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Tagged: urban development

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Changing Gears
12:29 pm
Wed November 9, 2011

Empty Series: In Detroit, it's not squatting … it's blotting (Part 2)

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Credit Kate Davidson / Changing Gears
Paula Besheers and her son Paul Browne tried in vain to buy the empty lot right next door.
Credit Kate Davidson / Changing Gears
"Blotters" are turning Detroit's empty spaces into family compounds.
Credit Kate Davidson / Changing Gears
The family home.
Credit Kate Davidson / Changing Gears
Across the street.
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We’re looking at the challenges of the region’s empty places this month.

For many people, the most threatening emptiness isn’t a shuttered factory.  It’s the abandoned property next door.  But in Detroit, some residents are using that emptiness to quietly reshape their neighborhoods.

They’re annexing vacant lots around them, buying them when they can or just putting up a fence.

They’re not squatters … they’re blotters.

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Changing Gears
9:06 am
Wed November 2, 2011

Empty Series: The economic and social cost of emptiness (Part 1)

Credit Tim Beckett / Flickr
It's been estimated that 27 percent of the buildings in Detroit are vacant. Some experts say that figure has been improving of late.
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This week, Changing Gears kicks off a look at Empty across our region. During November, we’ll be looking at empty buildings, empty property — and how we can fill things up again.

In the first part of our series, I explore the economic and social cost of emptiness.

Things may be better in some neighborhoods, but problems still abound.

The numbers

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Detroit
1:32 pm
Fri September 2, 2011

Ex-NFL star Bettis: Detroit project back on track

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DETROIT (AP) - A plan by former NFL star Jerome Bettis to build high-end condos and retail on a 43-acre industrial site along Detroit's riverfront is moving forward with the start of soil cleanup.

Bettis and Mayor Dave Bing announced Friday that companies that once operated on the site are removing contaminated soil, which stalled redevelopment plans.

The $20 million first-phase cleanup of a third of the site is expected to take 18 months. Negotiations continue for the remaining cleanup of ammonia, iron, and coal byproducts.

Bettis says he and his partner are the site's developers. He says his project is seven years in the making and is expected to help revitalize Detroit's riverfront.

Bettis starred at Detroit's Mackenzie High School, and played professionally for the Rams and the Steelers.

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