seed and they've determined the land use label for this proposal uh would be a commercial trade school.

Uh this use is allowed in several zoning districts, R5 being the least intense, uh but the airport has uh requested B4 uh zoning.

Uh PNDD has found that uh the proposal is consistent with the master plan designation and that the proposal is generally consistent uh due to the adjacency to the airport and location on Connor.

And for this slide, I'd like to turn it over to uh Director Watt um to discuss uh this runway.

Yes, uh through the chair.

So uh this is uh district four.

So uh ma'am, this is your district.

So I know you lost a school, and we're trying, I'm trying to get you another one.

We had a conversation about that a while back.

So uh this parcel was originally owned by uh Delasale High School.

This property does uh was purchased desk dec decades ago uh for approach protection to runway 725.

In other words, for safety, uh and it was purchased with an FAA grant.

Um the parcel became available for potential development after runway 725 was permanently closed as part of the right sizing of the airport.

Uh 725 was closed as again part of the right sizing of the airport.

Um it was used just to let everyone know, is used less than 10% of the time, which by definition is what a crosswind runway is, and the decision was made because the FA uh said that they weren't gonna participate in the overall uh redevelopment of it.

Uh if if like let's say it used it met it to its useful life, then they wouldn't participate necessarily in the uh in fixing it up.

So a decision was made because it was it it was constrained by the shortness of the runway.

So it was this we decided to close it about two years ago permanently.

Um we started to investigate all the property around the airport.

We found that uh the parcel was uh zoned incorrectly, uh not consistent or not consistent with uh airport property.

So the airport property is an industrial property, uh, and this property should have been uh at least that uh when it was originally uh purchased, but for some reason it it never was.

So uh this process is is to turn it from an R2 designation, which it never really was because Deal Cell High School was on it, to now what is going to be a B4.

Um also because of the uh closing of the runway, this land has become uh surplus land uh that could be made uh available for lease, which is consistent with the federal aviation administration.

Um airport compliance and grant assurances dealing with uh airport sustainability, uh airport sustainability clauses, which allows for an airport department to turn it into uh revenue generating instead of for safety.

Um so on that uh that is a little history of the of the piece of property and it's uh why the airport would have a piece of property across the street from Connor.

On that, I'll give it uh to Esma.

Through the chair to the honorable body, thank you.

Uh Eric, and you can go to the next slide.

Uh good morning and thank you for the opportunity to present today.

Uh, thank you, Eric, and thank you, Jason.

Uh, I think that context is very important because it helps explain the broader airport and land use context uh surrounding this rezoning request and why the property itself has become an important redevelopment opportunity following the decommissioning of runway 725.

Uh today's hearing is focused on proposed rezoning request associated with the Aviation Institute of Maintenance or AIM, uh, which is proposing an aviation workforce training campus near Detroit City Airport at the former Davis Air Aerospace site.

Uh the project aligns with broader city goals around workforce development, educational opportunity, aviation related economic growth and productive reuse of airport adjacent land.

Uh, we also want to emphasize that today's hearing is specifically related to the rezoning request and land use compatibility.

Additional review processes related to site planning operations, permitting and future engagement would certainly continue beyond this hearing process.

And so uh just wanted to speak to the community engagement piece related to this project as as we made our way to the honorable body.

Uh ahead of today's hearing, there was intentional and proactive stakeholder and community engagement in coordination with the Department of Neighborhoods, City Airport, CPC staff, DEGC, uh the administration, uh, and of course your office, madam chair.

Uh this included uh an April 30th stakeholder meeting with airport area and community stakeholders, including aviation and neighborhood representatives, a May 4th community engagement meeting that had approximately 40 attendees and included presentations from the city regarding the rezoning process as well as a presentation from AIME regarding the proposed training campus and two city planning commission public hearings.

Additional outreach efforts also included flyer distribution through stakeholder and neighborhood networks, direct outreach to airport area stakeholders and coordination with neighborhood and district four community leaders.

And overall uh the engagement process was productive and generally well received.

Uh one of the central reasons we are excited about this opportunity is because of the workforce development and educational pathways this project could create for Detroit residents.

AIM specializes in FAA certified aviation maintenance training programs that prepare students for careers in aviation maintenance and related technical fields.

So this project represents an opportunity to create stronger workforce pipelines connected to aviation and skill trades.

Um during engagement meetings, affordability and access for Detroit residents consistently surfaced as an important question.

Uh and the city views those conversations as important before it as the project continues to advance.

And so with that, I'd like to now transition to Dr.

Ben Clark from the Aviation Institute of Maintenance team to provide additional context on the project, uh, the proposed training campus, the educational and workforce opportunity opportunities that this project could create for Detroit residents in more detail on the operations and the vision for the project moving forward.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you.

Thank you, Dr.

Hosman, and and thank you very much to Madam Chair and the entire panel.

Uh my name is Dr.

Ben Clark.

I had the luxury of serving as the vice president of business and civic impact for Aviation Institute of Maintenance.

Um and as a 20-year employee here at the school, it is truly an honor.

I know you all are very busy.

It's truly an honor to speak with you all today.

I'm going to share my screen if that's all right with you.

Yes.

Thank you very much.

Bear with me.

Nope.

Sorry, more teams inclined over here.

Give me one second, please.

Madam Chair, can you see my PowerPoint slide deck?

Yes.

If you can put it in, there you go.

We can see it.

Thank you so much.

And I appreciate the patience and grace in that in that moment.

So yeah, so again, happy to speak with you all about our plans to bring FAA approved aviation maintenance training to the city of Detroit.

I want to thank Mr.

Evans and Mayor Sheffield for their support since last summer to get to this aspect of the process.

It takes a village to raise a student into a graduate, and same thing for a school.

And thank you very much to Mr.

Jason Watt for taking such good care of the property across the street.

We're very much looking to bring an $8 to $10 million facility to 11400 Connor Street.

Just to share, Aviation Institute of Maintenance has been around since 1969.

