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for this RFP is available for download at this DESC website: https://www.descmiworks.com/opportunities/rfps-and-rfqs/.

Instead of ticket sales, the new USFL says TV deals make up the majority of its revenue.

e original USFL had plans to compete directly against the NFL. Shanks says that’s not the case this time.

“Both the original USFL and the new version started out of a place for the love of football. ere will never be plans for this USFL to go into the fall,” Shanks said. “It’s going to be a spring league to satiate that demand for fans who want to watch pro football in the spring. Athletes are better now than 40 years ago. e quality of play on the eld now is as good as any spring league that’s been in existence. e biggest di erence is our single-entity structure and knowing we’re not here to compete with the NFL.” e original incarnation of the USFL lasted just three seasons as it worked as a direct competitor of the NFL. e USFL lost $163 million over those three years, folding in 1986 after a stint that included an antitrust lawsuit against the NFL. e “new” USFL debuted in 2022 with eight professional teams all playing regular season games in Birmingham, Ala. e 2022 playo s were played in Canton, Ohio — home to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

For 2023, the teams will play in “hubs” near their home cities, but not necessarily in their home cities. ose hubs include elds in Birmingham, Ala., Memphis, Canton, Ohio, and Detroit.

Ford Field and the Lions stand to gain from the venture based on ticket sales and sponsorship opportunities. Shanks declined to comment when asked about his expectation for gameday attendance. Ford Field seats about 65,000. Protective Stadium, the Birmingham, Ala., venue that hosted all of the 2022 regular season games, seats about 45,000. Average attendance last season was about 12,500, according to Shanks.

“ e Lions run a lot of the operations on game day and run ticket sales for us,” Shanks said. “We’re both incentivized to make this a success.” e Lions declined to comment on the terms of the deal with the USFL. Tickets for the rst game of the 2022 USFL season were just $10. e average price of a ticket for an NFL game was more than $200, with teams such as the Las Vegas Raiders commanding up to $4,000. e low ticket prices serve as a way to get more fans into the stadiums, according to USFL lead play-by-play announcer Curt Menefee.

Pontiac

From Page 3

To this day, the city has yet to issue a medical marijuana license, nearly four-and-half years after voters in the city authorized 20 medical marijuana facilities in the city limits.

Paula Bridges, communications director for the city of Pontiac, said the city has yet to be served the lawsuit so no o cial comment was given. Rubicon and its attorney, Cindy Rhodes Victor of Kus Ryan PLLC, did not respond to emails seeking comment.

Rhodes Victor represented Hillside Productions Inc. and its owner Joe Vicari and Gary Roncelli in a successful $31 million suit against the city of Sterling Heights after it closed down the company’s concert amphitheater at Freedom Hill in 2003.

“Kids who can’t go to other sporting events can come to (USFL) games,” said Menefee, also the host of Fox Sports’ NFL pregame show. “ at’s what the league is trying to do — make the game more accessible for everyone.” e new USFL’s business model has been built around media rights and local and national television ratings, he said.

Shanks said the league didn’t look at prices in other leagues when setting USFL ticket costs. e goal is to make attending games a ordable for families, he said. “ e price range we have in each market is re ective of that,” Shanks said.

“You saw in season one that we decided to take our medicine with some empty stadiums,” Shanks said. “We knew that would happen in season one but it was part of the plan. en we evolved into some local markets. I think we’re probably less dependent on ticket sales other than saying we want to grow every year and make it a ordable for families and football fans to come and make this an exciting environment.

“ is is a startup. We’re learning as we go. I think we have the luxury of tweaking the marketing as we go, tweaking o ers for fans as we go. We’re clearly not opening the entire stadium. e Lions will consult us on how to go about o ering tickets, dealing with community groups. We’re trying to get as many people in as we can.” e expansion comes after the league in its inaugural season showed it was on solid footing, according to Darryl “Moose” Johnston, USFL executive vice president of football operations. e USFL in 2022 was the rst

NFL alternative to complete a full season since the original USFL in 1985.

“ e USFL is now proven as a stable brand on a national stage,” said Johnston, a Fox Sports color commentator and three-time Super Bowl champion with the Dallas Cowboys. “Crowning a champion last July was a great accomplishment. No one who has tried has completed a full spring season of football — not since the 1980s USFL. We expect season two to be even better.”

Major corporate backing helps.

Fox Sports has committed $150 million over three years to the league’s operations, with plans to attract an additional $150 million-$200 million from outside investors. All games are televised by Fox, NBC and partners.

