Detroit Today: Could the ‘Future of Health’ development project be a net win for Detroiters?
The $3 billion New Center development will feature a new hospital and medical research campus, and is seeking almost $300 million in tax breaks.
Concept art of Henry Ford Health's expansion project in Detroit's New Center neighborhood.
A new development proposal spearheaded by Tom Gores, Henry Ford Health, the Detroit Pistons and Michigan State University is seeking almost $300 million in tax subsidies from the city of Detroit.
The $3 billion New Center development will feature a new hospital and medical research campus, which will include residential, commercial, retail and recreational developments over the next decade. In a recent neighborhood advisory council meeting with developers, community members raised concerns that the project fails to provide area residents with enough benefits in exchange for the tax break.
Tonya Myers Phillips, a director at the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice, joined Stephen Henderson on Detroit Today Tuesday to share her thoughts on the project and Detroit’s community benefits ordinance that is at the heart of discussions. Denise Brooks-Williams, Henry Ford Health’s vice president for care and delivery system operations, also stopped by to share her thoughts on the project and how the development group is responding to the concerns of residents, along with Daniel Washington, executive director of NW Goldberg Cares, who joined the discussion to highlight why he believes the NW Goldberg neighborhood should have been included as an area of impact for the project.
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Guests:
Tonya Myers Phillips is the Community Partnerships and Fund Development director at the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice. She says Detroit’s current community benefits ordinance does not do enough to hold developers seeking tax breaks accountable and responsive to residents.
“Other cities have done way better Community Benefit Agreements than what we see coming out of Detroit without an ordinance,” said Myers Phillips.
Denise Brooks-Williams is a Henry Ford Health executive vice president and chief executive officer for Care Delivery System Operations. She says the Future of Health project will provide many benefits to the community, including jobs. “There is $190 million worth of benefits, again, objectively scored…as a result of this project,” says Brooks-Williams.
Daniel Washington is the founder and executive director of Northwest Goldberg Cares. He says the Northwest Goldberg neighborhood should have been included as an area of impact for the project and recognized as a formal part of the Neighborhood Advisory Committee for the project.
“When you actually think about a project as big as this…I don’t think we need to go back and forth and debate about ‘is the actual specific neighborhood, that shares the same area code, is it gravely impacted,” says Washington.
Listen to Detroit Today with host Stephen Henderson weekdays from 9-10 a.m. ET on 101.9 WDET and streaming on-demand.
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