Partnerships put focus on improving neighborhoods

Detroit’s Strategic Neighborhood Fund initiative, launched in 2016 by the city and Invest Detroit with support from corporate donors, has been focused on stabilizing 11 neighborhoods in the city, improving the quality of life and increasing economic opportunity in them to attract new residents and increase resident satisfaction.

ough the Strategic Neighborhood Fund e orts started seven years ago, it’s still early in terms of impact, given that many of the projects are just now under construction, Invest Detroit’s COO Carrie Lewand-Monroe said. Invest Detroit is deploying the Strategic Neighborhood Fund investments.

Still, she said, the neighborhoods are already showing encouraging growth based on census data. Population has increased in six out of 11 neighborhoods and residential vacancies have dropped in nine; incomes have gone up in all but one and poverty rates have gone down in all 11.

“It’s not just about equity; it’s about creating wealth for Detroiters, as well,” Lewand-Monroe said. “ e people who are being paid to do this work are Detroiters. In turn, we’re hoping that is going to support that Black middle class.” perceptions of safety than people living in other neighborhoods. ose same three neighborhoods have seen more people moving in, more businesses opening, property values increasing and neighborhood attractiveness rising than other neighborhoods in the city, the UM report said. And, it noted residents in the three neighborhoods were no more likely than other Detroit residents to express fears over being displaced due to rising housing costs.

Additional public-private investment is also focused on creating affordable housing in the 11 neighborhoods and other parts of the city through the Detroit Housing for the Future Fund (formerly A ordable Housing Leverage Fund), a partnership between Detroit LISC, the city of Detroit Housing & Revitalization Department and the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. e fund is deploying $250 million into the preservation of 10,000 units of existing a ordable housing and the development of 2,000 units of new a ordable housing.

It is nancing a ordable multi-family rental housing for the most part but also considering forsale and single-family projects.

Goss, president and CEO of Detroit Future City

ey are also creating entrepreneurship opportunities for Detroiters and are focused on workforce development through e orts like the Motor City Contractor Fund, which is supporting local BIPOC contractors to expand their businesses at a time when there is an unprecedented level of contractor opportunities

“ rough the e orts of a lot of people, ourselves included, we’ve been able to see that trend turn back, but it’s so important for Detroit — really, the beacon of the Black middle class and, honestly, the founder of the Black middle class in many ways — we need to ensure that we keep that level of focus on inclusion and equity and opportunity to, again, not just live here, but really thrive here.”

Contact: swelch@crain.com; (313) 446-1694; @SherriWelch ey were also more likely to be satis ed with housing conditions and the availability of neighborhood parks and stores, and had stronger e initiatives are being deployed at the same time to guard against gentri cation, Lewand-Monroe said.

As part of its Detroit Metro Area Communities Study, the University of Michigan in 2019 did a baseline survey of residents of the rst three communities that saw investment to gauge their perceptions of neighborhood conditions, economic opportunity, local priorities and overall quality of life. Residents of Southwest/Vernor, Livernois/McNichols and Islandview/Villages neighborhoods were signi cantly more likely to report greater overall neighborhood satisfaction and improvements to neighborhood quality of life than other Detroiters, according to the UM report.

Together, the two initiatives, which raised funds jointly, account for $422 million in private and public support and are expected to leverage more than $1 billion in investment in Detroit neighborhoods, according to Invest Detroit.

“We are creating a ordable housing through SNF but also market-rate housing,” she said. “At the same time, we’re preserving existing, affordable housing so that no one is displaced.

“ e approach of investing in neighborhoods while speci cally deploying dollars to prevent displacement is somewhat unprecedented in this work and something other cities want to learn from.”

Contact: swelch@crain.com

(313) 446-1694; @SherriWelch