Athletes may be better, but the league as it stands now lacks a bit of name recognition. e original USFL featured players including running back Hershel Walker, who joined the league coming o a historically great career at the University of Georgia. Hall of Fame defensive lineman Reggie White suited up for the Memphis Showboats for two seasons. Longtime Lions standout kick returner Mel Gray played two years with the LA Express.

Shanks on ursday told Crain’s that the USFL has learned from other sports leagues as it works toward sustainability.

Although they are both professional football leagues, there is one major di erence between them: the NFL is a major football league whereas the USFL is a minor league. e minimum salary for a USFL athlete is about $45,000. e minimum salary in the NFL is around $800,000.

Contact: jason.davis@crain.com

(313) 446-1612; @JayDavis_1981

 Dime Store

While the diner in the Chrysler House building (formerly known as the Dime Building) is best known for its breakfast and brunch, it’s still a great spot for a workday lunch. It says its menu is “a unique blend of scratch-made traditional favorites and creative combinations.”

Hours and more details: eatdimestore.com

 Lafayette Coney Island/American Coney Island

We’re not going to disclose which of the adjoined diners is our favorite, but both are great for a quick, lling lunch for nearby ofce workers. Two with everything and a Vernor’s is a good bet, or you can wolf down some chili fries or be good and get a salad (at American only).

Hours and more details: Lafayette and American Midtown Detroit

 Spread Detroit is deli o ers a selection of sandwiches with interesting names, like the Old Kanye, a nod to a line from a track on Kanye West’s 2016 album “ e Life of Pablo,” and the Smooth Criminal. A selection of stu ed angus beer burgers includes the riller and the Hangover, made with mac and cheese, cheddar cheese, bacon and sauteed onions. You might need a nap before you go back to work.

Hours and more details: instagram.com/spreaddetroit

 Jolly Pumpkin is funky brewpub turns out some great wood- red pizzas, salads and sandwiches. Try one of the artisan ales on tap or a hard cider, too.

Hours and more details: detroit. jollypumpkin.com

 Rocco’s Italian Deli

Get your sub sandwich x at Rocco’s, from a hearty meatball to a veggie version. Or grab a salad to eat in or at your desk.

Hours and more details: roccosdetroit.com

 Pho Lucky and Ima

If you like to slurp up your lunch, check out these spots for noodles and more. Pho Lucky has a Vietnamese-focused menu while Ima, across from Wayne State, also offers spicy tuna and sake.

Hours and more details: pholucky.net and imanoodles.com/ midtown

Corktown

 Slow’s Bar-B-Q

From beef brisket to smoked chicken wings and mac and cheese, Slow’s is the spot to go for barbecue in Corktown. In a hurry? ere’s also a to-go location in Midtown

Hours and more details: slowsbarbq.com/

 Ottava Via

You can’t go wrong at this bustling neighborhood Rustic Italian restaurant. It’s cozy enough to talk shop over lunch or bring the whole o ce. Try the bolognese, pizza or share some small plates like arancini and calamari.

Hours and more details: ottavaviadetroit.com

 Mudgie’s Deli

Grab a co-worker for a sandwich with names including Jerk (chicken and jerk mayo), Madill (turkey, bacon, avocado) and Porktown (house-smoked pulled pork, bacon, pickle, Mudgie’s coleslaw), salads and a great variety of soups.

Hours and more details: mudgiesdeli.com

 Nemo’s

If you are craving a burger (and maybe a beer to go with it), head to Nemo’s. In addition to ground beef, it has turkey, black bean and Beyond burgers. Get a basket of fries, too.

Hours and more details: nemosdetroit.com/

New Center

 Baobab Fare

Billed as “a celebration of East African food and culture,” this James Beard Awards 2023 semi nalist offers dishes including its signature Nyumbani (beef slow-simmered in ripened tomato sauce), Kuku (panfried chicken in rich, tangy mustard-onion sauce), vegetarian creations and daily specials.

Hours and more details: baobabfare.com

 Yum Village

Just down the block is Yum Village, which makes Afro-Caribbean meals and fresh juices.

Hours and more details: yumvillage.com

 Supino’s e Supino’s location in New Center o ers more than pizza (the star of the menu). It has house specials including fresh pasta and chicken piccata. Be a hero at the o ce and bring back some cannolis!