For the last five years, we have probably produced just over 20%, 21.5% actually of the FAA ANP technicians.

AMP stands for Airframe and Power Plant.

Airframe being the fuselage or the body of the airplane and power plant being the engine turbine or widget that makes the airplane go.

We are the FAA training provider.

And so and that comes under part 147 training, if anybody would like to get that granular.

As we are the training provider, students do test with the FAA after our 21 months of training.

And so with that license that they receive from the FAA, they're able to work on any types of aircraft in the United States, from nose to tail, wing to wing.

Currently we have 15 locations across the United States.

We are home-based in Norfolk, Virginia, where I'm speaking with you all today.

That was our very first campus.

And since then, we have manifest destined all the way out into the West Coast.

We've heard and seen several demand signals where Detroit should be our next campus location.

And I'll get more into those uh demand signals from different employers and government offices in just one minute.

But this is just to give you an idea of where we're located here now.

And let me just say before I forget, if um uh madam chair or anyone on the on the board, if you all are ever in the neighborhood, so to speak, and would like to have a tour of one of our campuses, uh, please let me know and we'd be honored to give you you and or your team a tour of our campuses and even do a hands-on demonstration with you.

Uh, just to kind of give you uh a view from 30,000 feet, pun intended, uh Boeing, who I'm sure we've all heard of for one reason or another, a huge airplane aircraft manufacturer globally.

Um, they're expecting that we need just about 700,000 new aviation technicians uh by early 2040.

I'm sure we're all familiar with what's happening in the public education world.

Uh, more public school teachers are retiring or leaving the industry uh versus the teachers that are coming in.

The exact same thing is happening in aircraft maintenance.

And and I know Jason Watts nodding his head, even though I can't see him right now.

Um, more experienced technicians are are leaving out, and so we need to have more uh uh aviation technicians coming into the field, more so now than ever.

Um, as we all have uh as air travel becomes more affordable, as we continue to order more goods uh from Amazon and from other places, uh those goods or packages get to us very quickly because of aircraft travel.

So for a variety of reasons, uh it's really important that we have technicians.

Um if anybody's curious for every one commercial pilot, you need about 10 10 maintenance technicians for a commercial airplane.

So it's very, very vital.

Um we are very focused on return on investment for students.

Just to share with you, I've worked here for 20 years and very proud to say that because of the student support services that we offer in-house, not academic support services and non-academic, um, and then also the return on investment for students.

Uh, we are laser focused on ensuring that at least 70% of our students graduate and have a job in field within six months of graduation.

And we're proud to say that our most recent accreditation um submission that we hit 80% placement for our school system, which we're very proud of.

Um, and I want to emphasize that's 80% of our graduates turning wrenches, so to speak, on an aircraft.

If we were able to count students that receive a very well paying stable job outside of aviation, we would be at 92%.

But again, we are laser focused on in field.

Companies like John Deere, Disneyland, Universal Studios that have high powered roller coasters.

They hire our students on a regular basis.

The people movers that you have at the airport, escalators, things of that nature, they hire our students on a regular basis because of the mechanical training.

However, we don't count that within our 80% placement rate because it's not in the field of aviation.

And we offer that ROI to students in the form of career fairs.

We offer at least three three career fairs on campus for morning and evening students.

And that's correct.

We have a morning shift and an evening shift for all of our students.

And we teach Monday through Thursday.

The campus is open on Friday and Saturday for tours and also additional free tutoring for students.

I mentioned earlier about the demand signals that we have to come to the city of Detroit.

And we're very proud to say that our longtime partners in the form of Delta Airlines and also Sky West, they wish we were in the city of Detroit like it was yesterday.

They realize that the more equipment that they give us, the better our students and graduates are able to be workforce ready after graduation.

And also Lockheed Martin, Lockheed Martin outside, which is not an airline.

And they would love to see us in the city of Detroit as well.

In addition, we also have uh local uh partnerships.

We already have signed MOUs with uh Wayne, Wayne County Public Schools, also Washingaw County, um, and also Wayne Risa.

Hope I pronounced that correctly.

Um, at the public school level uh to offer dual credit.

And I'll talk more about dual credit opportunities here in a minute.

We also have a assigned MOUs uh with Wayne State University and Wayne County Community College as well to um to work towards a dual credit program uh for for adults in a higher education environment as well.

Um and lastly, we're also going to be partnering with a MRO, which is a maintenance repair and overhaul um organization called AAR.

Um AAR works on airplanes, just how similarly how your car needs to get inspected once a year or have uh general maintenance.

Uh we don't that general maintenance usually is not done at an airport, it's done at an MRO facility and AAR based out of Chicago would love to see us have a facility in in the city of Detroit too.

So we already have a good runway, pun intended, uh, when it comes to local uh partnerships at the public school level and higher education, but also uh for employer and career pathways for our students and graduates.

Uh the vision for 1400 Connor Street, um, I first and foremost, you're you're you're not hallucinating.

This is not a picture of 1400 Connor Street.

Uh, what you're looking at right here is a picture of where I'm talking to you from.

This is a picture of our campus here in Norfolk, Virginia.

Um, the reason why I'm sharing this picture is to showcase to you that our our training facilities come in many different shapes and sizes.

Uh the building that you're seeing right here, the reason why I wanted to showcase this is because I know the uh location at Connor Street is very much surrounded by a residential area, and we want to definitely respect that and just address it uh openly.

Um what we've done to ensure that our that we are good neighbors within the community is the following.

Uh, first and foremost, my myself personally and the school director Ashley Odin personally went around to uh our neighbors within that neighborhood behind the school and personally knocked on doors, told them that we were coming into the facility, what to expect.

And what to expect was that we have classes Monday through Thursday.

We are an FAA aircraft maintenance uh training facility, and that they could hear uh small general general aviation or a Cessna airplane, if you're more familiar with that term, uh general aviation aircraft engine run-ups occasionally uh from 9 30 a.m.

to 7 p.m.

Monday through Thursday.

