Bond-funded demolition program coming to a close
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A Detroit home being demolished in October 2021. Photo: Annalise Frank/Axios
A five-year demolition program funded by bonds and approved by voters is coming to a close this year.
Why it matters: Officials say that by the end of this year, the $250 million Proposal N program is set to exceed the two major goals it began with in 2021: demolishing 8,000 homes and stabilizing another at least 6,000 homes to be saved for private sale and rehab.
Catch up quick: A major policy goal of Mayor Mike Duggan's has been demolishing all of the derelict homes left behind as the city lost population over the decades and the Great Recession hit. As federal funding ran out, the city sought a new way to finance the work, which has both received praise and sparked controversy.
- Detroit voters approved a ballot initiative in 2020 that allowed the city to generate funding by selling $250 million in bonds.
- The city had spent $203 million as of September.
The latest: Duggan described Proposal N as a success this winter when he pitched his last budget to City Council.
- "By the end of this year, almost every land bank house that needs to be demolished will be demolished, and they'll be down to about 1,000 they have to sell," he said, down from 47,000 vacant land bank homes in 2014.
By the numbers: As of late February, 7,472 homes had been demolished with the funding.
- Per city figures sent to Axios this month, a total of 8,500 are expected to have been demolished when Proposal N ends at the close of this year.
- Proposal N's second goal was preserving homes by cleaning them out and boarding them up with a high-strength, clear material, with the Detroit Land Bank Authority then selling the homes and homeowners rehabbing them.
Between the lines: The city says 8,805 vacant homes had been sold through the land bank as of February. Per recent city figures sent to Axios, a total of 10,400 will have been sold by the end of the year.
- Proposal N funds were used to stabilize just 4,700 of those homes as of March, though, per demolition department figures.
- That's for good reason, city spokesperson John Roach told Axios in an email. The city didn't have to stabilize as many homes as it originally projected, because more buyers have been willing to purchase and stabilize homes themselves.
Context: Detroit saw interest in rehabbing vacant homes surge during the pandemic, per local researcher Alex Alsup.
- Proposal N "really helped us save a lot more properties because it has helped speed up the [home-preservation] process and also helped strengthen the market a lot," Rob Linn, director of planning and analysis at the land bank, tells Axios.
Friction point: While Proposal N was popular with voters, it was also a magnet for criticism from activists and some council members because of Detroit's controversial history with demolition — and because it doesn't address the systemic problems behind home vacancy and evictions.
- The city looked to answer concerns by changing how it managed demolitions and focusing on preserving homes as well as tearing them down.
What we're watching: The next mayor will be charged with determining what to do with more of the wide swaths of vacant land left over after demolitions, especially in northeast Detroit.