Hours and more details: supinopizzeria.com

 Zo’s Good Burger Sloppy burgers dominate the ry, and Pharmaco, a marijuana processor, had planned to move into the development. It’s unclear whether Brown or associates are investors in either business. e leases held millions in value, according to the suit. Pharmaco’s 15year lease is valued at $37.5 million; Family Rootz two, 3-year leases were valued at $21 million and $15 million for Hollywood Market’s 10-year lease.

Strings attached

Rubicon entered into a purchase agreement in 2019 for the former Kmart site, which was then rezoned in 2020 to allow for marijuana businesses.

According to the lawsuit, Rubicon only achieved the conditional rezoning, from local business zoning to commercial and light manufacturing zoning, by agreeing to construct a retail strip and grocery store as part of the development, which would in- clude two medical marijuana licenses.

Rubicon negotiated leases with several retailers and secured a lease obligation from grocer Hollywood Market for the project.

Family Rootz, a medical dispensa- e suit alleges City Clerk Doyle refused to issue the necessary medical marijuana grower and processor permits because he believed the property was not zoned for marijuana businesses, despite clear language from the planning commission. e leases obtained by Rubicon were contingent on the development receiving permits for the marijuana businesses, the suit says. menu here, including e Good Burger (pretzel bun, topped with cheese sticks, American cheese, onion rings and Good Burger Sauce), a Lebanese Burger and a Kafta sandwich.

Hours and more details: zosgoodburger.com

Oakland County

 Bill’s, Bloom eld Hills

Located on Woodward Avenue e suit also alleges that city ocials then targeted Brown after he achieved a favorable ruling against the city in 2021. e suit alleges ocials told SK Properties, who was redeveloping a housing development in the city and hired Brown as a designer, they would only move forward with the plans if Brown’s rm was removed from the project.

As a result, SK terminated Brown’s $9.3 million contract, the lawsuit alleges.

Pot problems

Municipalities across Michigan are involved in lawsuits over the marijuana permit selection process, including Pontiac, Royal Oak, Berkley, Warren and many others.

Under the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act of

 Red Dog Saloon, Milford

Workers at the General Motors Co.’s Milford Proving Grounds swear by this place. It o ers standard bar fare (mozzarella sticks, jalapeno poppers, fried mushrooms) as well as chicken wings, burgers and salads. e standout, though, is the selection of three gourmet burgers that feature a half-pound of brisket. Try the loaded brisket burger, made with sriracha and cajun seasonings and topped with french fries and cheese. For lighter faire, try the cauli ower pizza.

Hours and more details: redogsaloon.com

 Pronto!, Royal Oak e lunch menu includes staples such as French Dip and a Reuben sandwich, along with Deluxxe Burger — an 8-ounce patty with cheese, lettuce, tomato jam, red onion and pickles on a toasted brioche bun. e Bennies, sandwiches made with extra large English mu ns, include the Flintstone Rib Bennie made with short rib, mushrooms, caramelized onions, Swiss and Boursin cheeses, poached eggs and sriracha hollandaise sauce. Your co-workers might have to roll you back to the o ce.

Hours and more details: prontolounge.com south of Long Lake Road, Bill’s fancies itself as an “old-school eatery serving American, French, Italian & raw-bar fare in upscale-rustic digs.” e restaurant, a part of the Roberts Restaurant Group, is open for lunch ursday, Friday and Saturday. e lunch menu features an Ortiz tuna melt, a raw bar, a short rib grilled cheese and grilled shrimp kale caesar salad.

Hours and more details: billsbloom eldhills.com at process often includes community bene ts, like opening a grocer in the development.

2018, passed overwhelmingly by Michigan voters, the state o ers unlimited licensure to marijuana operations; it’s up to local municipalities to create a competitive formula to decide who is allowed to sell or grow marijuana in their community.

Earlier this month, the Pontiac City Council continued to make changes to its medical marijuana scoring system. e city planned to give medical marijuana licenses to ve companies, but a Dec. 9 ruling by an Oakland County Circuit judge found the city’s scoring system was unfair to Marshall-based vertically integrated marijuana company Common Citizen.

Common Citizen’s suit alleged that the city’s process for awarding medical marijuana licenses was arbi- lobster rolls for lunch in a bright spot walkable from local o ces.

Hours and more details: eatathazels.com

 Sedona TapHouse, Troy e menu includes a selection of steaks, fresh-caught seafood, pasta, organic greens and gluten-free options. e bar has an extensive craft beer menu with 50 taps on hand.

