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Despite Controversy, Detroit City Council Approves $60 Million In Property Tax Breaks

Despite Controversy, Detroit City Council Approves $60 Million In Property Tax Breaks

Despite controversy surrounding the decision, the Detroit City Council has approved $60 million in tax breaks for the Hudson's site redevelopment.

The Detroit News shared details about the vote, which took place during the Council's last session before recessing until September 5, 2022: 

The City Council approved the 10-year tax abatement 5-4 with members Angela Whitfield-Calloway, Latisha Johnson, Pro Tem James Tate and Gabriela Santiago-Romero voting no.

Tate said he voted against the effort because "it was not noticed for the public that this was going to be a vote today."

Whitfield-Calloway said she opposed it because it was a "disservice to our taxpayers and it's not transparent" as she was not aware of the community benefits amendments before Tuesday.

Those against the measure find it controversial due to the fact that details surrounding the entire redevelopment have been murky -- this is already the third time the $60 million tax abatement has come up for a vote. 

Per The Detroit Free Press, Dan Gilbert's real estate company, Bedrock, claims that "the project's costs have soared to $1.4 billion — up from $909 million when the development broke ground in 2017 — and that the abatement is crucial to securing bank loans."

The green light on the massive tax abatement comes after Bedrock representatives agreed to make seven concessions that will serve to enhance the firm's commitment to Detroit small businesses and community development. 

The Detroit News shared some of the amendments, which include:

...the company is dedicating at least 20% of rentable square footage within the street-level retail of the Hudson's site project to local small businesses and will provide $1 million in small business development support over the 10 years of the agreement to those businesses that are, or were operating within the dedicated space of the project.

It will also provide $5 million in community-based projects to meet the Neighborhood Improvement Fund eligibility requirements.

Bedrock also agreed to develop an internship pipeline for Detroit Public Schools Community District students into the information technology field and to increase the company's amount of affordable housing across Detroit from 20% to 30%. 

What do you think about this massive tax abatement for the Bedrock real estate development firm in Detroit?

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Rebekah Barton

Rebekah Barton

Rebekah's search engine optimization career began completely by accident as a college student. Over the course of her career so far, she has "grown up" with the SEO industry, from writing content while juggling classes to managing her own teams of writers and overseeing SEO strategy in subsequent roles. She is excited to bring her passion for high-quality content to CountingWorks, Inc.

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