General Motors' and Bedrock's plan for redeveloping Detroit's Renaissance Center and upgrading the nearby riverfront received substantial critiquing and criticism on Aug. 18 during the first major public meeting on the $1.6 billion-plus proposal.
Several hundred people attended the evening meeting on the topic of the project's Community Benefits, held in the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center. The meeting was primarily intended for nearby residents who reside in the project's "impact area."
The majority of those who spoke during the at times rowdy in-person and Zoom-enabled public comments period were critical of the redevelopment plan.
"I’m really emotional about the Renaissance Center because it is a signature centerpiece of the city of Detroit,"
resident Beverly Kindle-Walker said. “How're you gonna castrate it and take away two of the towers?”
Others called on the developers to consider alternative plans.
"You should be looking for a way of redeveloping the towers instead of tearing them down," said resident Khalil Lyons.
The plan, which has yet to go before Detroit City Council, involves taking down two of the five original 1970s RenCen towers as well as the multistory concrete podium that connects them, then converting the remaining towers to a mix of housing, hotel rooms and revamped office space.
The plan also calls for building a major new public park, an amenity-filled attraction, along the riverfront just east of the towers, coming at an additional cost to the $1.6 billion.
Some residents voiced objections to giving public financing for the plan. The plan hinges on City Council approval of a type of incentive, a Transformational Brownfield, that would redirect a portion of future local and state tax revenues generated at the redeveloped site to the developers.
“I think you’re asking for more welfare for the rich," one commenter said over Zoom.
Resident Eric Dueweke was one of several speakers who said it felt like the approval process for the redevelopment was being rushed.
“Ramming this through in the summertime just doesn’t seem right," he said. “It seems like a way to minimize community involvement in the process."
Dueweke also suggested that the "impact area" for the Community Benefits meetings should be geographically expanded, as what happens to the Renaissance Center impacts many Detroiters beyond just those who live nearby. The impact area is half of downtown and the immediate east riverfront.
Representatives from GM and Bedrock, which is Dan Gilbert's real estate development firm, pitched the plan during the meeting and described how they aim to make the Renaissance Center more connected to the fabric of the city and inclusive of all Detroiters.
They made reference to the fortress-like nature of the original 1970s Renaissance Center layout, prior to GM's early 2000s improvements. The Renaissance Center was conceived by Henry Ford II in the aftermath of the 1967 Detroit uprising. It was designed by architect John Portman and opened in 1977. GM bought the complex in 1996.
"If we’re being honest, that was not intended for Detroiters across the city to come down and enjoy themselves," said Steve Ogden of Bedrock. "So I’m just calling it out. I know there’s a lot of people that think otherwise.”
He also emphasized how the plan calls for a careful and deliberate approach to taking down the two RenCen office towers that are closest to the riverfront.
"What we’re talking about is not demolition, it’s not implosion, it is strategic deconstruction," Ogden said. “We are going to take every part off of that building piece by piece by piece. It’s not getting knocked down. Let me say that again, it is not getting knocked down."
The Community Benefits process is a series of public meetings that typically end with developers agreeing to a package of concessions and gifts for residents and groups situated near a project site. The process is required in Detroit for large projects seeking tax abatements. A full list of the development incentives for the project is expected to emerge in later meetings.
The next meeting in the months-long process is scheduled for Sept. 1.
Contact JC Reindl: 313-378-5460 or jcreindl@freepress.com. Follow him on X @jcreindl
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Renaissance Center plan faces criticism at first community meeting
