Construction of Detroit transit hub begins at historic State Fair dairy barn

Sarah Rahal May 2, 2023

The Detroit News

Detroit — By next spring, city leaders expect the State Fair Transit Center to be in full motion, with bus riders moving through converted historic buildings on site and resting in restaurants and shops — but not without a boost in funding.

Construction is underway in the historic Dairy Cattle Barn at the former state fairgrounds along West 8 Mile Road, with the paving of a new foundation, laying asphalt, landscaping and adding a new park, Detroit Building Authority Director Tyrone Clifton said Tuesday during a behind-the-scenes tour of the seven-acre site.

Clifton was joined by city transit director Mikel Oglesby and deputy building director Donna Rice, who oversees the project. They're utilizing Ideal Contracting, a southwest Detroit minority-owned company, to complete the project, which has grown from its introduction from a simple hub to an end-of-the-line operation.

Meanwhile Tuesday, the City Council had a resolution to increase funds by $13 million for the design and construction of the new transit center on behalf of the Detroit Building Authority. The total contract amount is $31.6 million to complete the construction by April 30, 2024. The $31 million includes the adaptive reuse of the cattle barn, construction of the center, demolition of the historic coliseum, preservation of the coliseum facade arch, and development of a public plaza, Clifton said.

"It's costing more because it started off as just a small project that's grown into this size only because of the commitment to the public, working with the City Council and the administration. Originally, it was going to be a much smaller, probably more sophisticated hub than what you've seen on Woodward," Clifton said. "But now we've grown into an adaptive reuse facility, saving a structure that was historical and providing amenities to the ridership which they very much voiced on when we did the presentation."

Interior demolition of the Dairy Cattle Barn was completed over the winter and now crews are working on clearing the site, carving out windows in the barn and stabilizing the structure.

In October 2020, the Detroit City Council approved a $400 million plan for the redevelopment of the former State Fairgrounds including a new DDOT transit Center and Gateway Shopping Plaza. It's expected to bring 1,200 new jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities.

The City Council later approved an $18.6 million transit center that is touted as a hub comparable to transit stations in other big cities with some retail and restaurant options, an indoor lobby and public waiting area, ticket office, restrooms and a separate lounge and restroom area for transit operators, giving them an end-of-the-route respite point.

"The Rosa Parks Transit Center (downtown) is the beginning of the line and at the end of the line, we'll have the State Fair Transit Center," said Oglesby, adding there will be eight DDOT bays and two SMART Fast bus bays. "This will influence us to take a hard look at the Rosa Parks Transit Center now and bring it up to the next level. It will help improve efficiency down the line."

The 52,500-square-foot Dairy Cattle Building is being adapted into a bus terminal with DDOT and SMART buses circulating through the interior. There will be old memorabilia returned to live inside he new transit center.

The site will also have 70 staff and visitor parking spaces, 25 MOGO bicycles and a scooter area for pickups and drop-offs. 

When plan designs were unveiled in August 2021, residents pushed back calling for the preservation of three historical sites on the fairgrounds. The city conducted a feasibility study and determined the 1926 Dairy Cattle Building and the facade of the 1924 Hertel Coliseum, a 60,000-square-foot equestrian center that hosted circuses, concerts and rodeos, could be saved. The adjacent Agricultural Building will not be used as part of the project because it is leased to Joe Dumars Fieldhouse.

While the Coliseum building would be removed, the Portico would remain, welcoming riders to the transit center.

Restoration comes at a cost

It costs more to restore historic sites than to build new ones, Clifton said. The initial, smaller project was expected to be completed last year, but since expanding, Clifton said it wasn't possible due to a competitive market and impacting their capital fund.

"We designed, bid it out, get the subcontractors under and evaluated it... this is what it costs to build," Clifton said of the $31.6 million total bill.

The additional $13 million will pay for: $279,000 on code compliance for tenant space; $180,000 on the Portico stabilization; $520,000 for utility coordination; $350,000 for cattle barn roof sealant; $225,000 for electrical capacity for future bus charging stations; $375,000 for public information address system; $231,000 for air monitoring as buses pass through the site; an additional $6.1 million on labor; $1.8 million on bonds, builder risk, permits; and $2.1 million on additional insurance fees.

"We'll have the infrastructure to have our electric fleet charge here," Oglesby said.

Expecting double the riders

Officials say the new transit center will increase bus access and circulation from both 8 Mile and Woodward Avenue. It will also make reaching the nearby Meijer store more accessible, Oglesby said.

By revitalizing the former fairgrounds after years of neglect, Oglesby expects double the amount of riders on the system overall.

"Pre-pandemic, I believe we had 20,000 riders a week, but due to a shortage of operators and COVID, we're not at that amount. As far as I'm concerned, by the time this is built, we'll have all the operators running and double that number," Oglesby said. "Based on our early projections, we don't see any major shifts to fund the day-to-day operations."

There are six routes that currently service the State Fair Transit Center and it's possible there will be an expansion, and even into 24-hour service, Oglesby told The Detroit News.

"We're going to have WiFi, charging stations and charging for people in wheelchairs," Oglesby said. "Riders will have the ability to go shopping, grab coffee or just rest. We're really excited to see what the city does with the rest of the site."

DDOT is the largest public transit provider in Michigan that serves the city of Detroit, its surrounding suburbs, Highland Park and Hamtramck. DDOT, started in 1922, averages about 85,000 riders daily pre-pandemic. Ridership overall has decreased by 57%. In January 2020, DDOT had 1.86 million monthly riders. This January, DDOT carried 795,827 riders. Its on-time performance has varied slightly, dropping from 75% on time in January 2020 to 65% on time this year.

The department currently has 404 drivers including 21 new trainees starting this week. It's 100 fewer than what the department is budgeted for.

Oglesby is currently working on a plan to "Reimagine DDOT's" system. The department plans to issue better rates for drivers because a labor shortage is leading to a reduction in service. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan added a $15 million increase to DDOT's budget in the fiscal year starting in July to replace lapsed federal funding and raise wages for DDOT bus drivers. The department is also working on stabilizing paratransit services for disabled riders in the city.

Of the 142-acre site at Woodward near Eight Mile, 78 acres are being redeveloped for the 3.8 million-square-foot Amazon facility and the remaining 70 acres will be redeveloped into potential spaces for automotive industry suppliers.

Other historic elements from the former fairgrounds, including the bandshell, were moved in 2021. The bandshell is now in Palmer Park.

srahal@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @SarahRahal_

2023 Detroit Green Task Force Earth Day Awards Ceremony

Hour Detroit - April 25, 2023

The 2023 Detroit Green Task Force Earth Day Awards Ceremony was held on April 22, 2023 at the Union Carpenters & Millwrights Skilled Training Center in Detroit. The annual event was first celebrated in 1970 and has since become a movement to highlight the work of local organizations and residents who are working toward environmental sustainability in Detroit. In addition to the awards ceremony, guests were treated to breakfast and remarks from local leaders.

LAW360° 

Portfolio Media. Inc. | 111 West 19th Street, 5th floor | New York, NY 10011 | www.law360.com Phone: +1 646 783 7100 | Fax: +1 646 783 7161 | customerservice@law360.com 

Mich. High Court Rejects Challenge To Detroit Amazon Facility 

By Carolyn Muyskens 

Law360 (April 4, 2023, 9:40 PM EDT) Detroiters were denied a hearing Tuesday at Michigan's highest court of their challenge to a $400 million Amazon distribution center they argued was approved without the required citizen input. 

In an order, the Michigan Supreme Court denied leave to appeal to a coalition of residents who had in 2020 sought court orders halting the Amazon deal and forcing the city of Detroit to undergo a community engagement process the residents said had been skipped. 

The State Fairgrounds Development Coalition told the high court in its application for leave to appeal that the city had flouted an ordinance called the community benefits ordinance that requires large- scale development deals that include public subsidies to undergo an extensive community input process. The process culminates in a "community benefits agreement" incorporating neighbor demands such as environmental protections as binding provisions of the development deal. 

"The city has contended from the start that this lawsuit, which sought to stop construction of the critically important Amazon distribution facility at the former state fairgrounds, was legally baseless," Detroit's deputy corporation counsel, Chuck Raimi, told Law360 in a statement. "The city is grateful that the Michigan Supreme Court declined to review the Court of Appeals decision upholding summary dismissal of the lawsuit." 

The coalition's attorney, Tonya Myers Phillips of The Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice, told Law360 the city of Detroit has "a long way to go in providing the accountability" that residents sought in advocating for the community benefits ordinance. "That's the major issue that needs continued advocacy: the accountability for how our public resources are used." 

The lawsuit targeted the city's sale of 142 acres of Michigan's former state fairgrounds in Detroit to Hillwood Investment Properties and Sterling Group in November 2020. A 3.8-million-square-foot Amazon distribution facility bringing 1,200 new jobs to Detroit was the centerpiece of the deal, with other tenants yet to be announced. 

The coalition argued the land was sold below market value at $9 million, which should have triggered the community benefits process, but the purchasers skirted the ordinance's criteria by incorporating another element of the deal - $7 million for the city to build a new public transit hub for Amazon employees to use, to bring the purchase price to $16 million. 

"The defendants' 'bundling' of transactions constitutes an impermissible workaround that violates the ordinance's plain language and deliberately frustrates its public purpose," the coalition said in its petition for high court review. 

After the coalition initially won a restraining order pausing the sale of the land from a Wayne County trial court, the Michigan Court of Appeals intervened, issuing an order directing the judge to lift the restraining order on Nov. 3, 2020. The sale closed on Nov. 23, 2020, and the trial judge later tossed the case on a summary judgment motion, finding the coalition lacked standing. 

At the Michigan Court of Appeals, the coalition lost on a different issue when an appellate panel said that because the land had already been sold, the controversy was moot. 

Appealing to the Michigan Supreme Court, the coalition said the mootness ruling should be reversed and Detroit's alleged evasion of the ordinance should be litigated because a developer could use the same tactic again to avoid undergoing the community benefit agreement process, violating Detroiters' rights. 

"Our interest was to defend and make sure that the interpretation of the community benefits ordinance would be protective of the second clause," which requires public land sold at below market value without a bidding process to trigger the CBO, said Frank Hammer, co-chair of the coalition. 

Hammer said the coalition's concern is that other companies will follow Amazon's pattern to avoid the CBO. 

Phillips said she would have liked to see the courts look more closely at the mootness issue. The appellate panel's interpretation of mootness creates a "catch-22" for plaintiffs seeking to challenge a land deal, she said, because a case filed before the deal is approved risks being tossed for lack of ripeness, but a case might be ruled moot after approval, leaving little window for a viable lawsuit. 

The coalition told the Michigan Supreme Court in its petition that it still had live issues to pursue because the development of the former fairgrounds is not over. The city could have still put together community engagement on future phases of the land development if the coalition had been successful in its legal fight. 

