The Bentz Machine Co. in northeast Detroit (Google Maps photo)
When Detroit was clicking on all cylinders, decades ago, productive industrial sites filled the landscape.
Now, a report to be released this week by Detroit Future City Implementation Office says there are nearly 900 vacant and mostly abandoned manufacturing sites, many of them vacant factories measuring less than 10,000 square feet, reports John Gallagher of the Detroit Free Press. Many are small tool-and-die shops.
"Many of these buildings (are around) residential neighborhoods in some of the city’s most disadvantaged areas," the report says. "Without a strategic approach to repurposing these properties, they will remain fallow for years to come, posing threats to public health and safety, and undermining Detroit’s recovery."
The report also says the goal is to "put these properties back into productive use; economic, creative, and ecological reinvention for the benefit of Detroit residents and communities, and the preservation of some of the city’s history," the Freep reports.