Detroit's Airport City

[resourcefulidiot]

might that distract from TechTown or efforts downtown? or is there a large enough market to sustain both

[hudkina]

Techtown is something completely different. It is a technology incubator operated by Wayne State University and various other interests.

[resourcefulidiot]

I know...but Im wondering if an Airport city which seeks to attract high-tech firms (like biotech) would hinder the massive progress of techtown by stealing tenants. The goals are pretty similar. It just doesnt seem like that might flood the market with hightech space without enough firms to fill them

[jsmyers]

While TechTown is successful, it is only a small part of the market for that type of space, which is mostly in places like Novi, Farmington Hills, and Auburn Hills.

For example, Techtown's competition:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&...mp;t=h&om=1

Your concerns are insightful, but in this case unfounded.

[Michi]

The auto industry will always be here. There is too much of it for it to just vanish one day. Also, people don't realize it, and often times I wonder if the auto companies do...is that the auto industry IS high tech industry...and we have a capitalization on that. HELLO! What are we waiting for? There needs to be some way, some initiative that markets that on a global level. We not only have a skilled workforce because of this, but a highly educated on as well. Unfortunately, the only thing we seem to market is "the brain drain"...which in itself isn't entirely accurate.

Point being, we have all the ingredients, it's just that we hold ourselves to such low standards and we accept that as being status quo. Airport City or AEROTROPOLIS as it is now being called is a huge component that will strategically "match" that of the vision of Wayne and Washtenaw Counties and more specifically the transportation links between Ann Arbor and Detroit. This will be a priceless undertaking that will steer the economic future and welfare of SE Michigan and Michigan. It's just too bad Oakland County is too short-sighted to want to team w/ Ann Arbor and Detroit because it could really bring Pontiac up out of "the trenches" that Oakland County unfairly judges it as being...their own county seat nonetheless.

Anyway, officials are meeting this week regarding Aerotropolis and while I don't believe we're going to hear anything significant, I'll keep my ears open.

[Jasoncw]

This thread keeps on getting bumped, so there might as well be some actual conversation.

Has anything come of this? I didn't entirely like the idea of this, but I would like it if something positive came out of it.

[hudkina]

I'm sure it's just as far along as it was a year ago...

http://www.tcaup.umich.edu/charrette/aerotropolis06.html

[GRDadof3]

Sorry I'm late for the party, but this Aerotropolis idea is quite the breath-taking story. According to excerpts from an article today:

- An "airport city", that would link Detroit Metro and Willow Run airports with a bustling 25,000-acre complex of logistics firms, freight forwarders and warehouses to service the growing need for speed in today's global business world.

- Michael Boyd, an aviation consulting and forecasting firm based in Evergreen, Colo. "We see some very strong growth there, with Detroit as a global portal connecting air traffic hubs around the world." Northwest Airlines, whose largest hub is Detroit, has the strongest Asian route system among U.S. airlines and also - unlike many other airlines - still has a substantial air cargo business, Boyd notes.

- Air freight traffic is growing more rapidly than the overall economy. Detroit Metro and Willow Run have 11 runways and lots of undeveloped land nearby, while airports in Chicago and other competing cities are congested and unable to expand. World air cargo traffic will triple during the next 20 years, according to a recent Boeing Co. forecast.

- Michigan's top business and civic leaders are aligned as supporters of the aerotropolis, with barely a whisper of dissent.

- Communities in Wayne and Washtenaw counties along the 7.5-mile stretch between Metro and Willow Run are nearing agreement on a memorandum of understanding on an authority to govern commercial aspects of an aerotropolis, such as zoning, permitting and developing roads and infrastructure.

- "This is a transformational project," says James Epolito, president and CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corp., the state's business attraction and retention agency.

- "In my view, this is the major economic development opportunity to grow the region," says Mulugetta Birru, Wayne County's economic development director, who predicts that the aerotropolis could mean 60,000 new jobs.

- OK, what must happen to move our local aerotropolis dream into action?

A lot.

First, says Birru, local governments - Romulus, Taylor, Belleville and Ypsilanti and Van Buren, Huron and Ypsilanti townships, along with the Wayne County Airport Authority - must adopt a governance agreement for the aerotropolis. Birru hopes that will happen by year's end.

Meanwhile, Michigan political and business leaders have begun lobbying in Washington, D.C., for money to help with roads and sewer construction, and eventually a light rail system for the area. The aerotropolis authority could raise money by selling bonds.

http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=72752

The FedEx Super Hub alone in Memphis was huge for their economy, with an ecomomic impact of $1.67 Billion over the first 10 years.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=m...amp;btnG=Search

This would be the equivalent of 20 or more FedEx Super Hubs. Aerotropolis would be like the "Panama Canal" of air freight. I thought the idea was just to build a city for residents. I didn't realize the market potential they're talking about for a whole industry.

