Matty Moroun
The Matty Moroun organization appears to be cleaning up its Detroit properties.
Why?
Could it be because the organization wants to look good in the eyes of the Detroit City Council? The city is slated to vote Tuesday on whether to swap some land with Moroun, who wants it so he can build a second Detroit-Windsor bridge, the Detroit News reports.
Louis Aguilar of the Detroit News reports on some of the efforts by the Moroun organization: .
The big empty building in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood, where a homeless man's body was found frozen six years ago, is boarded up now, the grounds securely fenced and relatively clean.
A few miles south, at the foot of the Ambassador Bridge, a fence that blocked off Jefferson Avenue for at least 14 years was quietly removed last month, ending a longstanding complaint by some nearby residents. And since April, $156,687 in outstanding fines have been paid to clear up code violations on 42 properties throughout the city.
All are examples of how members of the billionaire Moroun family, owners of the Ambassador Bridge, are trying to clean up their properties — and image. It's in advance of a potential City Council vote Tuesday on a land deal they hope will lead to a second bridge across the Detroit River. The family wants to build the second span next to the existing one, and sink plans for a publicly owned bridge favored by the state and Canada.
The the News reports that the Morouns need three additional acres of waterfront property from the city.
The News reports:
The Morouns have agreed to give the city 4.8 acres to expand Riverside Park, a rather plain waterfront public space in southwest Detroit. As part of the deal, the Morouns would pay up to $5 million to build a baseball diamond, soccer field, picnic and fishing areas and a riverside promenade. The family also has promised to tear down a warehouse it owns adjacent to the park.