Um we are happy to build a sound wall in Detroit if that's necessary, uh, but we wanted to make sure people were aware of the type of training that was going on, uh, that if they did hear an engine that it wasn't something that was um uh not controlled or possibly in a dangerous environment, as you can imagine uh being in an approved FAA training facility comes with a lot of strict safety requirements, which we're happy to meet each and every day before we start class, either in morning or in the evening.

And uh thankfully to say we've had a lot of we've had a lot of great success here in Norfolk with this type of facility.

We also have a training campus in uh Newark that's located next to a residential facility, uh residential area.

We did the same sort of uh door knocking process um and explained what was going on.

Um and again, I I want to emphasize engine run-ups are not every day.

Uh they happen, I would just say occasionally, uh maybe once or twice a week.

Sometimes a whole week could go by, and we don't have a single engine run-up based on weather and curriculum.

Uh, but I also before I leave this page, I just want to highlight again the engine run-ups would not would not occur before 9 30 a.m.

or after uh 7 30 p.m.

9 30 to 7 30 is our engine running uh hours, and that would only be be Monday through Thursday.

Uh talked about, yeah, or kind of alluded to how we'll be a good neighbor, so I'm gonna keep moving here.

Uh, we're very happy to again have very happy to be or hope to be at the property across the street from the Coleman A.

Young Airport.

Uh I uh I want to thank the young lady who spoke uh from friends from the Coleman A Young Airport for their support.

We've also talked to the Tuskegee Airmen Group uh who we are a chapter member uh supporter in the city of Chicago, where we have um uh another campus.

And so uh the support that we've had thus far has just been um overwhelming in the most positive of ways and and and nothing but gratitude here.

Uh in addition to that, we're also very happy to be part of the community and do our part.

Um again, we're gonna be bringing an eight to ten million dollar state of the art FAA approved facility.

Uh we will be bringing on approximately 50 full-time uh salary positions, which will come with health benefits, 401k, PTO, etc.

Um obviously that comes with taxable income and disposable income for the city, which I know is great.

Um, and then we're also looking to work with different uh different folks in the community service learning projects, you know, when it comes to hopefully building a bus stop in front of the school and other types of um service learning projects that we can partner with the airport.

So I know I just shared a lot, and that can be uh definitely a mouthful.

I'm definitely open to any type of questions, and thank you very much for allowing me to present to you all today.

Thank you.

Excellent.

Thank you.

Um, let me just say I am personally ecstatic to have you all um joining us in District 4, uh, just across the street from District 3, where the Komena Young uh municipal airport is.

Um I really do appreciate the collaboration and the thought around supporting students who attend uh Davis Aerospace for them to be able to get continued education and move into the aviation field.

I know these are amazing careers that our residents, um, our youth can actually sign up for and continue uh within this space.

And so I'm really really delighted to have you all joining us on the east side and and certainly being in District Four.

Um I don't have any specific questions today, um, but just really look forward to the collaboration, the connection, and I I want to share with Detroiters to make sure that you get your children first and foremost signed up for Davis Aerospace because it is not a school that is only for Detroit residents.

I see other cities that actually come in and sign their kids up for Davis Aerospace.

Um, but it's important for us to make sure we get that information out.

Um, and then certainly looking forward to this opportunity for them to extend their learning, their training, for them to move into an aviation career.

Um I'm not sure who can answer this very quick question.

What is the timeline that we are anticipating moving this forward to implementation?

Uh I'll speak from the operation sides from Aviation Institute of Maintenance, also known as AIME.

Um, AIM would love to have a facility opened.

I would if you're asking me on July 9th, we would be happy to have a facility open by the end of 2027.

Uh we have experience opening campuses anywhere from 10 to 14 months, depending on what obstacles or lack thereof we have to face.

Um the the we have a whole team that has has done this for decades plus and they're still with us.

So we have experience with that, and um I just want to thank everybody in the city for being nothing but supportive up to this process.

It's been a really um great village mentality, and I mean that is the utmost compliment.

Clark did you have something additional you wanted to add yes ma'am i'm I'm I was looking at my notes and I would not I would lose sleep tonight if I didn't share this another part of my job is scholarship for students and so we have pathways partnerships with um American Airlines Piedmont British Airways um um also PSA air airlines where they offer scholarships to our students um whether and also United Airlines I'd just in case they're listening give scholarships to our students too sometimes those are just um what I would consider a free scholarship there's no there's nothing tied to it um other forms of scholarships and as an as as a parent these are my favorite um a scholarship in return for 24 months of or 36 months of work um when my daughter comes home one day I'm talking into existence she's 13 when she comes home one day and says dad I've got a a a full ride scholarship and after I graduate I have a stable employment for three years uh that's a celebratory night we're going out to dinner that night and so for us to have employers that offer that on a continual basis Delta being one uh we hope Sky West comes on as well in addition to their training aid donations uh but in addition to the dual credit I wanted to highlight the the scholarships and of course we will be a title for approved school by the department of education where students who are not able to get scholarships can apply for Pell Grants of federal student loans um and also we will be approved by the um a veteran's office to offer GI Bill services to either the student or their dependent if they want to transfer their GI um benefits.

Thank you very much for letting me add that thank you that's excellent information to add.

And madam chair if I could add just one more brief comment uh that they're actually the exciting thing for our residents is that if they choose to go to Davis Aerospace technical high school and graduate through their their uh maintenance program they will then knock a third of the overall cost of AIM off of their uh tuition which is enormous and I you know the the I think the overall education right now for AIM is somewhere around 52000 so that number would drop somewhere around 37 let we'll call less than 4000 dollars roughly but for an education that can pay you you know 7072000 dollars right out the box uh that that's that seems like a pretty pretty good deal in today's environment I just want to throw that out there awesome and I'm I'm sure many parents will be ecstatic to hear that all right pro Tim Young any questions comments I'll make you super quick thank you um hello everybody this is a great project and a long time coming uh sorry about that I was saying if you were paying attention I was testing you guys on my microphone.

