Fisher Body plant project among new Black-led developments in Detroit

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan listed many new investments by African American business people during his State of the City speech this week. That includes a new $135 million plan to redevelop the Fisher Body Plant No. 21.

“We’ve got to be sure that we are supporting Black developers who are taking on these massive, monstrous, complex projects in the same way that we support other developers.” – Nicole Sherard-Freeman, City of Detroit

Sitting right next to the intersection of I-94 and I-75, the abandoned plant is one of Detroit’s most notorious symbols of blight and industrial decline.

Developers plan to turn the site into attractive mixed-income housing. City officials say it is the largest Black-led development project in the city’s history.

Listen: The City of Detroit’s Nicole Sherard-Freeman talks about Black-led development in the city.

Guest

Nicole Sherard-Freeman is the City of Detroit’s Group Executive of Jobs, Economy and “Detroit At Work.” She says she understands why some Detroiters are skeptical about big development projects. But she says “this one is different.”

“(The developers) did a significant amount of due diligence before deciding for themselves, before coming forward to the city with a plan, that they believed would make this work,” says Sherard-Freeman. “Nobody’s going to come forward with a deal for the show, for the glitz and the glam and the cameras and risk the embarrassment of having a project fall through.”

City Council still needs to approve the project.

Sherard-Freeman says the city is trying to remove barriers for non-white developers.

“We’ve got to be sure that we are supporting Black developers who are taking on these massive, monstrous, complex projects in the same way that we support other developers where that makes sense and where they are willing to engage in the community benefits process.”