"There are still terms to be negotiated and agreed upon for the complete development of this site to be realized, and then there are ongoing obligations and opportunities for monitoring and enforcement," the coalition wrote in its petition. 

The coalition had also argued that the high court must take action to undo the trial court's finding that the coalition had no standing to sue over the city's alleged violation of the ordinance, calling it an issue of "critical importance." 

"If citizens can create law through the direct democratic process of petition initiative but subsequently have no recourse to enforce it through the courts, then the exercise is a hollow gesture, contrary to the Michigan Constitution and the Home Rule Cities Act," the coalition wrote. 

Although the Supreme Court's denial of leave marks the end of the road for the lawsuit, Hammer said the coalition intends to focus on holding the city accountable to 14 commitments it made in resolutions accompanying the sale that address issues such as sustainability components in the development, community outreach, public health and helping Detroit residents secure jobs with Amazon. 

The coalition also now has its eyes on advocating for changes to the community benefits ordinance itself. 

"The Supreme Court not wishing to hear our appeal affirms that we need to have a stronger CBO," Hammer told Law360. 

The State Fairgrounds Development Coalition is represented by Tonya Myers Phillips and John C. Philo of The Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice. 

The city is represented in-house by Charles N. Raimi and James Noseda. 

The case is State Fairgrounds Development Coalition v. City of Detroit, case number 164671, in the Michigan Supreme Court. 

--Editing by John C. Davenport. 

Note: This article has been updated to include comments from a representative of the State Fairgrounds Development Coalition and its counsel. 

All Content © 2003-2023, Portfolio Media, Inc. 

“Ferguson Development continues to power Michigan’s economy”

ACCESSWIRE Tim Svendsen February 8, 2023

[Contrary to a previous report in Crains, which said that Ferguson was planning on selling his portion of the Fairgrounds, this report says he plans to develop it…here’s the relevant quote]

“Ferguson’s fourth active multi-million dollar development project involves the redevelopment of a portion of the old Michigan State Fairgrounds property. The 160-acre property hosted state fairs from 1849 to 2009, the second oldest state fair in the country. Amazon’s newest $400 million, 3.8 million square foot distribution center occupies 142 acres of the site. Another area of ​​the property will be used for the Detroit Department of Transportation’s new $18.6 million indoor transit center. Ferguson’s team plans to use their portion of the property to revitalize the area by providing more growth opportunities with new market areas and breakthrough exploration projects.” [our emphasis]

Hiring delays prompt questions about Amazon's fulfillment center in Detroit

Jenn Schanz, Channel 7 WXYZ TV, Detroit

Sun, December 4, 2022 6 pm

Detroit's fulfillment center at fairgrounds won't fully open now until 2023

Hannah Mackay, The Detroit News

Nov. 2, 2022

A 3.8 million-square-foot fulfillment center originally scheduled to fully open in Detroit by the spring of 2022 now won't fully launch until next year.

The fulfillment center is built on the city's old Michigan State Fairgrounds on Woodward near Eight Mile and was expected to provide at least 1,200 full-time jobs.

"We have begun initial operations at our fulfillment center in Detroit with the intent of fully launching next year," Amazon spokesman Steve Kelly wrote in an email. "We’ve hired for various jobs at this facility that include comprehensive benefits. We look forward to continuing our work in the great city of Detroit."

Developers invested $400 million in the project, which received some backlash from community members who were concerned about hiring locally and environmental protections at the site. Amazon fulfillment centers hold products to be packed and shipped to customers after they are ordered.

Amazon made a commitment to the city to recruit Detroit residents through the Detroit at Work employment program starting around five months ahead of the facility's opening. Full-time frontline employees working in Amazon customer fulfillment can earn between $16 and $26 an hour, the company said.

The city says 100 Detroit residents currently work at the fulfillment center and were hired through the Detroit at Work program. [our emphasis] Recruitment efforts to fill those positions began earlier this year.

When the facility is fully launched, residents can expect the same level of community engagement around hiring as the city demonstrated for the new Stellantis facility, the city said. Outreach methods will include social media, billboards, information fairs and career fairs with Amazon.

The Detroit fulfillment center is not Amazon's only investment in Michigan as the company opened its 11th delivery station in Canton last week. Michigan has five Amazon fulfillment centers, one tech hub and seven Whole Foods Market locations.

New Amazon fulfillment center in Detroit not ready to launch

JC Reindl, Detroit Free Press

Mon, October 31, 2022 at 7:00 PM·4 min read

A new Amazon fulfillment center in Detroit at the former State Fairgrounds that could employ 1,200 or more people is no longer scheduled to open this year as originally planned, the Free Press has learned.

Construction of the massive 3.8-million-square-foot building began in late 2020, and Amazon at the time reportedly hoped that the center could open by the middle of this year so that operations would be in full swing by the 2022 holiday season.

The new building has now been up for months, but Amazon's timeline for using it has changed.

Amazon spokesman Austin Stowe told the Free Press that while "initial operations" have started in the building, Amazon is now looking to 2023 for ramping up and officially launching the fulfillment center.

The spokesman would not give reasons for the opening delay or give details on when next year the center will launch or the type of early operations that have started.

A Detroit official said Monday the city isn't worried about the postponed opening.

"Amazon could have chosen anywhere else," Nicole Sherard-Freeman, group executive of Jobs, Economy & Detroit at Work, said in a statement. "This is great for the city and we're not concerned about the delay, given the fact that the project was announced at the beginning of the pandemic. Amazon has made a tremendous investment and commitment to the city of Detroit and we look forward to the facility's opening."

Amazon has experienced slower sales growth this year and delayed the planned opening of multiple new warehouse facilities in the U.S. and outright scrapped plans for others.

In Michigan, a fulfillment center in Delta Township outside Lansing that was to open this year has been delayed until 2024, and the construction of an Amazon delivery center in Gaines Township outside Grand Rapids is on hold, the township's manager said.

In Washtenaw County, a delivery station is still planned for Pittsfield Township, although there is no available timeline for building it, and Amazon reportedly canceled plans for a warehouse in Ypsilanti Township. The online shopping giant however did open a new delivery center last week in Canton.

The new Detroit fulfillment center, located off Eight Mile at the former fairgrounds, was developed for Amazon by Detroit-based Sterling Group and Dallas-based Hillwood Investment Properties.

Sterling Group and Hillwood bought the 142-acre site from the city of Detroit for $16 million.

Amazon received no local or state tax breaks or subsidies for the fulfillment center.

Amazon opens 'last mile' delivery station in Canton Township

Design firm sues Detroit developer over pay in $125M Leland Hotel, City Club rehab

A group called the State Fairgrounds Development Coalition sought to halt the 2020 sale of the city-owned land, claiming the value of the property had been undervalued in the deal and that Amazon should be required to do a Community Benefits Agreement with Detroit.

The coalition won a temporary injunction from Wayne County Circuit Court in late October 2020 halting the sale, but it was quickly reversed days later by the state Court of Appeals. The deal then went through and construction began.

In response to the coalition's lawsuit against the deal, a Detroit economic development official said in an October 2020 affidavit that the fulfillment center project was on an "extremely aggressive" construction timeline and that Amazon expected the center to be operational by mid-2022.

If the coalition's lawsuit were to delay the start of construction, the official warned, Amazon might decide to build the center somewhere else.

"Amazon requires that completion date in order for operations at the distribution center to have hit their stride in time for the 2022 peak holiday season," the official, Lucas Polcyn, deputy group executive for jobs and economic growth, wrote in the affidavit. "That deadline leaves no margin for delay to complete this $400 million project."

When the appeals court lifted the restraining order in early November 2020, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan cheered the news and said Amazon had indicated it might even have 2,000 positions available at the new fulfillment center, up from the initially expected 1,200.

Frank Hammer, co-chair of the development coalition, said last week that Amazon is clearly lagging on the timeline that the city once claimed was crucially important.

"It is not opening in time for the holiday season," he said.

The 2020 Detroit Amazon deal also included construction of a new Detroit Department of Transportation transit center within the fairgrounds' old Dairy Cattle Building, which is to replace a nearby bus hub on Woodward Avenue. The new State Fair Transit Center is scheduled for completion by early 2024.

The fairgrounds' historic bandshell, once at risk of demolition, is being repaired and relocated to Palmer Park, near the parking lot for the Detroit Police Department's 12th Precinct. The bandshell is on track for a fall 2023 opening, according to the city.

Amazon facilities in Michigan

• Five fulfillment centers

• Five sorting centers

• 11 delivery stations

• One same-day-focused delivery station

Contact JC Reindl: 313-378-5460 or jcreindl@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @jcreindl.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: New Amazon fulfillment center in Detroit not ready to launch

 Real Estate Insider: Chunk of former Michigan state fairgrounds property for sale

 KIRK PINHO. October 04, 2022  

If you've driven by the former Michigan state fairgrounds site in the last two weeks or so, you might have noticed something popping out of the ground.

No, not the massive Amazon.com Inc. warehouse.

A "for sale" sign.

An owner that at one point controlled the entire 158 acres of the site at Eight Mile Road and Woodward Avenue may soon own just five of it now that it put 11 of its remaining 16 acres up for sale.

There is no asking price, said Robert Reid, the Lansing-based broker hired to market the property for sale. However, it had an appraisal done in 2021 and then updated earlier this year showing the property valued at $4.2 million, Reid said.

That puts the value at $381,818 per acre, based on the appraisal.

That's nearly 13 times the per-acre price paid for it; a previous incarnation of the ownership group forked over $472,464 for the 16 acres or $29,529 per acre. There's the 11 or so acres north of a transit stop along Woodward and the remaining acreage south of the stop.

Also consider that a previous appraisal, conducted in early 2018, pegged the 16 acres or so at $2.61 million, or $163,125 per acre.

Talk about increasing value.

That'll happen when a giant Amazon warehouse goes up on a property that also sits near the city's first Meijer Inc. grocery store in a very busy shopping center just to the north.

It's not known why the owner is putting up one portion of the property but not the other, or what the plan for the remaining five acres currently is.

Reached Tuesday morning, Joel Ferguson, the former Michigan State University trustee and Lansing-based real estate developer who was leading the fairgrounds effort, said he was always the sole owner of the property.

Crain's and numerous other media outlets have previously reported that Ferguson co-owned the site with NBA legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson and several other investors, although he said that wasn't true on Tuesday.

Wayne County land records show that in July 2020, Magic Plus LLC — the ownership group that had consisted of Ferguson, Johnson and Marvin Beatty of what was then Greektown Casino-Hotel — transferred the property to Ferguson Fairgrounds LLC, an entity registered to Ferguson.

