The Detroit Red Wings are getting a $650 million hockey arena that will be about 60 percent publicly funded, but an agreement that would have required the team’s billionaire owners to commit to specific community benefits isn’t part of the deal. Nancy Kaffer of the Free Press searches for answers.
A group called the Corridors Alliance pushed for a community benefits agreement, a commonly used tool to ensure that promises that are made are kept. The alliance asked Olympia Development of Michigan (the Ilitch family’s real estate arm) to commit to hiring a set percentage of Detroit residents for construction and post-construction jobs, and to design stadium parking with a walkable district in mind.
So why weren’t community benefits a requirement of the deal?
Gov. Rick Snyder, the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. and Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr all bear responsibility, she writes.
Olympia has agreed to some of the conditions the Corridors Alliance sought in its concession management agreement. But much of the hoped-for impact relies on the Ilitches’ goodwill.
But that’s not enough. Detroit could have done better in this deal. And in future negotiations, it has to.
In the article's comment section, readers slug it out over the role of the Ilitch organization.
One reader, with the screen name Lonestar Muselman, says the Ilitches have been "negative" for the city.
"And Olympia, their company, may be the worst slumlord around. Look at the Moose Building and the United Artists, both are rotting Ilitch properties. Look at all the surface lots behind the Fox that used to be buildings, those were rotting Ilitch properties, now they can't even be saved.
People need to understand that Ilitch/Olympia has done some good, but it's far outweighed by the bad, and they need to be kept on a tight leash.
Tia Queso defends the Ilitch family.
As if the llitch family has not done enough for the city of Detroit. Now you would like to lock their generosity in a contract? The have been staunch supporters of Detroit's development for time out of mind, and have been all about bringing life and revenue to the city. I find it ignorant and ungrateful that some people think we should repay this support by blackmailing them into more. Horrible article and very disrespectful, stick with things that are actually news and not topics that are counter productive.
Jeff Wattrick commentary at Deadline Detroit:
Detroit Gets $1 For Arena Land, But No Community Benefits Pact Or Job Guarantees, Feb. 4