WTH are they waiting for?

[Michi]

Thanks for the article, dad!

"WTH are they waiting for?" - Political knowhow? Regional cooperation? I think there is a fear in this region that large projects are unattainable. A fear in asking the people to support projects. The attitude here seems to be extremely judgemental of the different levels and ownership of government.

[RustTown]

GrDad, thanks for pointing those points out. I'd really never looked into this, thoroughly, and this sounds like something that could help transform the entire region and state. This really is truly HUGE!

[Michi]

^ Working "downtown", this seems to be the problem though. I think leadership in this region is extremely timid and does not tap its potential. It's a regional effort and given our track record of regional cooperation, I think this is what scares the power holders. Ficano is stepping up as a qualified leader, but there is NO WAY he can do it alone and I think there is a lot of apprehension throughout. I get the sense that this whole concept is laughable by some interest groups...of whom I will not reveal specifically.

[Jasoncw]

I didn't realize how big the project actually was. My impression of it was totally different. They should build it right away.

[RustTown]

I get the sense that this whole concept is laughable by some interest groups...of whom I will not reveal specifically.

[RustTown]

Detroit Renaissance, it seems:

Could 'airport city' lift region?

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic...4/BIZ/705040397

BTW, for this to work, there MUST be rapid transit to connect people to jobs, or all we're going to see is a new suburban housing boom in Romulous, Belleville, ect.. and little more. $80 million may sound like a tough sell, but the public has pumped more money into things like stadia that I argue definitely have a much less meaningful impact than an airport city would.

[detwaa84]

"If we do it right, it could be a boon for us,"

What's boon? Boom I've heard of, but "boon"

[Jasoncw]

Boon is a word, but it isn't commonly used.

http://www.answers.com/topic/boon

I think part of the problem with the airport city is that it sounded too futuristic and fantasy-like, and so it didn't sound very realistic. Kind of like that pod-monorail car thing.

[RustTown]

The only thing 'futuristic' about it is the name given to these type of developments. It's no different than a TechTown or a medical center in its aim. It's a very practical project, with the only challenging thing about it is its size, and convincing local municipalities that this will pay off. They still got quite a bit more of a sell to give.

[Jasoncw]

And that's the thing is that it's not futuristic. It's just a big shipping airport with adjacent related businesses. They should have called it, "Detroit Air-Shipping Hub" (it even has the corney acronym "DASH") or something like that.

[RustTown]

It's all about marketing, though. An aerotropolis is much more attractive to market, and easier to sell to the public, than a 'shipping hub'. At the end, though, the name means nothing if they can't offer a better case for public investment in such a development.

[Zissou]

When this was first brought up I found it interesting but saw it as having potential to be competition to the city and things like tech town. Now im seeing it more as a plus for the region and if mass transit is involved, which i also think is a must, then its a huge boost for Wayne County and the city. Im imagining a transit line linking aerotropolis, which does have a sexy sound to it, to tech town which by that point we could have a line going up Woodward as part of the plan linking this to the city and inner ring suburbs. It would promote re-centralizing the region around our job centers and certain corridors and hopefully curb the exurbs.

[RustTown]

This is not even to mention how much more closely it would economically align Detroit and Ann Arbor, getting the two to work more closely as one. Willow Run, an already excellent freight airport, is underutilized. These are exactly the kinds of developments this region needs; the one's that accentuate the region's strengths. TechTown and Aerotropolis are two huge components of this, IMO. I think that if MSU is given access to the Detroit Medical Center that that will be another huge step transforming the local economy. Imagine, Detroit as a major center for renewable energy/clean car research and manufacturing, logistics, and healthcare research. It could happen, but it mass transit to connect and draw everything together, to centralize the economy, again.

[RustTown]

This thing is still moving forward, and it's getting exciting, especially hearing about SEMCOG buying up land just north of the airport the other day for a commuter station. I like how Fianco is taking the initiative on this one, just like he has done on the Cobo expansion proposal.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic...PDATE/705310476

Task force to shepherd Metro Detroit 'aerotropolis'

The plan for a massive logistics hub known as an aerotropolis took another step forward Thursday when Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano announced the creation of a public-private task force to spur the concept into reality.

"There is a light at the end of the tunnel. and it's coming toward us," said Ficano, who used the Mackinac Policy Conference as a forum to introduce task force co-chairs John Rakolta Jr., CEO of Walbridge Aldinger, and Joseph Palamara, a Wayne County commissioner. "This is a win-win for the entire region."

[Rybak 187]

The plan could take as long as 40 years to be completed.

I am wiiling to wait. This will definitely help the whole state.