In December 2020, however, Ferguson Fairgrounds transferred the property back to Magic Plus LLC, land records show.

Christopher Stralkowski, a Ferguson Development executive, told me in 2020 that the ownership structure for the site consisted of Ferguson, Johnson, plus other investors, although Beatty was no longer involved.

The Michigan state fairgrounds site development saga has been going on for much longer than I've been a reporter at Crain's Detroit Business, but it has followed me a lot of places in the last decade or so.

My first Crain's Detroit Business byline in January 2013 was on the Magic Plus LLC efforts on the property, which at the time was controlled by the Michigan Land Bank Fast Track Authority.

As I was embarking on a road trip with one of my best friends to California to see another best friend get married in 2017, I was writing about the fairgrounds and an updated vision for the property. I took calls and wrote in the passenger seat, laptop in tow.

And just a couple of days after I moved from my long-time residence in Pontiac to Detroit, my former colleague Annalise Frank and I broke the story that Amazon was building a massive warehouse there on 78 acres of a 142-acre swath the city had.

That warehouse is now towering out of the ground, but there are many chapters left to come in the fairgrounds site's story.

January 14, 2022

Interview with Karen and Frank Hammer, co-chairs of the SFDC, on Detroit radio WNXK 690 AM, “Very Detroit.”

September 28, 2021

Detroit’s Community Benefits Ordinance promised residents a voice in redevelopment projects. Many say their concerns remain unheard.

Rukiya Colvin

This article is co-published by the Energy News Network and Planet Detroit with support from the Race and Justice Reporting Initiative at the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights at Wayne State University. 

As Detroit rebounds from the pandemic and the largest municipal bankruptcy in history, developers are increasingly seeing opportunity in a city where local officials are eager for economic recovery.

However, where developers see monetary value in land, neighbors are more concerned with the value of their lives.

April 29, 2021

Labor organizers, lawmakers push for union to protect State Fair site Amazon workers

By Ingrid Kelley

Updated May 19, 2021

Business

FOX 2 Detroit

With new fairgrounds transit center's placement decided, is Detroit 'just checking the box' on preservation? 

ANNALISE FRANK Crain Communications Inc. February 19, 2021  

· New location overlaps with historic buildings, despite calls to move it to preserve structures 

• Transit center contractor to conduct three-month reuse feasibility study 

• Preservationist: City didn't consider placement of transit center, preservation in tandem

Detroit's transportation authority has decided the final location for a new transit center next to a $400 million Amazon.com Inc. development at the former Michigan State Fairgrounds. And it's still in the exact spot preservation advocates don't want it. 

Amazon's developer is paying for the $7 million bus hub as part of its deal to lease an under construction 4 million-square-foot fulfillment center to the e-commerce giant on the former Michigan State Fairgrounds site at Woodward Avenue and Eight Mile Road. 

The transit center's placement is almost exactly where the city originally proposed it would go, just east of a Meijer Inc. shopping plaza and overlapping with two historic fairgrounds structures: the State Fair Riding Coliseum and Dairy Cattle Building. While Mayor Mike Duggan originally said three major historic structures on the property would need to be demolished for development, the city since agreed to conduct a three-month study on the feasibility of saving them. 

But that process, preservationists argue, hasn't been prioritized in planning efforts and as a result, reuse isn't being given a fair chance. 

"It seems like this development is on a collision course with these buildings and always has been," said Devan Anderson, president of nonprofit Preservation Detroit. 

Amazon's facility doesn't overlap with the three federally recognized historic buildings and its proximity makes them more desirable for reuse, the Detroit-based Quinn Evans architect said. 

The city, though, is moving forward with its plan to place its transit center where the buildings sit, not shifting it elsewhere. This appears to necessitate either the buildings' reuse as part of the transit center or their demolition. 

"It begs the question that the city isn't being serious about reusing those buildings, that they're basically just checking the box coming out of City Council meetings," said Francis Grunow, a Detroit resident and preservationist. "That's really unfortunate, because it was our impression the city would give an honest shake to the buildings and giving them a reasonable chance to have a future at the fairgrounds."

A city of Detroit map shows the final placement for a transit center being built to replace another as the former Michigan State Fairgrounds land is transformed into a multi-project development site anchored by Amazon.com Inc. The names of the existing buildings with which the new transit center intersects are also shown. 

The city promised a feasibility study on preservation. That study is baked into the request for proposals and qualifications the Detroit Building Authority sent out Jan. 25 seeking companies to design and build the transit center. 

The city building agency's chosen contractor will assess the condition of the Coliseum and Dairy Cattle buildings and a nearby third, the Agriculture Building, and as part of its work will study whether they can be feasibly "adaptively reused or partially incorporated into the final design" of the transit center, DBA Director Tyrone Clifton said. 

"To bury that portion of the RFP in a plan that mandates the transit center just go on this property doesn't seem to be doing these buildings justice," Anderson said. 

Clifton said the DBA must work with the city-owned land it's been given for the project. 

"We're taking the feasibility study seriously," he said. 

Around 50 contractors, engineers and architects attended a pre-bid event Feb. 9 and Clifton expects quite a few responses to the bid, hopefully with creative reuse ideas. However, the design must meet DDOT's needs, as well. Long-term operating costs will be taken into consideration. 

"The successful design-build firm could bring us something that we're not looking at that might make sense," Clifton said. "We're looking for firms who have a history of doing these types of projects. Transit, hopefully incorporating an existing facility into something that can meet a transit need." 

The price tag for designing and building the transit center, $6.4 million, includes the 90-day feasibility study. Qualifications are due Monday and then finalists' proposals are to be submitted and interviews conducted the week of March 1, with a decision to be made around the week of March 8. 

Anderson said he worries the "Venn diagram" between companies responding to a transit center RFP like this and those with the skills to assess and determine reuse for the buildings is "probably exceedingly small." 

The approximately 4,300-square-foot transit center would replace an existing one on Woodward near State Fair, adding heated indoor waiting space, Wi-Fi, a cashier's window and bathrooms. It's a busy area and the new hub would serve up to 30,000 riders a week. It is expected to open in May 2022. 

Grunow questioned why preservation wasn't brought into play more holistically. He said it seemed to be considered entirely separately from Detroit Department of Transportation's equity study and community engagement that culminated in DDOT's early February decision on the final location. 

"I don't know why they continue to be running on these strange, parallel tracks," Grunow said. "The city seems to be hell-bent on having those not work as well in tandem as it seems like they could." 

Detroit's executive director of transit, Mikel Oglesby, told Crain's that that aspect of the project did not factor into DDOT's decision on location. 

"(The Detroit Building Authority) are the ones that carry it to the next level. What we do is we're going to continue to engage the public on the development of the facility," Oglesby said. 

Reuse is outside the scope of the transit equity study that preceded final location selection, he added. 

The equity analysis required by federal law looked at the bus terminal's potential impacts on low-income riders and surrounding communities. DDOT also sought public feedback on the transit center. The location was chosen for how it fits into the site's development, placement near the Meijer-anchored plaza and to ensure connections to bus routes and traffic entrance 

and exit points to Woodward and Eight Mile Road, DDOT transit ambassador manager Mikki Hendrix said in a virtual November public hearing. Several alternative locations suggested at workshops were not chosen. 

There's also been concerns about the transit center's placement from transit advocates, some of whom say it's set back too far from the main road, there's been a lack of public input on transit issues and a lack of attention to riders with disabilities. 

There's yet another building the public seems to want preserved: A bandshell that's on the property designated for Amazon's facility. After online backlash, Amazon has said it's considering preserving the performance venue, according to the Detroit Metro Times. An Amazon representative did not respond to a request for comment from Crain's. 

Preservation requires money, and Amazon has that, Grunow said. He is interested to know what the company will do. 

"If they wanted to do anything positive around these buildings they could. They have the means to do it," he said. 

Preservation Magazine, Winter 2021

Places Restored, Threatened, Saved, and Lost in Preservation Magazine's Winter 2021 Issue

Threatened: Michigan State Fairgrounds

Three historic buildings at the 142-acre Michigan State Fairgrounds site in Detroit could be demolished to make way for a new transit center.

Amazon's $400M facility at State Fairgrounds divides neighbors

Christine Ferretti The Detroit News - Jan 20, 2021

Detroit — A $400 million Amazon distribution center is expected to revitalize the former Michigan State Fairgrounds after years of neglect, but neighborhood groups are divided over whether the developers' promises of jobs and environmental protections for nearby residents go far enough.    

The city sold the 142-acre site at Woodward near Eight Mile last fall to developers, and 78 acres is being redeveloped for the 3.8 million-square-foot Amazon facility that is intended to be the anchor tenant. The remaining 70 acres are expected to be redeveloped into potential spaces for automotive industry suppliers and other light industrial uses. 

The move spurred legal action from a group of residents seeking to block the sale and hope among members of another residents' group that the online retail giant would put their depressed neighborhood back on the map. 

The deal was finalized after the State Fairgrounds Development Coalition, a grassroots group, lost a court bid last year to halt the sale of the property for $16 million. The coalition claimed the site was "deliberately" undervalued by the city to prevent it from being subject to a city community benefits ordinance that requires developers of certain projects to engage residents to negotiate jobs and issues such as affordable housing.

That group is now asking a Wayne County judge for an interpretation of the ordinance, which they assert should have been triggered by the deal. The ordinance would ensure promises of jobs and environmental safeguardsfor neighbors, said Tonya Myers Phillips, an attorney from Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice in Detroit, who represents the coalition.

Amazon has promised to recruit Detroit residents for the 1,200 or more jobs it expects to create, invest in nearby parks and assess and monitor air quality. Construction has begun on the facility expected to open in spring 2022 and jobs will start at $15 an hour, with opportunities for higher-level positions.

That doesn't go far enough, Myers Phillips argues.

"We need something in writing. We can't just take the word of unnamed, undisclosed people that it's going to be fine," she said. "The impact of this on our lives is so huge, and it looks like we're not getting much of anything except harm coming our way."

Another community group, the State Fair Neighborhood Association, as well as city officials and Amazon, counter the project has the interests of residents in mind.

Joshua McAninch is the founder and president of the State Fair Neighborhood Association, which represents the Penrose community from State Fair to Seven Mile and John R to Woodward. He said residents felt left behind after the fairgrounds closed in 2009. Now, he said, they feel acknowledged and are eager for the jobs and investment. 

"We were literally on the chopping block to be a forgotten neighborhood," said McAninch, 40. He noted Amazon isn't seeking any tax incentives. 

"They came to us without their hands out and then put things on the table on top of it. I don't think Detroit has seen a deal that's that sweet without them taking money out of the coffers."

City: Sale not in violation

The commitments from Amazon are not dissimilar to packages of benefits obtained for the 10 projects that have fallen under the ordinance since voters in 2016 made the city one of the first in the nation to require developers of large-scale projects to negotiate benefits with neighborhoods, said Arthur Jemison, Detroit's Group Executive for Housing, Planning and Development. 