Hours and more details: sedonataphouse.com

 Stoney River Steakhouse and Grill, Troy

Another Big Beaver Road spot, Stoney River boasts a sophisticated ambiance and emphasizes hand-cut steaks and fresh seafood. It has a full-service bar with unique cocktails.

Hours and more details: stoneyriver.com

Macomb County

 Ike’s Restaurant, Sterling Heights

A favorite of sta ers in the city’s industrial district, Ike’s has a huge lunch menu that includes chicken, seafood and vegetarian options. It also has an extensive Lebanese section that includes four types of kabobs and kibbeh. Burgers and gyros are o ered, too.

Hours and more details: ikesrestaurant.com

 Hi Sushi, Warren is sushi spot is in a bit of an inconspicuous spot near GM’s Warren Tech Center. It o ers a wide variety of rolls, including cooked “special” rolls. e Mexican roll comprises shrimp tempura and avocado, topped with spicy crab salad, crunchy akes, jalapeno and a thick eel sauce. e uncooked section includes a Van Dyke roll, made with tempura shrimp and spicy tuna, and topped with tuna, yellowtail, salmon and spicy mayo.

Hours and more details: hisushiwarren.com

Wayne County

 Lile’s Sandwich Shop, Dearborn

Less is more at this Dearborn staple. Lile’s o ers a menu featuring just a handful of items, one of which is its famous ham sandwich on a kaiser roll. e ham is cut fresh o the bone.

Hours and more details: Call (313) 581-2821

 Sheeba Restaurant, Dearborn is is a go-to spot for Yemeni food. Signature dishes include Fahsah, a traditional dish of shredded lamb and mashed potatoes served bubbling hot in a clay bowl with fresh clay oven bread. e popular slow-roasted lamb Haneeth is served over Mandi or Zorbian rice.

Hours and more details: sheebarestaurant.com

 Avenue American Bistro, Wayne is relatively new spot in downtown Wayne, less than two miles east of Ford Motor Co.’s Michigan Assembly Plant, has something for everyone. e shareables section of the menu includes Reuben egg rolls (a Detroit staple) and a brisket nacho featuring smoked meat and a tangy barbecue sauce. e section of four sliders, served in pairs, is plenty for a quick lunch. A honey chicken option was recently replaced with a Nashville crispy cod o ering — a tasty spin on the popular chicken sandwich.

Hours and more details: avenuewayne.com

— Crain’s reporter Jack Grieve contributed to this report.

 Sy Thai Cafe, Birmingham e Birmingham location of Sy ai, which celebrates 30 years in business this year, is the agship eatery. On the menu is ai peanut sauce that makes the ai Peanut entree a winner. Sy ai also o ers dishes featuring duck, shrimp, squid, salmon and snapper.

Hours and more details: sythaibirmingham.com

 Hazel’s, Birmingham e seafood-centric restaurant also o ers burgers, fried chicken and trary and rife with con icts of interest. e judge’s ruling e ectively awarded Common Citizen points in the scoring system it hadn’t received before the lawsuit. is pushed Common Citizen into the top ve of scoring eligible for a medical marijuana license, thus muscling out the former fth place holder Nature’s Remedy — which already invested $1.5 million into its dispensary location in Pontiac after being approved by the city’s planning commission, said James Allen, partner at Detroit-based law rm Schenk & Bruetsch PLC.

Allen said he is preparing a lawsuit against the city council over the issue in hopes of receiving an injunction to prevent the city from handing out the licenses.

Contact: dwalsh@crain.com; (313) 446-6042; @dustinpwalsh communities have some form of rent control, according to the Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. e resolution, put forward by Detroit City Council President Mary She eld, comes as housing costs have soared nationwide, including in metro Detroit. Here, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development anticipated an 11.9 percent increase in rental rates for two-bedroom apartments for the scal year that began Oct. 1, with rates rising to $1,213 a month, from $1,084 last scal yea

David Di Rita, principal of Detroit-based developer e Roxbury Group, said rent control here would be akin to “taking a New York solution to a Detroit problem without realizing it didn’t solve New York’s problem.”

“Rent control is a bad idea wherever it gets done and whenever it gets done,” Di Rita said. “It distorts the market. It reduces the incentive to develop and, in the end, reduces affordability, not enhances a ordability. It is a bad idea. All you have to do is look at the rampant abuse of it and the distortions in the marketplace that get created in markets like New York to understand that government mandates on what the marketplace needs to bear, by way of price to produce a good, is simply bad policy.” ey’ve grappled with increasing construction costs that have forced them back to the drawing board on projects. Rising interest rates and other factors have further complicated an already complicated — and risky — industry.