Um but I just I I just want to ask you really quickly can you tell me what your day night average sound level is absolutely um I I'll get that to you I don't remember off the top top of my head uh we did do a sound test and shared that with the mayor's office what I can remember is that it wasn't any louder than the noise that's already happening at the airport.

Okay.

Um I I want Jason please nod your head or correct me if I'm wrong here the again we don't have huge commercial aircrafts at our campus we just don't have the space for that and but the cool thing is in if you can do work on smaller planes um the physics and the strategy and the importance of safety doesn't change um and to the bigger planes right you just get you just get more training on that and so um and also if I remember correctly last year the Coleman A Young Airport had uh over 40 I think it was 42,000 uh takeoff in landings last year we are not going to fire up an engine 42000 times not even um a thousand times in a year so when you take into account the of the noise that's already occurring there the fact that our planes are not as as big therefore they don't produce as much sound and I cannot emphasize enough how we really stay strict to that 930 to 730 Monday through Thursday engine run up because we want to be very respectful to people's mornings and especially to people's evenings and if we do need to build a sound wall to help protect some of that sound or to have it reverberate in other towards other areas we're very open to that and we're also open to designing the building so engine run-ups happen closer to the airport as opposed to maybe uh closer to a house no I appreciate that and I thank you and if you could just get me the information that that was really encouraging you just give me the information of what zone we are too in terms of numbers um I would really appreciate you know where we are just so I can know just so I can tell my constituents that when I talk to them about this.

Um I would really appreciate you know where we are, just so I can know, just so I can tell my constituents that when I talk to them about this.

Can I just add so this is getting getting a little bit technical, but I just want to just add some context for you so we can get you the you can when you get the information, you'll understand it better.

Please.

So a DNL is basically a 24-hour noise measurement in aviation.

That's what we do.

That's the day-night noise level.

The deal is is that uh when we look and evaluated uh aims noise, we couldn't get it to mirror up.

It doesn't mirror up.

And the reason it doesn't mirror up is because there it's noise is like in short bursts, where our noise at the airport is a constant.

So uh uh when we when we were evaluating it, that it did not change the overall noise contours for the airport, which would be consistent around 60 to 65 DNL.

When you get outside of those numbers, then that that requires a mandated uh noise study.

Right.

And this this does not generate that level of noise.

Not even it doesn't, it won't even change anything.

In fact, I anticipate that it will it will either stay the same or decrease just because that area is not used for approach protection anymore.

Okay.

No, no, that's what I was looking for.

I was wondering, was it gonna hit?

Was it good?

I I didn't think he would, but I was concerned when it hit that action zone sixty-five or plus.

I I was assuming it was in the either in the mitigation or it was in the watch.

I didn't assume it was in the action zone, but I just want just for my P Z Q's, this is an expansion.

I just want to make sure that we keep that and we stay where that is in that level.

But I just need to know that.

You know what I'm saying?

So what I'm saying matches up with what the reality is.

So when I'm talking to my constituents, I'm not saying, well, this is that, and then they come back saying, no, it actually is this, and you don't know what you're talking about.

You know what I'm saying?

I'm not getting caustic in public.

So I just want to make sure that everything I'm saying is consistent with what is.

Okay.

100%, 100%.

And and I can that can be proven uh, or the discussion can take first further into the uh our airport layout plan where the the noise contour sit.

So, yes, we do have that information at the airport.

No, that's phenomenal.

And I also just wanted to ask uh do we have uh um carbon use effectiveness so that we can make sure that you know uh when we when planes are taking off or things that nature that it is environmental, I'm I'm sure it is, but I just want to make sure that we have you know, um, and our measurements in terms of particular matter, ozone or carbon monoxide or sulfur dioxide or nitrogen dioxide and our lead.

Um, are we measuring that?

Do we have a dashboard that shows the people what that is consistently over time, just so we're transparent with what that is, so we know that it's safe and are there technologies that are gonna be implemented to be able to make sure that we are doing that, you know, carbon capture, other such technologies.

And Director Watt, if you can keep your response brief, we are going to bring this back in two weeks as a continued public hearing, and we can have a greater discussion around that because that is very important to residents surrounding this facility.

Yes, yes, ma'am, through the chair.

I I can answer this question directly.

So the the airport is is a producer of of carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide, all those things.

That that's just a fact.

Um, but the type of fuel that uh uh Dr.

Clark and his team aim will be using is uh uh hundred low lead, which is uh not jet fuel.

So you're not gonna get the type of uh odors that you would get when engine run-ups for jet engines are taking place because that's kerosene, a different type, it's a little bit sweeter smell, and it's it's it's really really pungent.

So the hundred low lead is consistent with what you'd find in any vehicle on the street.

Uh if it was souped up, you know, modify a little bit, but it's it's regular regular gas.

Okay.

Well, well, I got I got some standard targets that you know you're supposed to be hitting.

I you know, um, the chair, the chairwoman would tell me to wrap it up, so I'm gonna wrap it up now.

But I got some I got some targets that you're supposed to be hitting in some other questions, but this is the this is a great project.

Um I'm I'm in support of this.

This is something that I wanted to support for a very long time in terms of expansion, something that's happening.

So I look forward to working with you guys and just I just want to make sure that we cover our P's and Q's here and we gotta make changes or add it.

We add it now rather than uh I'll rather be safe to be sorry.

So thank you so much.

Thank you, manual chair, I'm done.

Thank you, Pro Tim Young, and we will continue the discussion.

I don't want anybody to think that um I'm saying that we are not going to get the answers to your questions because I'm sure those are questions that residents and the community have as well.

Uh and so with that, because we do have another public hearing subsequent to this, um, we will turn to public comment regarding the public hearing.

If there's anyone joining us who'd like to make a public comment uh regarding the public hearing that we just witnessed, please raise your hand, whether in person or virtually going once, going twice, going three times, the collection of public comment have concluded.

Aaron, how many hands do we have raised?