"It's very consistent with what a CBO process would yield," he said. The former Hudson's site, Michigan Central Depot and Fiat Chrysler Jefferson North Assembly Plant Expansion are among the projects in Detroit impacted by the ordinance. 

The ordinance applies to developments that meet at least one of three requirements: the project value is $75 million or more, it receives $1 million or more in property tax abatements, or gets $1 million or more in value of city land. The city has said the fairgrounds project does not qualify for the ordinance because the developer isn't seeking tax incentives. 

Detroit's City Council is studying proposed amendments to the ordinance that would boost community engagement and lower the project value thresholds that trigger it, but some city officials, developers and unions have argued more onerous rules could drive business away from Detroit.

Charles Raimi, a lawyer for the city, said he filed a motion last week to dismiss what's left of the coalition's lawsuit. A hearing is set for March 9. 

The State Fairgrounds Development Coalition is co-chaired by Frank and Karen Hammer, 35-year residents of Green Acres, a neighborhood west of the site. The group formed in 2012 to develop a future vision for the fairgrounds. 

The coalition previously put together a plan for the fairgrounds that included a transit center, mixed-use buildings with "fair-priced housing," green energy technology, a job training center and preservation of existing buildings for fairs or events. 

That includes three buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places — the dairy cattle barn, coliseum and agriculture building — and an iconic bandshell. All remain in limbo as city officials evaluate whether the structures will be razed, relocated or incorporated into site designs for a $7 million Detroit Department of Transportation indoor transit center that will be constructed on the fairgrounds site using proceeds from the sale.

"We're very far apart in terms of a vision of what this (site) would be," Frank Hammer said. "Now, we're trying to say 'OK, you're bringing in Amazon, we're going to try to improve how you bring it in.' And one of the main concerns is about health and safety."

An online petition demanding the bandshell be spared has collected more than 39,000 signatures. Preservation advocates and Amazon have expressed interest in the structure, and it will be included in the city's review, Jemison said. 

Jemison said some buildings could be relocated and a decision is expected to be announced by the end of April. 

Karen Hammer said she's concerned about truck traffic associated with the warehouse.

"The whole community was looking for as close to a carbon-neutral footprint as possible for the fairgrounds," she said.

Amazon said it's committed to reaching zero carbon across its operations by 2040. The company noted it's already begun use of electric delivery vehicles. A fleet of 10,000 will be on the roads by 2022, and all 100,000 in use by 2030, it said.

Amazon said it will follow city permits and guidelines to ensure site traffic won't disrupt neighbors. Officials said trucks will primarily enter and exit from a driveway in the southwest corner of the site through a new North-South connector street. 

The City Council approved resolutions last fall supporting neighborhood investments and air monitoring at the site. 

Ray Scott, deputy director of the city's Buildings Safety Engineering and Environmental Department, said Amazon is evaluating the level of pollutants at the site. Scott said a report from the initial assessment should be completed in August.

The project's real estate developers and investors are Hillwood Investment Properties of Dallas, Texas and Detroit-based Sterling Group. Hillwood spokeswoman Jennifer Cheek declined to comment on behalf of the firm. Sterling Group did not respond to an interview request. 

Andre Woodson, a spokesman for Amazon, told The News in an email the company is "proud to support the creation of job opportunities for area residents before our new fulfillment center in Detroit even opens."

Amazon estimates its facilities in Michigan have created more than 13,500 full-time jobs and over 10,000 indirect jobs in construction and services. 

The Detroit warehouse is expected to bring anywhere from 1,200 to 2,000 jobs, said Nicole Sherard-Freeman, who heads Detroit's Jobs and Economy Team. 

Sherard-Freeman said the city was able to secure a commitment from Amazon to recruit residents through the city's Detroit at Work employment program. That process, she said, will begin about five months ahead of the facility's opening.

"Detroiters are smart, they work hard, they are resilient, they are the population you want in your facility, no matter what your facility is," she said. 

Patrick King, 33, moved into a house just east of the fairgrounds a couple of years ago. He said there's a need for jobs throughout the city and the Amazon warehouse will help. 

"Detroiters, in general, need more opportunities," said King, adding $15-an-hour is "more than enough for people who have nothing coming in."

Detroit committed to spending $500,000 on existing and future parks near the site.

David Solocinski, who lives just south of State Fair Avenue, said he's taken part in community meetings on the project and believes it will improve his neighborhood. 

"For Amazon to come around and talk about making a couple parks around here, it's nice," said Solocinski, 64. 

Detroit City Councilman Roy McCalister Jr., who represents District 2, where the fairgrounds are located, said he's satisfied with the project and believes it will provide opportunities for people who need them.

"You can't just let the site sit there," he said. "You have to look at people's livelihood."

But City Councilwoman Raquel Castañeda-López voted against the deal and wants developers to take steps to curb potential air and noise pollution. 

"I'm not anti-industrial development," she said. "If we do it, these are the design standards that must be embedded and the protections that must be embedded."

cferretti@detroitnews.com

Amazon says it's looking into preserving Detroit bandshell after backlash

Posted By Lee DeVito on Mon, Dec 21, 2020

Wow, a recent Metro Times piece sure made waves — and it seemed like a long shot.

Dear Amazon, before you bulldoze more than 80 years of Detroit music history, please read this

Posted By David Gifford Dec 14, 2020, Detroit Metro Times

Amazon prepares to set up shop at Detroit’s old State Fairgrounds site

$400 million Amazon development to change neighborhood for the better [Ed: oh, really?!]

LOCAL NEWS

Rod Meloni, Reporter, Natasha Dado, November 24, 2020

Commentary: Fairgrounds could be a win-win, if city will play ball

AMY ELLIOTT BRAGG, Special projects editor, Crain Communications Inc.

Nov. 11, 2020

It's the most exciting basketball gym in the country, as a banner outside of the building once proclaimed.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic put a temporary halt to operations, anyone could come play pick-up basketball at the Joe Dumars Fieldhouse

"It's a classic, old-school, pick-up operation," said Brian Siegel, a partner in the Fieldhouse, along with the gym's namesake, former Detroit Pistons point guard Dumars. "We charge $10 for as long as you want to stay." The gym saw 100,000 people a year.

A big part of what makes the Fieldhouse so special is the building it's in: Constructed in 1926 and with a 65-foot-high trussed steel roof, the Agricultural Building on the site of the former Michigan State Fairgrounds makes for a dramatic venue impossible to recreate.

"You cannot find open-span buildings like that anymore, period," Siegel said. "You couldn't replace the steel infrastructure. They don't build buildings like that anymore. … It's just prohibitively expensive to build something like that."

The Fieldhouse opened in 2005. Just a few years later, in 2009, the state of Michigan pulled the plug on funding the Michigan State Fair after a 160-year run and evicted all the site's tenants except for the Fieldhouse. It could have spelled doom for the basketball gym, but it didn't. They kept their doors open. People kept coming in to play basketball. A decade passed.

Then, in 2019, the state sold the land to the city of Detroit, and now the city plans to sell it to Hillwood Development LP and Sterling Group. The developers plan an industrial campus anchored by a much-heralded Amazon distribution facility that will create 1,200 jobs. Mayor Mike Duggan has said that the Agricultural Building, along with two other historic buildings on the Fairgrounds site, will likely have to be demolished.

When the deal was announced, it was framed as an either/or bargain: Amazon will invest here, the jobs will come, but the buildings have to go. But nothing in the site plan suggests the buildings are in Amazon's way.

Creating jobs and economic opportunity at the Fairgrounds doesn't have to be at odds with reusing the buildings. Tearing them down will be expensive — not only in demolition costs, but in the loss of tax credits that could be used to restore them. It's harder to quantify lost opportunity, or the loss of community value, but those should be considered, too.

It doesn't even require imagination to come up with a viable use for the State Fair buildings. The Fieldhouse is already there.

Many uses

Generations of Michiganders have fond State Fair memories. First held in Detroit on Woodward near Grand Circus Park in 1849, the Michigan State Fair connected Detroiters to the agricultural heart of Michigan and brought people from all over the state to ride the Ferris wheel, eat fair food and win blue ribbons in Detroit. The fair moved to its permanent home at Eight Mile and Woodward in 1905.

The three buildings now at risk — the Agricultural Building, the Hertel Coliseum, and the Dairy Cattle Building — are the most visible remnants of the old State Fair. Built between 1922 and 1926, their white stucco exteriors and neoclassical design echo the "white city" aesthetic of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, and they number among just a handful of surviving exhibition buildings nationwide.

Throughout their existence, the large open buildings have been used for many things: they've hosted horse races, circuses, ice hockey, the Detroit Auto Show, Henry Ford's 75th birthday party and, at the 5,600-seat Coliseum, countless concerts spanning a half-century of music history, from Dave Brubeck to the Beastie Boys. The buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places, which does not protect them from demolition, but does qualify them for federal historic tax credits.

The proposed 3.8 million-square-foot Amazon development will take up about half of the acreage of the site and is part of the first phase of development. The city says the Amazon facility is expected to begin operations in 2022. But the fairgrounds buildings mostly lie in phase 3 of the development, according to the site map. This phase of the development, the city has said, will bring "auto parts suppliers or other job creators," but there is no timeline for this phase of the development. It could be another decade.

A new $7 million transit center is also planned for the site. Those plans are part of phase 1, and they are overlaid on a portion of the Dairy Cattle Building. But on a 100+-acre site, it's hard to believe there aren't 100 feet of wiggle room to keep the transit center clear of a 100- year-old building.

So why the rush to get rid of the Fairgrounds buildings?

For architect Michael Poris, it's a disappointing reminder of an era he thought was over.

"I'm just kind of shocked that we're just going backwards," Poris said. "It's very frustrating. We were fighting this kind of thing 25 years ago … 20 years ago … 15 years ago. I thought we had rounded that corner with all of the buildings being renovated downtown, and the Train Station," he said, referring to Ford Motor Company's celebrated renovation of Michigan Central Station in Corktown.

Back in 2000, Poris' firm McIntosh Poris Associates drew up a master plan for a Fairgrounds redevelopment on behalf of Joseph Nederlander, who had a 50-year lease with the State of Michigan to create an entertainment complex on the site, with an equestrian center, an outdoor amphitheatre and an auto racing track. The project fell apart, but Poris thinks the buildings are in good condition and ought to be "tactically preserved" for the time being.

"They are in great shape. Ninety-nine percent of the vacant buildings in the city are (in worse shape) than this," Poris said. "(These are) long-span steel structures that honestly don't look like there's anything wrong with them. Maybe the bricks need some tuckpointing, maybe they have to be brought up to code with new bathrooms and lighting, but physically, structurally, they're fine."