“How would you alleviate pressure on the developer side?” asked Clifford Brown, a Detroit-based developer who has worked on projects in Brush Park, West Village and southwest Detroit. “We are still seeing increases in interest rates and construction costs. What motivation would a developer or investor have to make an investment in the city of Detroit, where your income is restricted but your costs and your risk are not?”

What is rent control?

Rent control refers to a government-set limit on the amount of rent a landlord can charge. It’s di erent from rent stabilization, which usually limits the allowable percentage of a rent increase. Both are prohibited under the Michigan law enacted following a failed referendum in Ann Arbor that would have instituted rent control there, said Margaret Dewar, a professor emerita of urban and regional planning at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning.

Economists and others tend to oppose rent control because of negative consequences of such policies, which include decreasing rental housing stock as landlords convert apartments to condos, dampening new apartment construction and creating a disincentive to improve and update existing apartment buildings.

Dewar said in her view, rent stabilization is better — it can help prevent large jumps in rent for tenants while aiming to ensure that landlords can both cover costs and earn a reasonable return. It can be complicated to administer, she said, because it has to be designed so it doesn’t discourage new construction. But it can be useful to residents when rents are ris- ing rapidly.

Tenant advocates say rising rents have forced cash-strapped renters to the brink and a rent control policy would help them remain in their homes. at creates more neighborhood stability and leads to less tenant displacement.

It’s tempting for Steven Rimmer, a resident at New Center Plaza in Detroit and a founding member of the Detroit Tenants Association. His $625-a-month rent is a ordable, he said, but only because he was able to push back against a $269-a-month increase he said the landlord asked for last January.

Rimmer said he can only see the bene ts of a rent control policy.

“I think Detroiters deserve the right to be stably housed,” he said. “ at’s what Detroiters need, stable housing. at’s not stable if at the end of the lease, it can go up as much as they want.”

Lifting a ban

Detroit City Council President Pro Tem James Tate, who chairs the committee that will hear the proposal ursday, said in a statement that he wants to nd a way to safeguard tenants “who often have no protections nor warning for immediate and outrageous rent increases” while also not harming “a landlord’s ability to maximize the return on their investment property.” e resolution notes Detroit’s high percentage of renters, its low median income and the stress that a lack of a ordable housing causes. It says a lack of rent control contributes to an “astounding” number of evictions in the city and asks the Detroit delegation of the state House and Senate to introduce and enact legislation rescinding Michigan’s ban on rent control laws.

Information from the 36th District Court shows that there were 3,432 evictions signed in 2022. In 2020, in an apartment building for at least ve years. e Michigan State Housing Development Authority would have been required to develop and distribute best-practice guidelines for assessing the needs of older adults who have been displaced by increased rents in residential revitalization projects or converted neighborhoods.

Another measure would have mandated that area median income be measured at the municipal rather than regional level so cities with a high poverty rate could better enact a ordable-housing policies. is could be particularly impactful for Detroit.

Sen. Stephanie Chang, a Detroit Democrat who was involved in those proposals, said she is “de nitely eager to do some work around rent because rent is exploding all over the place.” e state ban, he said, is an outdated way that more rural white areas controlled what majority-Black cities could do.

Joe McGuire, a sta attorney with the Detroit Justice Center, also said many Detroit landlords view their properties as disposable commodities — something they extract rent from for a few years without upkeep, then often lose to tax foreclosure. He said it’s a situation that’s unique to Detroit because of still-low property values but one that regulation can help with.

“We can’t ignore the racial dynamics of this,” McGuire said. “I’m very hopeful the state can take another look at this misguided law. It’s a relatively simple ask. It’s not forcing any city to adopt rent control. It’s not even suggesting it.”

Unintended consequences when an eviction moratorium was in place for much of the year following the start of the coronavirus pandemic, there were 2,428 evictions signed. e court reported 1,558 in 2021. Democrats introduced legislation to repeal the ban in the past two sessions and a bill to provide an exception to the ban in the prior session, but the bills never got a hearing when Republicans had the majority. Now that Democrats are in power, the push could gain traction.

“I am very supportive of the e ort to address the issue of a ordable housing using all tools available,” Tate said in the statement. “Having the ability to legislatively impact rents for our most in need, who at times have seen their housing cost double or triple overnight at the property owner’s whim, appears a possibility now more so than ever during my Council tenure.”

