Can Detroiters Finally Get a Stake in the City's Real-Estate Boom?

Entrepreneurs and companies alike have described Detroit’s emerging real estate and investment landscape as an “unsettled America,” invoking imagery of the American West in the 19th century. Given the availability of land, Detroit residents don’t face the same threats of displacement seen in other major metro areas. Still, the “urban pioneering” ethos largely ignores the city’s 672,795 residents, both in goals and profits. Given that much of the city’s recent growth has been fueled by private investment—evidenced by the QLINE partially funded by Dan Gilbert, the Ilitch family’s investment in the Red Wings’ stadium and surrounding area, or the Sugar Hill Arts District development—instead of radical urban planning, deviation from this trajectory seems unlikely anytime soon.

However, a new program hopes to make an important intervention in the private development sphere by promoting equity in Detroit’s real estate market. Better Buildings, Better Blocks, which launched June 3 and runs until August 19, is a neighborhood-based real-estate class that provides education and resources to residents of Detroit, Hamtramck, and Highland Park. It was recently selected as one of the 33 winners of the 2017 Knight Cities Challenge, which will provide three years of funding for the class. Individuals who take the course learn firsthand how to invest in properties, focusing on acquisition, financing, and project management for small-scale projects. The goal of the program is to create a network that ensures that communities can sustainably rehabilitate residential and commercial spaces and that Detroiters can finally articulate how their city is remade.