Poris said that by the time phase 3 rolls around, we might be glad to have kept the buildings: we could have concerts or sports again at the Coliseum, or someone could decide to create one of Detroit's coolest office spaces in the Dairy Cattle Building. But we don't have to figure that out now, while the more urgent work of developing the Amazon site is underway.

And while we wait, we could have 10 more years of basketball at the Fieldhouse.

Want to stay

In 2005, Siegel and Dumars invested $1 million to adapt the Agricultural Building for their basketball gym. At the same time, a more modest vision for a recreation and entertainment campus on the Fairgrounds site was coming together: an old barn building had been renovated for the Detroit Equestrian Center, and there were plans for a golf center with an indoor driving range and a mini-golf course.

Those plans were all scratched when the state ended funding for the fair and sent those tenants packing. But it shows the potential that has existed in these buildings all along, and is just one example of how these buildings might be put back to use in the future.

In the final terms of the sale approved by Detroit City Council, the city agreed to conduct a three-month feasibility study that would consider whether the fairgrounds buildings might be preserved or relocated. It's good that the city plans to look more closely at the case for preservation, rather than dismissing their value out of the gates.

Meanwhile, the Fieldhouse has four years left on its lease, and Siegel says they want to stay. He's ready to have a conversation with the city and site developers about how that could work for everyone.

"We would love to engage with the city and the developers to find a win-win situation for everyone, preserving the historic building and the recreational resource to the community, particularly the youth," Siegel said. "Joe and I have our hearts in it, believe in it, and want it to continue. … We support the creation of jobs in the community and don't want to get in the way of development, but we'd be heartbroken if this were to go away."

Lavonia Perryman 910 Superstation interview

An interview with Sugar Law Center Attorney Tonya Myers Phillips and Frank and Karen Hammer of the State Fairgrounds Development Coalition. Nov. 6, 2020 (Begins approximately 32 minutes into the show).

Temporary restraining order halts sale of state fairgrounds, putting hold on Amazon distribution center

Cara Ball WXYZ-TV Channel 7 Detroit Oct. 29, 2020

Includes the entire complaint filed by the State Fairgrounds Development Coalition and the Wayne County Circuit Court’s order.

Court order temporarily halts sale of former Michigan State Fairgrounds site

Group claims Detroit ignored state, city laws amid sale of public land

Cassidy Johncox, Click on Detroit, WDIV-TV Channel 4, Oct. 29, 2020

Includes the entire complaint filed by the State Fairgrounds Development Coalition and the Wayne County Circuit Court’s order.

Court grants temporary restraining order blocking sale of Michigan State Fairgrounds for Detroit Amazon facility

Lee DeVito Detroit Metro Times Oct 29, 2020 

State Fairgrounds Development Coalition files lawsuit against city of Detroit over Amazon land deal

Group seeks halt to land sale until concerns addressed

City Council approved the deal for a $400 million Amazon distribution center Tuesday

Of the deal, Mayor Mike Duggan says, "I have no idea how anybody was against this

ANNALISE FRANK Crain's Detroit Business October 22, 2020

Amazon.com Inc. is expected to occupy a 3.8-million-square-foot warehouse center on 78 acres of the former Michigan State Fairgrounds site in Detroit at Woodward Avenue and Eight Mile Road. Detroit City Council approved the deal Tuesday but the land sale to developers has not yet closed.

The State Fairgrounds Development Coalition on Tuesday sued the city of Detroit in an attempt to halt its proposed sale of the largely vacant site to developers for a $400 million Amazon.com Inc. facility. The group has railed against the deal, which Detroit City Council approved Tuesday and is expected to close next Friday. In the lawsuit filed in Wayne County Circuit Court, it alleges that the city, Mayor Mike Duggan and other officials violated local law by failing to abide by Detroit's community benefits and outreach ordinances before selling the land.

Tonya Myers Phillips, a coalition steering committee member and attorney with the Sugar Law Center in Detroit, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the coalition and its co-chairs, Frank and Karen Hammer. The group had been pushing for a grassroots, publicly usable redevelopment of the fairgrounds site for eight years.

The Detroit Metro Times first reported the lawsuit.

In the land purchase that City Council approved 6-2, Detroit-based Sterling Group and Dallas-based Hillwood Enterprises LP will buy the 142-acre site for $9 million and give the city another $7 million to build a public transit center to replace one being taken over by the development. Amazon has pledged to lease 78 acres of the site for what would be its largest facility in metro Detroit at 3.8 million square feet and 1,200 jobs.

The lawsuit alleges that the city is looking to dodge the Community Benefits Ordinance — meant to address developments' negative impacts on surrounding neighborhoods — by using a land valuation method that "deliberately understate(s) the fair market value of the land." Crain's previously reported on this dispute over the land valuation. The coalition argues that the appraisal "lacks a valid certification under Michigan law" and that the city put a de facto discount on the land value for the sale by deducting costs for demolition and environmental work.

The lawsuit seeks an order that the city comply with the Community Benefits Ordinance and halt the sale "until such time as the Defendants comply with the city's Community Benefits Ordinance." The group also alleges similar violations and makes similar requests for the newer Community Outreach Ordinance.

In a written statement in response to the lawsuit, Lawrence Garcia, Detroit's corporation counsel, pointed out what he called inaccuracies in the lawsuit:

"The City has received a copy of the complaint but has not been served with process and formally brought into a lawsuit. The whole thing may be a media stunt, but regardless of the Plaintiffs' intent, there are several things wrong with the claims. Chief among those deficiencies are: 1) the objection comes too late — months after the City announced the deal; 2) the sale is NOT below market value. To the contrary, the City will give no tax incentives or subsidies and will receive ($16 million) for property it purchased less than two years ago for ($7 million) — property that appraised for far less than the consideration paid." The lawsuit is against the city government; Duggan; Kathy Trudeau, deputy director of the planning and development department; and Marc Siwak, chief of staff for the planning department.

The coalition also hired Chelsea-based Burgoyne Appraisal Co. to analyze the city's valuation of the fairgrounds property. While Burgoyne's appraisal review was not complete as of this week, Burgoyne said in a letter to Phillips provided to Crain's that the city was relying "upon an unsigned draft of an appraisal report," which the company and the lawsuit argue as inappropriate. Burgoyne says in its letter that it isn't criticizing the report itself, ahead of the completion of its review, but the city for using the unsigned document.

The State Fairgrounds Development Coalition has called the Amazon deal itself secretive and rushed, demanding before its passage that more money be spent on environmental justice, preservation of historic buildings, public use and a fund for neighborhood home improvements. They also sought more assurances Detroiters would get a certain percent of Amazon jobs. The coalition has had support from U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, as well as groups including the Detroit People's Platform and the Equitable Detroit Coalition.

"From the beginning, what we initially heard about this deal, we were told ... sure you can have community input," Phillips said. "... just don't change the terms of the deal. So from the start that's been the posture. We've laid out some very, I think, simple, basic, decent asks. We've put our requests before them, they are not unreasonable. I believe the balance of harm (in this development) is far greater on the community. The equities are not balanced here, in terms of who's really profiting. Our asks are reasonable, I think they could take a look at them and I don't think it'd have them break a sweat, in terms of the developer and Amazon."

Others have spoken in favor of the Amazon development, touted as a job creator and a means of reuse for a site that's sat mostly idle since the fairgrounds closed in 2009.

"I am excited about the opportunity for residents in this area to have accessible employment opportunities here," said Rod Hardamon, a Detroit developer who lives in the district where the fairgrounds is located. "I think it has a lot of ancillary benefits for the city and this neighborhood as a whole. I think the ability to activate this area with additional economic activity, this will spawn new restaurants, new businesses because of the new employees that will be there because of this activity ..."

Joshua McAninch, the State Fair Neighborhood Association president and a resident of State Fair Avenue just south of the site, has also endorsed the deal.

"We waited a long time for the State Fairgrounds to do something with this vacant parcel," he said during a media event announcing the Amazon proposal in mid-August.

Duggan this Wednesday celebrated the City Council win during another news conference.

"Had we not landed this, those 1,200 jobs would end up in Rochester Hills, instead of in Detroit. I have no idea how anybody was against this ..." he said.

Bankole: Detroit City Council's deal doesn't benefit Detroiters

Bankole Thompson

Detroit News, Oct. 22, 2020

View Comments

A $16 million deal that the Detroit City Council approved this week to convert the former Michigan State Fairgrounds into an Amazon fulfillment center is the latest example of how government genuflects before the private sector without demanding serious and tangible returns.

The deal Mayor Mike Duggan praised for its promise of economic opportunities typifies how the city has done business despite the potential for risks and the lack of accountability associated with public-private partnerships such as the Amazon redevelopment plan.

Utilizing public-private partnership has been the model that previous administrations have used under the guise of creating equitable development for the city’s residents. The poor economic performance of past agreements, including not providing the exact number of jobs that were promised, betrays the thrust of such arrangements. Detroiters ought to be skeptical when bargaining for deals such as the Amazon fulfillment center one recently inked at City Council.

“This project will bring 1,200 new jobs, entrepreneurship opportunities and a new transit center to our community," Duggan said in a statement. "With Council approval now in place, construction is expected to begin in the coming weeks. Attracting large employment centers like this is a major part of our strategy to lift more Detroit families out of poverty and rebuild our city's middle class.”

Duggan’s comments are no different than the kind of grand statements previous mayors have issued when they successfully push through proposals that benefit the private sector without any serious examination of the impact the development will have on the community. As we’ve seen in the past, the contractual arrangements between the city and the developers can lack so much clarity that the terms of the deal expected to benefit Detroiters may not even be enforceable.

“I am writing to express my extreme disappointment in the mayor and members of the Detroit City Council for moving forward with the decision to sell the State Fairgrounds site. I am amazed at council members who even refused to approve a health impact assessment on this project or a dedicated fund for the community — who will definitely need it as a result of living around all that diesel truck pollution,” posted Detroit Attorney Tonya Philips, who is running for state representative for District 4. She has been galvanizing community support against the Amazon deal: “The fight for equitable, healthy, and inclusive development is not over though. I believe that the choice between jobs and health is absurd.”

There is an apartment building located near the site of the State Fairgrounds. There is no doubt that the traffic that will be generated from placing a fulfillment center by a major retail giant is bound to create the kind of air pollution that could threaten people’s safety.

More importantly, the jobs that this plan promises to create are not even guaranteed, a point that City Council president Brenda Jones raised. Detroiters can cross their fingers and hope that the developmental returns of this deal would mean real jobs to raise their standards of living, but the promises of the development may not be realized for many of them.