Ma'am here we have five hands raised, um, beginning with William M.

Davis.

William M.

Davis, you have one minute for public comment.

Uh good afternoon.

Can I be heard?

Yes.

I I don't know, they may have said it, but I didn't hear that about how many people will be employed and do and do Detroiters get preferential treatment and um and also um the leadership of the uh this group is it is any uh African Americans involved with it.

Those are my questions.

Thank you.

Happy to answer those if that's appropriate.

Uh Dr.

Clark, we will allow everyone to uh via public comment, and then we'll come to you for responses.

Yes, ma'am.

Aaron, who do we have next?

The next caller is Jadante Smith.

Jadante Smith, you have one minute for a public comment regarding the public hearing.

Perfect.

Uh I wanted to know is any of this land uh near or adjacent to the land that was sold or bought from Michael Kelly um along the airport.

Also, um there are lots of houses along um Connor Street, which is right at the border of district three and district four that are going to be affected by this um with the noise.

I would think.

Um I think it may be a wonderful idea.

I also uh lament the same comments from uh William Davis about uh the the black population, also how many jobs will be created from this project.

I had a few other questions, I forgot them, but thank you.

Thank you.

The next caller.

The next caller is Cindy Dara.

Cindy Dara, you have one minute for public comment regarding the public hearing.

Yeah, I just want to congratulate Beverly Kendall Walker and Keith Font Heinz, who've worked on this project for years, decades.

They tried to get the school out there and they put it go lightly on uh Jefferson and and Drexel in that school instead of out by the airport, which they were trying to get it to be put in the airport.

Uh years ago, they tried to expand that airport so Southwest Airlines, which is much better than um the one that you're dealing with, which was a fraud, I think.

Anyway, uh they they wanted to do a bigger airport, and uh they could they couldn't dig up the graves to make longer runways, so they couldn't make it uh or they bring Southwest in.

But uh I'm I think it's great.

Uh and should be done, and there's gonna be new fuel developed.

Uh is this unbroken.

Look at that.

Thank you.

The next caller.

The next caller is Beverly Kendall Walker.

Beverly Kendall Walker, you have one minute for public comment.

Greetings again.

I just want to reiterate our support, the Friends of Detroit City Airport support of this project.

As Cindy Darrell just indicated, this has been a long time coming.

Uh the other gentleman who uh community comment regarding the residents of this area, some residents have participated in the um settings.

And so the thing about the placement, the footprint of the school is important as Jason indicated to be closer to Connor as opposed to the back end near Wilfrid.

So that should suffice with any type of noise uh potential.

This will be in an enclosed building with proper ventilation, so that should be mitigated.

But the win-win is that is a workforce development for aviation, which we sorely need in this community.

I am 100% in favor of this project coming.

ASAP.

Thanks.

God bless.

Thank you.

The next caller.

Miss Margaret Maddox and Scarlett, you have the floor regarding the 1030 public hearing.

Welcome back.

Because when I don't get into my candidates.

They did not think that couldn't do that.

That didn't just be.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And I believe that concludes public comment.

And now, Dr.

Clark, if you'd like to respond to any questions that you heard that are pertinent to your end of the project.

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you, madam chair, and thank you for the grace.

Regarding the number of jobs, we will be employing approximately 50 full-time employees, and that will be made up of administrative staff and also instructors and then general support staff.

So somewhere approximately 50 give or take two folks, and all of those folks will come with uh full-time PTO right when they come on board.

We have a very generous benefits right when you um are become employed with us.

There's no six-month or one-year grace period.

So as soon as you are employed, obviously your salary and PTO 401k and health benefits.

Regarding Detroiters getting preferential treatment, uh, very appreciative of the city of Detroit and their various offices, um, willing to help us uh with staffing and identifying uh citizens of Detroit who are interested and capable of working for us.

Uh, we very much look forward to that process and and interviewing uh Detroit citizens.

Um, and just to share uh employees of ours, um, they or their dependents can also benefit benefit from our educational benefits.

We have several employees now where their children come to school here, and the tuition is free, and so looking forward to offering that to Detroit citizens as well who become employed with us.

Uh, regarding African Americans um and the ownership group, um, I can say yes to that.

Don't know their specific background.

I've only had the pleasure of meeting them once or twice at a dinner, uh, but I can say from a from a general 30,000 foot visual view, yes, yes, there are African Americans within the ownership group of Catula Education, which owns and operates Aviation Institute of Maintenance, and then uh lastly, as a title for approved school by the Department of Education, uh, we have a a legal and we also have a moral requirement to be ADA compliant.

We have an office of disability services at our school, which helps out um uh courageous students and helps them support uh their disability and so they can get to FAA certification.

We also work with the FAA testers um because that's a different process.

Uh getting support services in school is one process, getting support services during the FAA testing process is another, and so we work with the FAA testing center um as soon as a student openly discloses and would like to have that support conversation with the FAA, and we help grease those wheels so that way the student has support with us for 21 months and then has uh proper support when they test with the FAA after they graduate from us.

And so we work with the FAA testing center as soon as a student openly discloses and would like to have that support conversation with the FAA, and we help grease those wheels so that way the student has support with us for 21 months and then has uh proper support when they test with the FAA after they graduate from us.

And yes, uh we look forward to having sliding glass doors and ADA compliant bathrooms.

Thank you, thank you, madam chair.

Thank you.

Through the chair, I can answer a couple more questions here for you.

Um as it regards to Michael Kelly, uh this property is nowhere near the property that uh was was uh under uh issue with with Michael Kelly on the back side of the airport, um, which is district three.

Uh then um for Beverly Kindle Walker and Keith Hines, my superheroes.

I just wanted to say that everything that was said is a hundred percent correct.

This airport would not be moving forward if it weren't for the efforts of many stakeholders, but specifically I'll call out Beverly Kendall Walker and Keith Hines as they've been champions for the airport since before I got here.

So uh I just want to just say that this has been a huge project for them.

