Detroit and Wayne County are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to improve criminal justice facilities, public transit and homeless services. Elsewhere, the city is trying to block an ethics commission investigation into its planning director, and anyone looking to buy a home in a new waterfront development will be protected by not one gate, but two.
Out with the old
After 13 years, the new Wayne County Criminal Justice Center is finally set to open in early September. The five-building (paywall) complex with approximately 90,000 square feet of space will include courtrooms, juvenile detention centers, an adult jail, and offices for the district attorney and sheriff.
The final cost has not been made public, but taxpayers will contribute more than $500 million. That does not include the county’s spending on the notorious and never-completed “fail prison” on Gratiot Avenue, which went over budget by about $90 million.
Bedrock Detroit has overseen construction of the center by acquiring ownership of the downtown buildings it will replace, including the old jails, the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice and the juvenile detention center. The development company, owned by Dan Gilbert, said it will demolish at least some of the buildings later this year. It also could begin construction on a five-story office and medical building at the Gratiot site next year (paywall). (Detroit News, Crain’s Detroit Business)
Lubricate the wheels
The City of Detroit hopes major upgrades to its bus facilities will improve reliability and driver retention. The $160 million Coolidge Terminal Replacement Project, currently underway, will provide drivers with a lounge, computers, Wi-Fi and space to exercise. The Westside Terminal will also feature modern operational facilities such as a new dispatch area when it is completed in late 2025.
The city and the bus drivers’ union agree that the current facility is completely outdated and inadequate for drivers. After a fire in 2011 rendered the old bus garage complex unusable, the Detroit Department of Transportation was forced to shift operations to two other terminals.
The transit agency still wants to hire about 600 drivers by the end of the fiscal year and has hired about 150 in the last nine to 10 months. (Detroit Free Press)
The way to the future
The city has begun implementing a five-year plan to improve homeless services. The 119-page document was developed last year with partners including the Homeless Action Network of Detroit and the Detroit Continuum of Care.
More than 5,900 households in Detroit, Highland Park and Hamtramck were homeless in 2022, including more than 1,000 families with children. The system is overwhelmed and needs hundreds more emergency shelters and units of permanent supportive housing.
The plan focuses on eight key areas, such as increasing street outreach, improving housing and case management, improving the homeless intake system, and increasing wages for homeless service workers. (BridgeDetroit, City of Detroit, Outlier Media)
There is nothing to see here
The city asked the Ethics Board to drop its investigation into Planning Director Antoine Bryant’s handling of two city contracts and refused access to requested documents.
The committee launched its investigation after Bryant signed a contract for murals that had already been painted without City Council approval, a violation of the city charter, and approved an amendment to sell the Brodhead Armory without City Council approval.
The charter requires city departments and officials to cooperate with any ethics investigation, but the law department argues the investigation is unwarranted. It claims the organization representing the muralists is at fault because it proceeded without a signed contract and Bryant had no personal financial interest in the project. City lawyers added that the board requested documents that go beyond the scope of the investigation.
The next meeting of the Ethics Committee will be on Wednesday at 2 p.m. (Freep, Outlier, Detroit Documenters).
News from development
An electrical fire at the Kamper Stevens Apartments downtown left one person dead, two injured and more than 100 elderly residents homeless. Building management relocated the tenants to a hotel. Previous inspections showed problems with the elevators, but the city said they were unrelated to the fire. (WDIV, CBS Detroit)
A 10-home, two-gate community will be the first new single-family waterfront development in 24 years. Shorepointe Village will have two home models, priced at $499,900 and $569,900, respectively. Residents will have access to a community pool, and each home will have a boat dock. (Freep)
Detroit will install 60 unique neighborhood welcome signs starting in September. Each sign will feature the city flag, the neighborhood’s founding date, and slogans and colors chosen by neighborhood organizations. (BridgeDetroit)
Bedrock’s long-delayed Cadillac Square development will face further delays (paywall). A previous agreement with the Downtown Development Authority required the company to begin construction by Sept. 1, but Bedrock plans to ask for an extension at the authority’s next meeting. The latest proposal included a mix of residential, retail and a concert hall. (Crain’s)
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