Sam Riddle, a veteran Detroit political analyst who has demanded a critical eye on the deal, said, “Duggan on Amazon State Fairgrounds deal moved like Trump-McConnell on Supreme Court appointment with callous raw political power. Duggan knew he had votes of the rubber stamp Detroit City Council like Trump has with the U.S. Senate to confirm the people be damned.”

Detroit goes the extra mile to attract investors and developers to the city.

Unfortunately, when developers' performance and their impact on poverty and inequality are measured, they reveal how limited the scope and gains of such developments are in terms of their long term benefit for the city’s poorest residents.

Detroit needs long term evaluations for such economic development deals.

bankole@bankolethompson.com

Twitter: @BankoleDetNews

Catch “Redline with Bankole Thompson,” which broadcasts at 11 a.m. weekdays on 910AM.

Lawsuit seeks to halt sale of State Fairgrounds for Amazon center in Detroit

Posted By Steve Neavling on Wed, Oct 21, 2020 

The State Fairgrounds Development Coalition filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the city of Detroit and Mayor Mike Duggan to prevent the sale of land for a $400 million Amazon distribution center.

The lawsuit filed in Wayne County Circuit Court claims the city violated two ordinances that require community input before land is sold and rezoned.

Detroit City Council Approves Sale of State Fairgrounds to Amazon

by Eli Newman | Oct. 20, 2020

Amazon is purchasing 138 acres for $16 million to develop a four-million square-foot fulfillment center. City officials say the deal will generate $77 million in tax revenue, but opponents are concerned about lack of transparency in the deal.

Council OKs plan for Amazon center at old state fairgrounds site

Candice Williams The Detroit News, Oct. 20, 2020

Protest held against proposed Amazon center at State Fairgrounds

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Along Woodward in front of the old State Fairgrounds, protestors called for a halt to bring Amazon to Detroit.

"This is our first actual protest here at the site, but actually speaking, we've been trying to attend all the meetings sponsored by the city," said Frank Hammer, protest organizer.

Protesters also have environmental concerns are worried about an increase in traffic and and a decrease in air quality.

The $400 million Amazon Distribution Center is slated to be built at the old State Fairgrounds. But some have raised questions including US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) about working conditions and the possible demolition of historic buildings.

"Some of my happiest memories were here, my father used to bring me here all the time," said one protester.

Protestors also have environmental concerns are worried about an increase in traffic and a decrease in air quality.

"I live in this area, I'm a native Detroiter and I'm just concerned about my neighborhood and my city," said Earline Smith.

Bringing Amazon to Detroit would mean 1200 permanent new jobs, not to mention all the temporary construction jobs. The distribution center would be built on a 142-acre plot of land.

"My job is to worry about getting Detroiters back into the workforce every day," said Nicole Sherard-Freeman, Workforce Development for Detroit. "If we have those jobs, we have a much better chance of getting Detroiters into those jobs than if they are out in the suburbs somewhere."

The city says there are no tax abatements for the proposed project, yet it would generate $43 million in tax revenues over the next 10 years.

"For some they see it as a patch of land that needs some improvement and other folks they see it as a place for where their heart and their memories are," Freeman said. "I respect all of that. I am looking at it as a chance for Detroiters to improve their economic condition."

The Detroit City Council is expected to discuss the proposed plan next week.

Rally against Amazon planned at State Fairgrounds

Organization says city council is rushing to take up zoning vote

by: Darren Cunningham

Posted at 5:44 AM, Oct 16, 2020

Without public dollars, Amazon fairgrounds development escapes Detroit's community benefits requirements

ANNALISE FRANK KIRK PINHO Crain's Detroit Business, October 16, 2020

Amazon.com Inc. is expected, pending city approvals, to occupy a 3.8-million-square-foot warehouse center on 78 acres of the former Michigan state fairgrounds site in Detroit at Woodward Avenue and Eight Mile Road.

A government slide show on a plan to lure Amazon.com Inc. to the city-owned former Michigan State Fairgrounds site proclaimed last week in yellow, all-caps font: "NO PUBLIC INCENTIVES and NO SUBSIDIES."

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and officials have touted that element of the proposed deal: No public handouts, just a redevelopment of a long-vacant swath of land and at least 1,200 jobs.

But the State Fairgrounds Development Coalition, which has opposed elements of the Amazon deal, cries foul. The nearly decade-old organization founded to rally for a community-accessible future at the site says the city of Detroit is actually selling its land at a discount, constituting a form of public assistance.

There's no question the developers, Detroit-based Sterling Group and Dallas-based Hillwood Enterprises LP, aren't taking city tax incentives to build the $400 million Amazon distribution center. That's codified in the proposed purchase agreement, which is expected to be considered for Detroit City Council approval Tuesday.

Developers aren't taking city tax incentives for $400 million distribution center, but could seek others Coalition says city is selling land at discount, constituting a form of public assistance that triggers CBO City disputes discount, says property is not being "priced below market

But the crux of the coalition's argument is that while the developers have committed not to take tax breaks, they are at the same time taking nearly $3.6 million in what the coalition has called in its talking points "backdoor subsidies." The city is deducting the costs of environmental remediation and site demolition from the price for which it's selling the land — in essence paying for them. City officials disagree, saying this is typical of an as-is purchase and does not constitute a subsidy.

"The proposed purchase agreement ... cannot go forward without a major modification of the sale terms — unless the city of Detroit acknowledges that the sale price is clearly less than the appraised value and triggers Detroit's Community Benefits Ordinance," two members of the coalition's steering committee wrote in a Sept. 7 memo to the wider coalition and City Council members.

This disagreement would have some ramifications: If a big development project gets financial assistance from the city — either in the form of tax breaks or land discounted below market value — it must go through the Community Benefits Ordinance process created to mitigate negative impacts on surrounding neighborhoods. The city does not consider this project as triggering it.

The coalition's assertion, if true, would also call into question the city's rhetoric surrounding the deal and its lack of public buy-in.

What is market value?

Pending City Council approval, Sterling Group and Hillwood would buy 138 acres of the former state fairgrounds near Woodward Avenue and Eight Mile Road. Then they would start late this fall to redevelop 78 of those acres for what would be tenant Amazon's largest metro Detroit location, creating 1,200 jobs.

"This city has never had a new building built for $400 million without tax breaks or incentives," Duggan said during the proposal's Aug. 11 announcement. "This is groundbreaking territory for the city of Detroit."

But the story is a bit more complicated than that.

State Fair Partners LLC, an entity the developers registered, would wire the city of Detroit $16 million when the deal closes. That includes $9 million for the property "as-is," plus $7 million to fund building a new transit center to replace one that will need to be demolished.

The coalition argues that $9 million property price isn't market value.

An appraisal of the property in March by Integra Realty Resources valued it at $11.07 million. That figure comes after subtracting $1.51 million in environmental remediation costs.

From that base value, the city of Detroit also deducted $2.64 million for the cost to demolish the former fairgrounds' buildings and just less than $600,000 for land being retained by the city for roads, which the developer's tenants would use but the city would maintain, per the coalition memo. That brings the land value down to $7.84 million. The city and developers then agreed to $9 million. The coalition interprets the appraised value as the original $12.58 million — $3.58 million over the final proposed price.

"We're concerned that this particular figure or interpretation of value was arrived at as a way of not triggering the community benefits ordinance. The CBO would be applicable if the land was sold below market value rate," said Tonya Myers Phillips, a coalition steering committee member and attorney with the Sugar Law Center in Detroit. "We believe that the discount ... is a form of subsidy."

Asked to consider whether State Fair Partners should undergo the community benefits process, Detroit's law department said no, that the final price of $16 million "supports only one conclusion," that the property is not being "priced below market rates," according to a memo from Bruce Goldman, chief assistant corporation counsel for Detroit, to the city Planning Commission.

Nick Khouri, Detroit's group executive for jobs and the economy, said in an emailed statement that the appraisal is in line with a previous one, in 2018, when the city originally bought the property for $7 million.

"The City is selling the property as-is," Khouri said in the statement. "So, calculating an as-is price using deductions — just as the State did when it sold the property to the City last year — is not subsidy."

Deal details

Also, the city of Detroit's proposed land purchase agreement with Amazon's developers does not actually assure that public buy-in remains at zero. The text of the deal says: "Purchaser agrees not to request from seller any economic incentives applicable to the property."

It's an agreement between the purchaser and the seller — the developers and the city, as the Detroit City Council Legislative Policy Division noted in its Sept. 17 review of the deal. It doesn't appear to prohibit Hillwood and Sterling from seeking public funding at the state or federal level.

But neither the developers nor Amazon are asking for tax incentives for the project as of late last week, Arthur Jemison, Detroit's group executive for housing, planning and development, said during a presentation to a City Council committee. A representative of the Michigan Economic Development Corp., which offers state-level economic assistance, also told Crain's in late September that there were no conversations underway about potential incentives for the distribution center.

Amazon, the world's largest publicly traded retailer according to Forbes, has sought and received at least $21 million in state incentives through the MEDC. That includes a $4.5 million grant in September 2017 from the Michigan Strategic Fund for its $40 million Shelby Township distribution center, a $5 million Michigan Business Development Program grant for its $140 million distribution center in Romulus and a $7.5 million grant from the program for its $90 million center in Livonia.

The fairgrounds property wouldn't be the corporation's first project to proceed without direct local tax incentives. In Pontiac, a 3.5 million-square-foot facility is rising on the former site of the Pontiac Silverdome.

"Their scrutiny of Pontiac was to determine our capability of handling the kind of project they wanted to bring and the speed at which they wanted to bring it," Mayor Deirdre Waterman said. "The only ask of us was to be able to move speedily, to have the departmental capacity and efficiency to move the project along at the rapid pace they required to develop this project, but there were no financial incentives that were asked for."

Richard Hosey, a former senior vice president for Bank of America NA who now owns Detroit-based Hosey Development LLC, said public pots of money for development "have become very thin" and that for a company the size of Amazon, seeking public subsidy may not be worth it from a public relations standpoint.

"They may qualify (for some incentives) but they might pass it up because there would be too much negative potential PR," he said.

Can historical buildings be preserved if Amazon builds on Michigan State Fairgrounds site?

Candice Williams The Detroit News Oct 8, 2020

Among concerns raised were the fate of the historical buildings on the site, plans for a transit center, environmental concerns and job creation for Detroit residents. More than two dozen residents spoke for and against the project before the committee,

Detroiters worry $400M Amazon project could destroy historic buildings

Adrienne Roberts Detroit Free Press (Oct 7, 2020)

Earline Smith was surprised to see a notification pop up on her phone in early August with this message: The e-commerce giant Amazon was looking to open a distribution center in what's basically her backyard.

Smith, 60, was excited to read that something was being built on the expansive grounds of the former Michigan State Fairgrounds in Detroit, at Woodward Avenue and 8 Mile, after more than a decade of failed attempts to redevelop the site.

