Prime development site at Michigan and Trumnbull. (Google Earth photo)
Downtown and Midtown developments have been popping up in the past few years. But John Gallagher of the Detroit Free Press writes:
Nobody should be surprised that Detroit is redeveloping again after decades of decline. Be surprised only that so much redevelopment is happening when obstacles to growth in Detroit remain so frustrating.
By obstacles I mean the myriad bureaucratic and technical roadblocks that developers must overcome even before putting shovel into ground. Projects that might take months in greenfield areas still take years to finish in the city.
Examples he cites include redevelopment of the old Tiger Stadium site at Michigan and Trumbull, delayed by legal entanglements:
The last-minute hiccup shows the type of arcane legal challenges that bedevil so many projects in older cities like Detroit. And those challenges came on top of years of raising money and winning a host of earlier city approvals.
