In his State of the City address, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan urged the state legislature to expand the cap on the Transformational Brownfield Plan, emphasizing its importance for the redevelopment of the Renaissance Center.
Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock seeks $250 million in funding through this program.
“How much public cash would it take to start this project? None, because we don’t front money,” Duggan said Tuesday (March 25) night.
The Transformational Brownfield Plan allows cities to offer tax incentives to encourage redevelopment, which is a crucial tool for revitalizing urban areas.
“We need legislation in Lansing because we need to discount the city and state taxes,” Duggan said.
However, Lansing may face challenges in securing additional funding.
Gideon D’Assandro, a spokesperson for Republican House Speaker Matt Hall, stated that the Legislature just expanded that brownfield program in 2023, which Hall supported.
“But the state’s economic development officials haven’t explained whether that’s working or not.
No one has explained why it needs to be expanded again so quickly. The point of capping it is so it can be measured and evaluated to see if it’s working.
But that’s not happening, so no one can say whether this is a good move for the taxpayers or for the state."
Gideon D’Assandro, a spokesperson for Republican House Speaker Matt Hall
John Roach, a spokesperson for Duggan, stated that the expansion is necessary for the Renaissance Center redevelopment project.
Bedrock had no comment regarding the mayor’s remarks about the project at the State of the City.