But as she learned more details about the projects watching the local news, she grew increasingly concerned: What would happen to the bus transit center that she relies on for transportation? What's the fate of the historic buildings on the site? While she was excited about the prospect of more than a thousand new jobs, Smith had heard on the news that not all jobs may go to Detroiters.

"How's that going to affect these neighborhoods and the families living in some of these houses?" Smith asked. "It's possible that they may go up on our rent and force us out."

For Smith, it's more than just an empty site. A lifelong Detroiter who has lived at the State Fair Apartments, located directly south of the fairgrounds, for four years, she has fond memories of attending the Michigan State Fair before it closed more than a decade ago.

"If those buildings that are already on the site could be incorporated into whatever is built, that would be wonderful," she said. "Once they tear them down, it's something that's lost and destroyed from the history of Detroit. It would really be a shame to see something like that happen."

Smith would have liked to attend a series of community meetings, held virtually on Zoom in September and early October, but she doesn't have a computer. At this point, she has more questions than answers.

The proposal

Smith doesn't have much time to get them answered because construction could start as early as next month on the $400-million, 3.8-million-square-foot Amazon distribution center, announced at a news conference held by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan on Aug. 11. 

The distribution center is expected to bring at least 1,200 new jobs to the city. The Sterling Group and Hillwood Investment Properties will buy and develop the site, and, as a part of the deal, will pay for a $7-million Detroit Department of Transportation transit center, Duggan said. The two other sites on the property are slated for industrial use, with Duggan suggesting at the news conference that automotive suppliers could be a good fit for the area.

More: Amazon looks to open $400-million distribution center at Michigan State Fairgrounds in Detroit

More: Amazon looks to fill 2,000 open positions in metro Detroit

More: Historic Michigan State Fairgrounds buildings to be razed for Amazon warehouse

"I felt it was critical — the cost was $7 million — (that I had) control of that site," Duggan said at the news conference. The city bought the land in 2018, and the city spokesperson at the time was widely quoted as saying the redevelopment would be done with "participation and input from the community."

Get the Coronavirus Watch newsletter in your inbox.

Updates on how the coronavirus is affecting your community and the nation

Delivery: Varies

Your Email

While many residents of nearby neighborhoods say they're happy about the prospect of jobs, they wish they could have had more of a say in the process.

Connection to the land

That's because many Detroiters have an emotional connection to the land.

The first Michigan State Fair was held in 1849 in Detroit, making it one of the oldest in the country. Funding was pulled in 2009 as the state dealt with budget issues from the Great Recession. In 2012, a private group revived the State Fair, moving it to the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi.

The fairgrounds in Detroit sat empty until 2013, when Meijer opened, anchoring the open-air shopping center Gateway Marketplace. The expansive grounds are now marked by modern buildings that are part of the shopping center, along with historic buildings from the era of the State Fair, including the Michigan State Fair Riding Coliseum, the Dairy Cattle Building and the Agricultural Building, all built in the 1920s.

Basketball legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson's investment firm owns a small portion of land on the fairgrounds site, but Duggan said at the news conference in August that he doesn't know what plans are for that site.

The heavily trafficked intersection of 8 Mile Road and Woodward Avenue is now a mix of newer construction on the east side of Woodward and empty land, while on the west side of Woodward, there's a cemetery and golf course, surrounded by historic neighborhoods.

Karen and Frank Hammer live in one of those neighborhoods, called Green Acres, which is west of Woodward on the other side of the cemetery..

'Blindsided' by the announcement

The husband and wife team have been involved with the fairgrounds site and its future for more than a decade, and are frustrated they weren't involved in the project earlier.

The Hammers have surveyed residents, solicited signatures and worked with architects on proposals for ideas such as a metropark or an expo center with a hotel, all while planning to preserve the historic buildings on the site.

"One of the things that became clear in all our canvassing in the neighborhoods and meetings is that everybody wants some public green space and recreational space on that land," said Karen Hammer. "The idea was to have it around the historic buildings. They also wanted to have minority- and women-owned and local businesses be a part of the repurposing of that area."

It's the Hammers' understanding that those proposals weren't accepted because Duggan wanted to deal with the land as one parcel and wanted a significant number of jobs immediately, not jobs that would come over time. Still, they were surprised when they learned of the deal just a day before it was announced publicly.

Especially because no request for proposal (RFP) had been issued.

In a letter to Detroit City Councilman Roy McCalister Jr. on Aug. 19, Frank Hammer, on behalf of the group he chairs called the State Fairgrounds Development Coalition, said the group was "blindsided" by the announcement, and questioned why there was no RFP, a public bidding process for proposals, citing the RFP for the Detroit Riverfront redevelopment as an example.

 "Why didn't the city emulate that process for the iconic State Fairgrounds site?" Hammer asks in the letter.

Nick Khouri, group executive for jobs and the economy for the City of Detroit, said in an emailed response, "No employer of this size has ever been sited in this city through an RFP. Facilities of this size are sited at the time a major company is ready to build, not when a City decides to put out a bid for land. The City offered the property at the time the company was doing a site competition."

The Hammers also raised concerns about the appraisal of the land, which "had a lot of errors and things that couldn't be explained in it," said Karen Hammer. 

The cost of environmental remediation and demolition is subtracted from the appraised value of the land, Frank Hammer and Peter Rhoades, another member of the State Fairgrounds Development Coalition, note in a memo.

"This contradicts Mayor Duggan’s statement during the sale announcement that the developers were not requesting that the City of Detroit or any other governmental entity cover the cost of demolition," Hammer said in the memo, arguing that by subtracting those costs from the appraisal, the city was effectively offering a subsidy.

In response, Khouri said there are no discrepancies in the base values between the two appraisals. 

"The bottom line is that the City bought the land for $7 million two years ago, the current appraisal is $8 million, and the city is receiving $16 million in total compensation ($9 million cash, $7 million in contribution to build the transit center)," he said.

A 'P.S. in the process'

Since the announcement, developers and city representatives have participated in public Zoom meetings to discuss the development, but Frank Hammer likens them to the "P.S. in the process."

"These meetings were really an effort to sell what they had already agreed to," he said. "In our estimation, in each one of these meetings, there were a lot of questions and considerable pushback."

He noted that concerns raised by transit riders about the new location inside the fairgrounds instead of on Woodward Avenue and industrial development for the other two parcels could have been discussed ahead of the purchase agreement, potentially resulting in a favorable outcome for all the parties involved.

They still have hope changes can be made, but time is running out. City Council is expected to vote on the deal this month.

Smith is hopeful a better deal can be reached. She wants to make sure her neighbors can work at the distribution center and the historic buildings that she remembers from her days of going to the Michigan State Fair, preserved.

"The land should be used," Smith said. "But I just want it to be a win-win situation where everybody is able to benefit from it."

Contact Adrienne Roberts: amroberts@freepress.com.

Aug 19, 2020 Amazon fairgrounds plan sees pushback over use, community engagement

􀀀 City of Detroit announced proposal last week

􀀀 State Fairgrounds Development Coalition has "serious concerns"

􀀀 Group cites fears that jobs aren't guaranteed for Detroiters, site won't have public accessibility

ANNALISE FRANK, Crain’s Business

A group that's been pushing for a grassroots redevelopment of the old Michigan state fairgrounds site in Detroit isn't jumping for joy at a proposed plan to put the land back to use.

The State Fairgrounds Development Coalition says it has "serious concerns" about community involvement in the process, as well as about the jobs Amazon.com Inc. could bring to the site in a proposed deal with developers Detroit-based Sterling Group and Dallas-based Hillwood Enterprises LP.

The criticism comes after the announcement last week by Mayor Mike Duggan, with support from City Council members Roy McCalister, Janeé Ayers and André Spivey.

In the proposed project, the Seattle-based e-commerce behemoth would occupy a 3.8 millionsquare- foot, $400 million new distribution center built on 78 acres of the fairgrounds site at Woodward Avenue and Eight Mile Road at the city's northern border. Sterling Group and Hillwood would pay the city $9 million for the entire 142-acre site and no city tax breaks or incentives would be involved. The city bought the site in 2018 for $7 million. The remaining acreage is also targeted for industrial use.

City Council is expected to start considering the purchase agreement next month, when it returns from summer recess. Sterling Group and Hillwood want to get shovels in the ground in October in order to finish construction in 2022.

Big development, big concerns

But what would be the largest Amazon warehouse and distribution center in the region isn't going unchallenged.

The State Fairgrounds Development Coalition, which was founded to rally for a community accessible future at the vacant site, says it wasn't involved in the planning process like a city spokesman said the community would be when Detroit bought the land, according an emailed statement by the coalition. Duggan said during a speech last week that the site deal had been in the works for "the last year," but coalition steering committee member Tonya Myers Phillips said the group was given notice less than a day before the news conference Aug. 11.

"That was extremely disappointing and frustrating," said Phillips, also an attorney with the Sugar Law Center in Detroit. "The coalition has been working on this issue extensively for eight years … (We) have retained architects and planners on a pro bono basis to look at community plans … I just can't understand why the administration would work on this for over a year ... It just blows my mind. But we're certainly going to offer our thoughts and our suggestions."

What could help at this point, the coalition says, is implementation of a community benefits agreement.

The developers are not legally obliged to adhere to the city's Community Benefits Ordinance, which aims to mitigate negative impact on residents surrounding a big development. The law applies to development projects totaling $75 million or more if they receive $1 million or more in city tax incentives or land valued at $1 million or more — which Sterling Group and Hillwood will not, per a city spokesman.

Some activists and economist have bemoaned the use of tax incentives to draw in big developers. Dearborn-based Ford Motor Co. got $104 million in city tax breaks approved for its Corktown campus. In this case, the coalition is concerned the lack of incentives may be a detriment in one sense, because the project doesn't trigger mandated engagement with residents.

The coalition also points out that Detroiters aren't assured a percentage of Amazon jobs — just priority for applying, per an agreement similar to one instituted for FCA US LLC's east-side Detroit plants.

History to be 'erased'

Duggan has also said historic fairgrounds buildings would need to be demolished. The site's Michigan State Fair Riding Coliseum, Dairy Cattle Building and Agricultural Building are in the National Register of Historic Places, added in 1980.

"The heritage of the Fairgrounds will be completely erased," the coalition said in the statement. It also criticized a lack of affordable housing and lack of public space, other than a new $7 million transit center.

"With the history of this site being a fairgrounds, where people from all communities and all background could come together, it doesn't seem fitting," Phillips said. "The transit station is a welcome improvement, but I think we also have to be very real in acknowledging the benefit to Amazon in having a facility to transport people back and forth to work right at their doorstep, and I think the community should get a little more out of it."

