DETROIT (WWJ) – Detroit City Council has given approval for a $51.8 million tax break over ten years for the District Detroit project, backed by the Ilitch family and billionaire developer Stephen Ross.
Tuesday’s vote came without further discussion from the council as they approved the tax breaks for a series of four planned residential and commercial developments in the district, as well as turning office space in the Fox Theatre into hotel rooms.
The approval will save Ilitch and Ross nearly $52 million on property taxes over the next 10 years. It otherwise would have cost them $128.8 million in that time span.
The city is still expected to receive an estimated $77 million in property taxes over the next decade, according to city records.
It’s all part of a larger package of nearly $800 million in tax breaks and incentives for Ilitch and Ross’s companies as they plan to renovate the Fox and another building along Woodward, as well as build three new mixed-use buildings.
Together, the three new buildings and the Fox Theatre renovation are expected to create nearly 4,000 construction jobs and more than 3,000 permanent jobs, according to the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, a report from The Detroit News says.
One of the projects will feature 287 residential units, 58 of which will be affordable at 50% Area Median Income or below, according to the report.
The approval comes as The Detroit Free Press on Tuesday released a report detailing outside analysis from a Chicago-based company that says housing rents in the District Detroit wouldn’t support the $1.5 billion construction costs.
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