Mayor Mike Duggan said through a spokesperson that his policy is not to take a position on a bill until it’s been drafted.

It’s not clear whether that will happen. Rep. Tyrone Carter, a Democrat who chairs the Detroit Caucus, said he had not heard anything about the pending resolution. He said there needs to be a “broader conversation” around rent, adding that he is not one who thinks landlords are “horrible.”

He said if a bill is introduced to lift the statewide rent control ban, “I’d want to understand the reasons and the why and the impact.”

“In the last few years, we swung the pendulum toward tenants,” he said. “ ere’s some people that have mortgages on these homes or these facilities. It’s like, OK — moratorium and you ain’t gotta pay rent. But then I look up and you’re getting thousands of dollars in unemployment bene ts? Nobody wants to have that whole argument. It wants to be one-sided. I’m a three-sided person — left side, right side, somewhere in the middle. I got to gure out where the truth is.”

In 2021, Senate Democrats proposed a ve-bill package that, among other things, would have repealed the ban. Other bills would have limited rent to no more than half of a tenant’s income if he or she has a disability, or is over age 70, and has lived

“I think a lot of my colleagues agree that it’s a problem,” she said. “Now we need to really gure out what the solutions are. But in my view, we can start by giving local governments back the ability to innovate and come up with policies related to rent. It doesn’t necessarily have to look like rent control in other states. It could be rent-stabilization programs in some other way. But local governments need to be able to have that exibility. It’s de nitely overdue.”

Chang said she is excited that the Senate now has a new committee, Housing and Human Services, that will explore housing issues. It is chaired by Sen. Je Irwin, an Ann Arbor Democrat who has backed rescinding the 1988 law signed by Gov. James Blanchard, a Democrat. e law was enacted months after Ann Arbor voters rejected a ballot proposal that would have controlled rent increases and a month before Detroit voters considered a rent-control ballot issue, too. at proposal, on the August ballot, would “establish a Rent Review Commission to stabilize and regulate rent increases in the City of Detroit and require owners of rental property to be in substantial compliance with city health and maintenance codes before getting a rent increase.”

But does it work?

Detroit’s version of the rent-control ballot issue “passed overwhelmingly,” said Ted Phillips, the executive director of the United Community Housing Coalition, though it never took e ect. e measure was approved with almost 60 percent of the vote, and Phillips said the 1980s version would have said there could be no rent increase on a property unless it was in compliance with city code.

Many researchers say rent control comes with unintended consequences.

Carolyn Loh, an associate professor of urban planning at Wayne State University, said rent control’s populist appeal is understandable, but the policy is misguided and ultimately hurts the housing market in the long term.

“ ere’s a reason why local governments keep trying this, because it’s so appealing,” Loh said. “Why should people pay so much money in rent? Why should these greedy landlords who don’t even maintain their houses be making money hand over st when they have these lower-income tenants living in these terrible conditions?

“ e landlord is an easy villain, but I hope they don’t go down this road because we have pretty good evidence that there are a lot of unintended consequences. I think the motivation is always noble, but I think if you really want to help housing-burdened Detroiters, this is not the way to go about it.”

A better solution would be an increase in subsidized and other affordable housing, said Lan Deng, a professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Michigan. She said while rent control would be e ective in stabilizing tenants’ costs, research has also shown it reduces the housing supply, including by discouraging new construction. And she said contrary to the claims of tenant advocates, rent restrictions that don’t allow landlords to fully cover maintenance and operating costs can lead to continued disinvestment.

“RENT CONTROL IS A BAD IDEA WHEREVER IT GETS DONE AND WHENEVER IT GETS DONE.”

—David Di Rita, Roxbury Group

To this day, the city is struggling with ways to ensure code compliance on rental properties.

Phillips, who was involved in the e ort then, said market conditions keep renters in subpar units, then price them out. He said a similar rent control measure would actually incentivize landlords to make improvements so they could raise rents while bene ting the city’s housing stock.

A policy that would limit how much rents could go up in Detroit would help keep people housed, said Bob Day, an attorney who works with Detroit Eviction Defense. He said residents’ incomes just don’t match what landlords are charging.

“It’s been brutal, what’s happened in the city,” Day said.

While she agreed that rent control could relieve some of the pressure tenants feel, she said it doesn’t solve the underlying problem of incomes that are too low and housing costs that continue to rise.

“It’s hard to say where it has worked,” Deng said. “ e measures do not directly address the causes of the problems.”