My my job as a humble servant of the city here is to make sure our residents are happy, and as long as Beverly's smiling, I know I'm doing my job.

So uh I think Mayor Duggan used to say that also.

So I I think that that's that's that's positive.

Um, as far as new fuel goes, um I am familiar with biofuels, so we're working through uh working through all of that.

Um I'm not exactly sure where AIM is gonna land on biofuels biofuels, but I'm sure they wouldn't be objectionable to as long as it makes the engine spin.

Uh, but AFLite does have the ability to provide those biofuels.

Uh uh, we we can make that happen.

Um, and then uh let's see.

I would say also that that all the facilities at the airport uh will meet ADA compliance standards uh as we redevelop the airport.

That's uh important for the airport as well as for the city of Detroit.

Excellent.

Thank you.

I just want to remind everyone we have 15 minutes before we conclude this committee.

Uh Ms.

Young, you had something you wanted to add.

Yes, um, through the chair, very quickly.

Um, just to accent what Dr.

Clark talked about.

We have specifically been working with uh Detroit Employment Solutions and Detroit at work to ensure that we have a good pathway for Detroiters to be hired into the positions at AIN.

Thank you so much for that.

Um and I know we are all very excited about this project.

Um I do want to know that in order for us to satisfy our noticing requirements, we do need to uh bring this item back as a continued public hearing.

Uh and so I believe I get to do this at the call of the chair, right?

Is that correct?

Um is there anything else we wanted to add?

Director Talett No, Madam Chair, again, uh just that with the point that you were making, uh the item does need to be adjourned uh to a date and time specific, which I believe has already been achieved and properly noticed by the clerk.

Perfect.

Yes, thank you.

Um and so with that, and Dr.

Clark, I did see your hand, and I apologize.

We will have to conclude.

We have to wrap up now.

Um I would like to um adjourn the public hearing and uh note that the continued public hearing will take place on July 23rd, 2026 at 1055 a.m.

to the call of the chair.

Thank you all so much.

We will uh see you back on July 23rd again at 1055 a.m.

Thank you all so much for all of the hard work, and we certainly do see fruits of your labor.

Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Have a blessed day.

You as well.

I'd now now like to call back to order the 1035 public hearing.

The 1035 public hearing is to amend chapter 50 of the 2019 Detroit City Code zoning by amending Article 17 zoning district maps, section 50-17-4 district map number three.

And we have uh the team joining us here in person.

Once you are settled, please touch the base of the microphone.

The light will turn green and introduce yourself for the record.

Good afternoon now, Madam Chair Dolores Carolis Laura CPC staff, and if the team can introduce themselves.

Good afternoon, this honorable body, Brian Ellison, principal intersection consulting group on behalf of Michigan First Credit Union.

Good afternoon.

My name is Delonica Edwards.

I just go by lining for short.

I'm the chief operations officer for Michigan First Credit Union.

Good afternoon.

Thank you for joining us.

And I have a brief presentation I will share if I can if I can share my screen.

Yes.

This is for the proposed rezoning for Michigan First Credit Union.

The request itself is from Brian Ellison, who is representing Michigan First Credit Union in conjunction with the Detroit City Planning Commission to rezone the following properties located along Temple Street and Trumbull Street as well as Perry Street.

These various parcels will be rezoned from SD1, R2, and R3 to B2.

We are located in Council District 6 and the North Corktown neighborhood.

And the proposed or the purpose of this rezoning request is to pursue the modification of an existing credit union to include a drive-thru facility and to expand the vehicular parking and circulation within the area.

As a brief background on the North Corktown framework study that occurred a few years ago, the subject property is located within the Greater Corktown Neighborhood Framework Study.

This area underwent a rezoning alongside other properties within the North Corktown and Corktown neighborhoods in 2021.

Prior to the rezoning, the subject parcels uh for the proposed rezoning present day were zoned as before.

The site's um zoning designation was changed to SD1 to align with the goals and to support housing and opportunities for neighborhood uh serving retail for the study.

Currently, the surrounding land use to the north is SD1 and R2, which is single family residential, bank it residential and developed commercial.

To the east is R2 and R3, Vacant Residential and Single Family Residential.

To the south is SD1, Bakit Residential and Developed Commercial, and to the west is SD2 and SD5 zoning districts, which are vacant and developed commercial.

According to the future land use map, the proposed rezoning site uh is located in the Jeffries neighborhood and is designated as both special commercial and low medium density residential for the follow or for the subject block.

Uh PNDD did find the proposed rezoning to be generally consistent with the master plan.

Regarding community outreach, um there were various pre-hearing outreach efforts, um, including a um prior to the March 19th hearing that came to CBC.

The petitioner engaged nearby stakeholders uh regarding the uh proposed rezoning, including the North Corktown Neighborhood Association, uh the North Corktown Business Association, and then various um businesses along that corridor as well.

Uh on February 2nd, um the petitioner did engage the North Corktown uh neighborhood association, where both the NCNA and CPC staff and the petitioner were all present.

Uh key discussion topics included the site plan, membership structure, and then potential traffic impacts of the development.

The outcome of this meeting included NCA NCNA expressing a neutral position and interest in continued collaboration with the project as it advances, as well as a one letter of a concern, which was received by CPC staff highlighting concerns just regarding traffic and neighborhood character.

However, after the public hearing on March 19th, there were no individuals that spoke in opposition or in support of the proposed rezoning.

At the March 19th hearing, um, or after the March 19th hearing, CPC staff did receive a total of 177 letters of support from residents, users, and supporters of the proposed rezoning, highlighting their desires for a drive-thru portion of the bank and positive impacts it would have on their user experience.

Um present day there is still one letter of opposition that has not been retracted prior to the March 19th hearing, still citing traffic concerns.

The uh NCNA post the 19th post-tharch 19th hearing at CPC uh did provide a letter indicating again their neutrality to the project, citing uh Michigan First communication with the organization and support of the continued exploration of the project.

