Detroit adds room for growth

[Allan]

Sunday, October 24, 2004

Detroit adds room for growth

Business, housing recommendations get council hearing

By R.J. King / The Detroit News

DETROIT - A development team is planning to add luxury homes and a marina along the Detroit River near Grosse Pointe using Detroit's new master plan, which has been updated to identify sites for future housing.

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick will present the revised master plan to City Council this week. The city's planning and development department has spent three years updating the plan, which provides developers, community groups and others with zoning uses, demographic information, detailed maps and development recommendations across 144 square miles.

"This was an enormous project that provides us with another tool to draw new offices, stores, homes and industry to our city, but most importantly future jobs," Kilpatrick said.

The revised master plan, last updated in 1992, divides the city into 10 clusters, or regions. Each cluster is broken down into more specific areas, such as Brush Park at Interstate 75 and Woodward, where more than 120 condominiums have been added in the last three years. The plan details the new homes along with commercial and institutional projects and also recommends areas where more housing, stores or restaurants could be added.

"The master plan is absolutely better, especially with much of the information now available on the Internet," said Rayford Jackson, president of RAS Development in Detroit, which plans to build 38 single-family homes and 84 condominiums along the Detroit River and an inland canal. The 18-acre project is east of Greyhaven Marina Village, a residential marina community near East Jefferson and Conner.

Jackson and his development partner, Grand Sakwa Properties Inc. in Farmington Hills, plan to start work on the $40 million subdivision over the next 18 months. The homes, priced from $500,000 to more than $1 million, will be set along the river or canal and include boat slips or boathouses. The condos will range in price from $250,000 to $500,000 and be located near the water.

The city's master plan still needs final approval from City Council, which is scheduled to hold public hearings on the effort in the coming weeks.

Master plan highlights

- Provides detailed maps, zoning criteria and demographic information

- Recommends development opportunities

- Includes 1990 and 2000 U.S. Census data

- Describes public transportation routes

- Web site: www.ci.detroit.mi.us/plandevl/advplanning/

Source: City of Detroit's planning and development department