Still, she said, a ban may not be the most e ective approach, either.

What could it look like?

How rent control rules would play out would hinge on how they are written.

Deng said they would need to be designed carefully to ensure a functional rental market continued to exist.

David Whitaker, the director of Detroit’s legislative policy division, said details of any policy would still need to be worked out. Council is continu- ing to move forward with other tenant-friendly proposals, including the establishment of an organization to protect renters and the creation of an eviction prevention o ce at the city.

“I don’t know what that’s going to look like,” Whitaker said. “You’re trying to solve a problem with multiple tools. Rent control may not be the answer, I don’t know.” e analysis said rent control would erode the city’s tax base by devaluing property and causing a decrease in services due to a lack of funds. It would limit the return on investment, making ownership less desirable.

A 1988 analysis of the Detroit proposal by the Citizens Research Council of Michigan said it would have exempted new units being rented for the rst time, units in owner-occupied dwellings of three units or less and cooperatively owned units, among some others. A ve-member Rent Review Commission would consider rent reduction requests from tenants and service reduction requests from landlords and would be made up of two tenants, two landlords and one independent member who was neither. Maximum allowable increases would have been capped at 15 percent of the base rent.

“Detroiters must decide whether rent control is the best means to insure the availability of decent, a ordable housing,” the report said. “Basic to this question is the e ect rent control would have on marginal rental units: would landlords invest the resources necessary to bring these units up to code, or would they allow them to deteriorate further and abandon them faster?”

A 2022 report from the National Multifamily Housing Council, which opposes rent control, said there was a possibility of more legislation allowing it in a number of states. In St. Paul, Minn., voters in November 2021 enacted a 3 percent cap on yearly rent increases, although members of the city council just a few months after that took e ect rolled back some of the law’s provisions.

Some cities have instituted rules where buildings of a certain size and age are impacted, but others are not.

For years in San Francisco, buildings with four or fewer rental units were exempted from rent regulations because smaller landlords were generally thought to run them, one 2019 study found. But once that happened, larger companies began buying the smaller buildings as a workaround to the rules. San Francisco changed its rules in 1994. Cambridge, Mass. had rent-control rules on the books for nearly a quarter century until Massachusetts voters tossed them out in the 1990s.

“Every system is kind of different,” said Brian Asquith, an economist with the Kalamazoo-based nonpartisan W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research who has studied and written about rent control. “There’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Detroit would be kind of a tough city, in particular, to put rent control into ... In Detroit, where there is still a lot of redevelopment going on, I can’t imagine the City Council there has too much interest in causing those developers to go elsewhere with their money.”

Contact: kpinho@crain.com; (313) 446-0412; @kirkpinhoCDB

Contact: arielle.kass@crain.com; (313) 446-6774; @ArielleKassCDB

Contact: david.eggert@crain.com; (313) 446-1654; @DavidEggert00

Chips

From Page 1 backlog that has made headlines largely for its impact on automakers — and dealers across Michigan say it isn't over yet.

Lisa Kropp, of Lapeer, had a similar experience with a Ford Focus in need of a new TCM. She said she stayed on the waiting list at Milnes Ford in Lapeer for two years before giving up last month, when she traded in the Focus for a Chrysler Pacica minivan — and $1,000 — from Hank Gra Chevrolet in Davison.

“ ey are probably stuck with it looking for a chip now,” she said.

Dealers on the chip shortage

Jerry Moore, the Grand Rapids division director for Kentwood-based Fox Motor Group, said the chip shortage is still causing production delays, leading to lower sales inventory on Fox dealer lots.

“Our lots are empty. e appearance is, we look closed at times,” he said.

Moore, whose dealerships sell new and used foreign and domestic brands, said some makes — especially Honda and Ford — are still plagued by the chip shortage, while other companies like General Motors, Stellantis, Audi and Kia, are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Moore said a lack of chips isn’t the only problem dealers and garages are facing. Manufacturers are having a hard time sourcing all kinds of components, making for longer wait times for customers in line for repairs.

Je Daniel, service director at Maple Hill Auto Group in Kalamazoo, said sometimes the missing component isn’t a chip for the car itself, but a chip for a machine that builds the car, or a chip for the semi-truck that delivers the car to the dealership lot.

“ at’s where the trickle down happens,” he said. “It’s not just your car. It’s the fact that there may be a semi that needs a transmission component … so the trucking industry is a ected, as well.”