Duggan said last week truck that traffic from Amazon would be directed to Eight Mile Road and separate from State Fair Avenue to the south of the site, where the mayor said he wants to see more housing built. There were no specific housing plans discussed, however.

Sterling Group declined to comment to Crain's for previous reports on the Amazon project and Hillwood did not respond to a request for comment.

Plan pushed as jobs creator

[An Amazon representative declined to speak with Crain's, but said in a statement that the company looks "forward to continuing to work with the City of Detroit and, if the project is approved, our plan is to create over a thousand new jobs."]

The purchase agreement says the tenant must employ no fewer than 1,200 within a year of the project's completion.

McCalister, the Detroit City Council member representing the district where the fairgrounds is located, spoke in support at last week's news conference. He told Crain's on Tuesday that he has been speaking with the coalition, but supports the Amazon project he's been presented.

It's pitched as a job creator, with the city training Detroiters and promoting entrepreneurship as independent Amazon delivery service companies.

Duggan also said the developers agreed to voluntarily adhere to an executive order that requires publicly funded construction projects use Detroiters for 51 percent of hours worked in the building process, or pay fines. However, according to the text of the current proposed property purchase agreement with the city, this will apply only to the construction of the Amazon facility and not future construction on the rest of the land. The penalties won't apply to specifically sheet metal and iron workers, though, according to the agreement. And companies can also circumvent the notoriously difficult-to-meet requirement by working with skilled trades unions that commit to recruiting Detroiters.

"I was not a part of the negotiations so there are things I'm still reading and research I'm still doing regarding this," McCalister said of the overall deal. "But what I am for is if there's opportunity for people to be trained, get certifications, receive jobs, have their own businesses ..."

He hasn't talked with any Amazon representatives, though, he said. He hopes the company will go before City Council to present plans and answer queries. He questions whether Amazon — which isn't named in the developers' purchase agreement with the city — will adhere to all the promises the developers have made. He also wants to ask what Amazon is doing to keep workers safe, he said.

Concerns over safety

The e-commerce behemoth has been protested and criticized for its treatment of workers during and before the coronavirus crisis. Complaints reported in national media outlets range from high injury rates to lack of adequate pandemic safety precautions.

While acknowledging concerns, McCalister's underlying argument is that this is the best deal on the table.

The site has been mostly unused since the fair left in 2009. An attempt at a residential, office, retail and entertainment development there in 2013 fell apart. And McCalister said a plan conceived in 2011 and 2012 for a Michigan Energy Technology Agriculture expo failed to gain traction with financial backers.

Meanwhile, a new ownership group that includes NBA and Michigan State University legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson is coming together for 16 acres of the overall 158-acre site, years after first announcing a plan that has yet to come to fruition.

"I would have loved for the META expo, or the state fairgrounds to be a tourist site, because the state fairgrounds really touches Wayne, Oakland, Macomb counties," McCalister said. "... but on the other hand we cannot let the grounds just sit there."

Phillips said she disagrees with the argument that Amazon was the best option available — she said there could have been more ideas if Duggan's administration had negotiated more publicly.

"It just goes to the nature of closed-door discussions and negotiations that city officials are doing," she said.

aug 14 2020 Transforming the Michigan State Fairgrounds

“When companies are profit motivated and making considerable profit they often evolve to displace human labor and roll taxes which were going through human labor to be stacked up as profits. Profits actually gained through automation and putting people out of work.”

Stephen Boyle - Green Party

sept 15 2020 Detroit - New Amazon facility on the State Fairgrounds will employ 1200, But Not all are Happy

The State Fairgrounds Development Coalition Looks Ahead with Apprehension

Rodney F. Pearson - Monthly Standard

jun 11 2019 MEET THE HAMMERS: LOCAL ACTIVISTS HAVE A BETTER PLAN FOR THE STATE FAIRGROUNDS

“People were outraged over the end of the Michigan State Fair in 2009. The outrage led to the formation of the State Fairgrounds Development Coalition. On June 22nd the Coalition will sponsor a public event to promote a 21st Fairgrounds.” page 3

Rodney F. Pearson - Monthly Standard

FEB 5 2019 MAKING SURE A SOLUTION IS FAIR

“The question is what is to be done with the city’s 142 acres?  Fortunately, some of the area’s best citizens have formed the State Fairgrounds Development Coalition in an attempt to make sure whatever happens to the site is something in the interest of the public.  We should be happy they are vigilant, and do everything we can to help them succeed in what should be both their and our task.”

Jack Lessenberry - Lessenberry Ink

DEC 15 2018 COMMUNITY COALITION PROPOSING: VISIONARY PLAN FOR HISTORIC STATE FAIRGROUNDS

"I see balance; I see genuine interest in doing something good for the community based on SFDC’s development ideas,” says Jones. “This is how development should really be done in the city. We want jobs there, we want sustainable development, we want to benefit those who live right nearby, both socio-economic categories."

Eric T. Campbell - Riverwise Magazine

MAY 15 2018

Mar 11 2018

Mar 1 2018

Feb 19 2018

July 21
2017 

Fairgrounds redevelopment plans worry Detroit neighbors

“They don’t want a gentrified place where they no longer are welcome,” said Karen Hammer, resident in the Green Acres neighborhood just west of the fairgrounds and co-chair of the State Fairgrounds Development Coalition, an organization that formed in 2012 to advocate for a grassroots vision for the state fairgrounds.

The Detroit News

Spotlight on the News: Campaign to Promote the Vote & the Future of the-Mi State Fairgrounds

We'll also look at the future of the Michigan State Fairgrounds in De-troit. Karen & Frank Hammer will explain the role their neighborhood coalition is playing in the possible development of the 160 acres near the intersection of Woodward Avenue and Eight Mile Road.

Fairgrounds Development Coalition Says Enough is Enough

Michigan Land Bank Fast Track Authority spokesperson, David Murray, says there are no deadlines for any decisions. He says the Land Bank is continuing to work with the developer and the City of Detroit.

WDET - 101.9 FM

Could the Redevelopment of the State Fairgrounds gain momentum this year?

One of the areas up for development in Detroit with the biggest potential is the 160-acre site of the former State Fairgrounds. The area could serve as a great connection between Detroit and the suburbs to the north, but development has stalled over the past few years.

CURBED DETROIT

Citizens organize around former Fairgrounds’ future

What’s a neighborhood to do when the city’s largest parcel of land with development potential becomes available at its front doorstep?

THE HUB DETROIT

july 13
2017

CuriosiD-Whats-Happened-At-The-State-Fairgrounds

City officials say Magic Plus LLC has one year to finalize plans to develop Michigan State Fairgrounds property

WDET - 101.9 FM

may 24 2017

SEPT 9 2016

may 24 2017

Mar 20 2015

JUNE 20 2014

Oct 29 2013

Mar 6 2013

Mar 6 2013

Feb 28 2013

Feb 25 2013

Feb 1 2013

Jan 11 2013

Dec 5 2012

April 9 2012

April 9 2012

Feb 23 2012

As-State-Fair-Redevelopment-Stalls-Neighbors-Will-Gather-To-Seek-Alternative-Vision

After Gov. Jennifer Granholm canceled funding for the fair in 2009, the 157 acres of state-owned property had sat in disuse, as the state was still on the hook for caring for the property. Almost everybody involved agreed something needed to be done.

METRO TIMES

Redico-Bows-Out-Of-Michigan-State-Fairgrounds-Redevelopment-Project

CRAINS DETROIT BUSINESS

Development Plans For Michigan_State_Fairgrounds Unveiled

Renderings for the redevelopment of the Michigan State Fairgrounds were released Thursday, showing plans for an environment filled with entertainment, retail, mixed income housing, enhanced infrastructure and high quality transportation.

MLIVE

Leery Public Joins Public Officials to Question $200m State Fairgrounds Redevelopment Plan

Despite the release of architectural renderings, issues of transit and accessibility had people buzzing at the latest public forum for the proposed $200 million redevelopment of the old State Fairgrounds in Detroit.

Model D

State-Fairs-Former-Security-Chief

Farmers around the state are still bitter that the fair was closed. So are local community activists. Nor are they happy with what’s supposed to replace it. Michigan Now’s Chris McCarus met a man near 8 Mile and Woodward who some consider the soul of the community.

MICHIGAN NOW

Magic Johnson Joel Ferguson State Fair

Earlier this month, the Michigan Land Bank Fast Track Authority board voted to sell the former state fair grounds to three businessmen. Marvin Beatty of northwest Detroit, Joel Ferguson of Lansing and Magic Johnson. But some people are critical of the design and the sale price of the deal. 

MICHIGAN NOW

Fairground-Zero – Against Long Odds Activists Continue Their Fight For An Alternative Plan

Sitting in the bright and airy living room of their Detroit home, Frank and Karen Hammer recount the battles involving the Michigan State Fairgrounds they’ve engaged in over the years.

METRO TIMES

Converge 2 Convert – A Human Rights Campaign Intersecting at 8 Mile and Woodward Avenue

Global warming due to human reliance on fossil fuels is the defining issue of our time.  The escalating danger it poses to weather patterns around the world by way of droughts, floods, hurricanes, etc., requires an “all-hands-on-deck “response – globally – if we are to slow it down and ultimately reverse it. 

MICHIGAN COALITION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Transit Oriented Development or Another Strip Mall?

CRITICAL MOMENT

SFDC – METAexpo

TRANSPORTATION4MICHIGAN

Whither-the-Michigan-State-Fair-Depends-on-developer

In 1849, when Zachary Taylor was president and Michigan had been a state for barely a dozen years, farmers and merchants held the first state fair in Detroit.

THE TOLEDO BLADE

Magic_Johnson-Backed_Detroit Project Could Be A Lot More Than A Theater

Plans for a Magic Johnson-backed Detroit development project at the old Michigan State Fairgrounds site appear on pace for approval from state and city officials.

MLIVE

Craig-Fahle-Show – Metaexpo:-Whats-Ahead-State-Fair-Grounds

WDET - 101.9 FM

Snyder-_State_Fairground Natural Location For Rail Station

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder believes the former state fairgrounds in Detroit would be a "natural location" for a commuter rail station, but a potential land sale could lead to any number of exciting developments near Woodward and 8 Mile.

MLIVE

It’s Official: Former State fairgrounds in Detroit up for re-development

“Here’s a parcel of land, more than 160 acres," Snyder said, "that can be redeveloped in a very positive, constructive way, with residential opportunities, commercial opportunities, industrial opportunities, job opportunities, real community opportunities to integrate with the existing communities.”

Michigan Radio

Coalition-Says-State-Could-Lose-Billions-In-Fairgrounds-Investment

The Michigan Land Bank has advanced the Magic Plus, LLC proposal and will begin contract negotiations and develop a timeline to nail down milestones or the project, which is expected to have quick turnaround.

WE ARE MODE SHIFT