Uh with that, uh based on the zoning approval criteria of section 50-3-70 of the 2019 Detroit City Code, um CBC does uh recommend approval for the proposed rezoning.

And with that, I will be passing the presentation off to our petitioners.

Uh one brief moment.

There it goes.

If I can share my screen, I also have it here.

Yes.

Okay.

Uh I can work from this version.

So again, I'm Brian Ellison on behalf of Michigan First Credit Union.

Want to clear up a couple things up front.

I know that this is not uh this is not a benefits hearing, so I'm I'm you know, I just want to mention this on the side.

This is an eight and a half million dollar project which has sought and is seeking no city of support.

This is being done at the behest of MFCU and is emblematic of their dedication to expanding their operations into the city of Detroit.

Um the the primary site that we have here is 2825 Trumbull, which is an existing bank.

It used to be the Teamsters Credit Union, Teamsters and MFCU have come to an agreement by which the Teamsters Credit Union at this facility was absorbed by MSCU, as was most of their membership.

Um what you're seeing today to be very specific is a rezoning request that is singular in focus, and that focus is to take an existing bank which is being completely rehabilitated and renovated.

Footprint of the actual bank is not being changed for the uh addition of a drive-thru, and that drive-thru is the only reason that we're here today.

So the reason that the drive-thru is being requested is because the membership has requested that drive-thru.

And I'm gonna come back and talk to that in a little bit.

But first, who is uh who's Michigan First Credit Union?

They're established in 1926, they're one of Michigan's oldest uh credit unions and largest.

Uh they serve 175,000 members across Southeast Michigan.

Um this is a this is a female-led organization, CEO, C O O C F O, CMO.

Uh they are focused on community reinvestment and financial accessibility, and they as I said prior, they have integrated the former Teamsters Credit Union membership into their own.

This request again is to rezone primarily from an SD1.

That's where the uh the bank itself is located on Trumbull to a B2, again B2 specifically, so that we can go to a special land use hearing and request the addition of a drive-thru.

Drive-through is not permitted in SD1.

Uh there is no change to the core use.

It is a bank now, and it will be a bank.

Uh what we are seeking to do is enhance customer access and operational efficiency and essentially in response to the existing membership.

It's consistent with neighborhood serving commercial zoning, and this is a very modest adjustment that supports modern banking operations.

Um for clarity, 2825 Trumbull.

This is located along a predominantly business-oriented corridor.

Just so you guys know they're on the back side of uh the Michigan or the casino, Motor City Casino, and parking structure.

That's what's across the street.

Um this rezoning will align the zoning with existing and intended uses as stated by CPC staff.

Uh this land was zoned before prior to the rezoning to SD1, and our B2 use is less than the B4 in intensity.

Again, it's very specific in it in its intention, and it's uh very comparable in allowed uses to the SD1.

So I want to take a second here and talk about drive-thru services and why this is important.

Um because I know that from planning perspectives, there's there's positions on drive-throughs.

Um I know that the SD1 does not allow drive-throughs, but I want to talk about that.

Um, drive-throughs.

Mr.

Ellison.

If I can ask you to be as brief as you possibly can.

We we are essentially at our time for this committee, um, which wraps up at one o'clock.

Um there is uh the neighborhood and community services committee that is to succeed, come behind us.

Um I am going to adjourn after this hearing, but I I want to give you your time, but I'm asking if you can be succinct.

Um we we certainly do appreciate it.

Got it.

Okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna hit you with some high points.

The reason we're putting a drive-thru in is because uh there's about 117,000 Detroit residents that have a disability.

8.5% of Detroit residents have an ambulatory disability, which is about 55,250 people, and we have 94,000 Detroit residents that are over 65 years old.

The closest drive-thru drive-up banking facility where you can talk to a teller is 1.6 miles away is Comerica Bank.

There are very, very few credit unions or banks that allow drive-ups, largely due to zoning prohibitions.

Um we've talked about the ingredient the uh engagement.

We can go to the next one.

You know, and so I just I'm gonna close up here with this with our current status update so you know where we are and what we've done.

We've been in the rezoning process here since July uh 14th of 2025, as you know, and I appreciate the adjournment uh with a with a set certain date and a notice date, but we were prepared to present to this committee on the 25th of June, which is our original date.

There was no notice, apparently, so that pushed it to this date.

That notice again wasn't sent.

Here we are, we're being adjourned again.

Why am I bringing that up?

Because this timeline is mission critical.

So what we have done in order to move and and execute on our uh on our desire to do this project is we've divided into multiple phases so that we can do the maximum amount possible with the current zoning.

Right now, they've erected temporary offices, move the people out of the building.

We've secured a building permit at the cost of $50,984 to do the exterior and interior work to the existing bank.

Our big problem is that as we push this out without this rezoning, we cannot do the significant underwater detention that's gonna go into this new campus because it's gonna push us into a period of the season when we cannot do our underground work or our flat work.

So MFCU is committed.

Mfcu is uh is fully committed to the tune of six hundred thousand dollars in initial demo, already paid, building permits already paid, temporary offices already put up, and that for clarity is an at-risk investment because we've done it on the intentionality for installing the drive-through as requested by the membership.

So we got to get through here to get to there, and uh, but but we're committed to doing it, and we're underway as best we can be.

Thank you.

Anything uh further?

No.

Okay, thank you so much.

Um do appreciate the additional information.

I do do know that there were some noticing challenges, um, and we're gonna work through those as quickly as we possibly can so that it does not um delay the work that you all are are doing or able to do.

Um thank you.

Pro Tim Young?

They had me a team just now.

Okay, thank you.

So we do need to call for public comment.

I will do that.

Um I I know I was because it is a continued public hearing.

I can technically wait until two weeks from now to do public comment.

Um I am going to call for public comment today.

Um, is there anyone joining us who'd like to make a public comment?

Please raise your hand.

Yes, I see your hand, sir.

Uh, give me one moment.

Give me one moment.

Uh anyone joining us virtually, please raise your hand.

Going once, going twice, going three times.