Max Muncey, senior manager of corporate communications at Highland Township-based LaFontaine Automotive, said Ford has been the slowest brand to recover from the chip shortage, in part due to the Focus transmission issue.

Last August, LaFontaine acquired Keller Ford in the Grand Rapids suburb of Walker and renamed it LaFontaine Ford of Grand Rapids. In the acquisition, LaFontaine inherited Keller’s queue of Focuses under recall waiting for TCM chips — a nightmare LaFontaine’s service director has referred to as an “intergalactic back order,” according to Muncey.

Other than the Ford transmission issue, Muncey said most of the vehicles in need of chips are higher-end autos with luxury features, like heated seats and steering wheels, power running boards or rear camera systems.

Dave Wright, xed operations director at Shaheen Chevrolet in Lansing, said the impact of the chip shortage at his dealership right now is mostly limited to the remote key fobs that unlock some Chevy models.

“ ose have to be ordered by vehicle identi cation number now, so we get them from the manufacturer. Whereas in the past, we would stock those so you can (replace them) when you lose your keys — like a lot of kids do at Michigan State on game weekends," he said. "Now, it all has to be ordered, because there’s such a restriction on that.”

George Glassman, owner and president at South eld-based Glassman Automotive Group, said he doesn’t know a single vendor or dealer that hasn’t in some way been a ected by automotive supply chain issues.

His dealership has resorted to selling luxury vehicles without functioning heated seats and infotainment systems in need of a chip the manufacturer couldn’t get within the expected timeframe, then having the buyer return in a month or two when it comes in.

How garages and customers are adapting

Dealers agree that patience and communication are key to getting through a tough season with an unknown expiration date, especially when it comes to repairs.

“One of the things we can’t control are back-order parts — when they’re going to be in and whether there are workarounds so that people can get on the road safely in this interim period, before they can get their car back,” Glassman said. “… We’ve been fortunate we’ve got a pretty large loaner car eet. But we’re trying to be intelligent about the distribution of those cars.”

Glassman said the uncertainty has put a strain on his employees.

“People have purchased their car with an expectation that if they have a problem, they’ll bring it in, and in the normal course of business, history will tell them that over a reasonable period of time, the cars will get xed. ... So when we run into some of these supply chain issues, naturally, if we’re unable to get people into a car, that’s when the anxiety can heighten,” he said.

Muncey said the best thing LaFontaine did to keep its customers happy was increasing its loaner eet last year.

Before the pandemic, he said most dealerships only carried brand-new loaners, which they would allow to be driven about 3,000 to 5,000 miles before moving them into their new vehicle inventory to be sold. But given the historic inventory shortage, that wasn't an option.

“We didn’t have new cars available to put into a loaner eet,” he said. “We went out and bought hundreds of additional pre-owned vehicles to serve our guests’ needs in that regard.”

Fox Motors did the same thing.

“We’ve adapted quite a bit at multiple stores, using pre-owned vehicles when needed and putting those in our service loaner eets,” Moore said.

Daniel, at Maple Hill in Kalama- zoo, said it’s generally been a terrible time for the sales side of the dealership business, but identi ed one silver lining of the inventory shortage: With the average age of vehicles on the road rising to about 12.2 years, more people need parts and service, boosting business in the garage.

“Our parts business grew substantially this year, (and) our service business grew substantially this year,” he said, although he didn’t share speci c numbers.

Wright, at Shaheen Chevrolet in Lansing, echoed that experience, but said the spike in business also means a shortage of technicians to work on vehicles.

“ ere’s more demand, and there’s not enough people to x the cars,” he said.

What this perfect storm means for customers, Wright said, is being forced to adapt to life without a car by carpooling, taking the bus, or using another means of transit. For the most part, Shaheen Chevrolet’s customers — many of whom are either GM employees or related to one — have been an understanding bunch.

“People seemingly are guring it out," Wright said. "It’s just kind of like going back in time, before there were loaner cars and before everybody had the multiple vehicles and whatnot. You kind of had to gure it out.”

Moore, at Fox Motors, said he doesn't have a crystal ball, but feels “some positivity” heading into this year that the component shortages will ease up.

“We are way better than we were six months ago,” he said. “...We feel that 2023 will potentially have a better inventory supply.”

Muncey, at LaFontaine, agreed.

“We still are seeing delays,” he said. “But I would say, overall, we're in a much, much better position today than we were six months ago in terms of overall inventory, as well as moving customers that have been waiting for their chip.”

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