The collection of public comment has concluded.

Aaron, how many hands do we have raised virtually?

Madam Chair, we have five hands raised.

All right, thank you.

We're gonna start with the individual in the committee of the home.

Through the chair, thank you.

Michael Tarniff with the Teamsters.

One moment, sir.

Okay.

Aaron, can you please put the clock on the screen?

Okay, there you are.

Michael Tarter for the Teamsters.

It's an honor to be in front of you.

Uh just want to talk about the great relationship we have with Michigan First.

It's been a great partnership as we move forward.

We're 100% supportive of this rezoning effort.

We've been uh on that parcel of land over there for over 75 years.

We think it's a great addition, not only to our neighborhood, but also to our membership, and this really has been driven by our retirees who have a desire for drive-thru, just more accessibility to banking.

So that's all I have to say.

Team shares 100% behind us.

Thank you.

Who's our first virtual caller?

The first caller is legendary Detroiter.

Caller, you have one minute for public comment regarding the public hearing.

Uh, in regards to this public hearing and all the rest of the public hearings that are held by the 2026 Detroit City Council.

I want it to be known to all the citizens, residents, and taxpayers of the city of Detroit.

I'm not a liar.

I do not lie.

I tell the truth.

And what I'm saying and what I've been saying and what has been put forth in this hearing and all the rest of the hearings is uh going according to the plan with the plan which I've covered and discovered to make Detroit a non-majority black city on the international border.

And it's been assisted this plan by the Detroit Department of Elections, and the facts are the facts, not a citizens, residents, and taxpayers, these are cheated in council people on a Detroit City Council.

Thank you so much for two thousand the next caller.

The next caller is phone number ending in 169.

Caller ending in one, can you guys hear me?

Yes.

Great.

My name is Jay.

Um black people, brown people, white people, yellow people, etc.

Thank you for praying for Brother Cunningham.

And don't just thank him.

Thank you.

This is not general public comment for NCS yet.

This these comments are have to be pertinent to the public hearing that we just held.

Who do we have next?

Our next caller is Cindy Dara.

Cindy Dara, you have one minute for public comment regarding the public hearing.

Uh I didn't.

I got a question because I didn't wasn't listening real carefully.

Don't know how my hearing aid working.

Uh, and I take my vitamins.

So anyway, what I wanted to ask you, are you taking over the old um it was um manufacturers bank and then it became uh I think uh co America, and I think that's empty now, or and so now they're gonna put a credit union for the teamsters.

I'm not sure, but uh co America merged with uh the uh Michigan first, I think it is so it's a uh I just was curious about that, and um that's about all I got to say on that.

I uh and also I want to just mention Isaac Robinson used to work for the Teamsters and for Conyers, and we do think that maybe he got cheated when he was running for city council against Lopez, and he should have been elected.

Thank you.

Who do we have next?

Our next caller is Joanne Warwick.

Joanne Warwick, you have one minute for a public comment.

May I be heard?

Yes, okay.

Um, I I was multitasking, so I missed images, but umce again.

Uh are you gonna put any solar panels up since the cities you know wants people to go solar, I guess, or supposedly it's a fundamental governmental function for them.

I don't really see that, but also um uh so solar panels, and then also uh you'd have idling cars to get through the drive-thru.

So that would increase greenhouse gas emissions.

Um and uh very possibly also I just have a bit of concern that this is so close to the uh casino, and uh some people have gambling addictions, and so maybe this just facilitates them losing more money.

But you know, if the teamsters wanted that something, but these are some thank you.

The next caller.

The next caller is Marguerite Maddox and Scarlet.

Miss Marguerite Maddox and Scarlet, you have the floor regarding the 1035 public hearing.

Thank you.

Um my big concern is you're gonna be near what you shot where we can go here and uh the last new and uh we're like to say thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And that concludes public comment.

I'll give them an opportunity to respond and then I will adjourn shortly.

I heard I can I know that we didn't have the opportunity.

Um I'm sorry, madam chair.

Uh I heard that people didn't have the opportunity to see the the drawing of the renderings.

And if I could put that up quickly, that'll probably we we can do that um when we the next one.

Okay, then I then I would like to answer the questions if I could.

Um for the first caller, this was not previously the Comerica Bank, it was actually the Teamsters Credit Union at Trumble and Temple.

Um and it is the same building, same footprint that we're talking about today.

The addition is of the drive-thru.

Um the question about idling cars is a pertinent question, and I think that uh very quickly, because I looked at drive-throughs, to be clear, um, there is a significant difference between what you see at potentially um a a fast food restaurant uh as opposed to a bank.

At the bank, based on the actual numbers from client use for their other facilities, we are looking at about ninety-si 97 members by car a day, which is about ten members per hour that will use the drive-through facility.

And by the way, they're only open from nine to six.

So um ten cars a day approximately, not a lot of idling, not a lot of waiting.

And then uh with regards to the close to the sidewalk, there is an entrance.

We didn't change the orientation of the existing building, but um there is a sidewalk accessible entrance where you transit from the sidewalk, walk up another protected sidewalk into the front door of the building.

Um I believe that that covers it.

There was one last question about solar.

Did you mention that?

At present, and I'll I can hand this off to to Lonnie if she'd like, but at present we don't have a design for solar, and we do have significant stormwater detention.

Uh, we are also doing a 100% rehabilitation renovation of the building, making it significantly, significantly more efficient than it was uh in its previous life, if you will.

Thank you.

Pro Tim Young, any questions, comments?

All right, thank you uh so much, and I apologize for the brevity, but we appreciate you being very brief.

Um without objection, I'd like to adjourn the 1035 public hearing until July 23rd, 2026 at eleven oh five a.m.

as a continued public hearing.

And without objection, I like to recess to the call of the chair.

Thank you, Mayor Chair.

I appreciate that.

Okay, yeah, I got one.

Uh neighborhood community serves the standing committee will now come into order.

Would a clerk please call the roll?

Yes, good afternoon, Council President Protect.