Detroit to get innovative in goal for new-build housing
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New construction in East Village, pictured in 2024. Photo: Annalise Frank/Axios
Detroit hopes to attract innovative homebuilding companies like 3D printers as it seeks creative strategies to build housing on its vacant land.
Why it matters: Homeownership is seen as a pathway to building generational wealth in a city where poverty is on the rise.
- While Detroit has tens of thousands of homes in need of renovation, new construction is also a priority for many — including Mayor Mary Sheffield, who wants 1,000 homes built in four years.
State of play: New single-family home construction here is rare and often unaffordable.
- Such homes haven't been built "at scale in decades" and "it's going to require a great deal of coordination and collaboration to get us there," housing director Julie Schneider told City Council during a late March budget presentation.
- "The costs have to go down, and the timelines have to come down, as well, for this to be feasible, and we're all laser-focused on that, per the mayor's directive," chief of staff David Bowser added.
Zoom in: Sheffield's administration aims to spend $550,000 in federal funding to study and determine more innovative solutions to that problem.
- A federal housing grant also supports "infill housing" on vacant land and will help update city zoning rules to encourage more affordable housing construction.
The intrigue: While it's unclear exactly what that innovation will look like, one idea that's gotten attention around the country and locally — including from City Council member Coleman Young II — is 3D-printed houses.
- Nonprofit Citizen Robotics recently built Detroit's first 3D-printed home with developArchitecture.
- The home in Islandview went on the market in 2024, and is now being rented.
- With funding from the state's housing authority, the project was touted as a promising early step in advanced, innovative homebuilding techniques.
Yes, but: There's a "chasm" between testing a potential solution and building homes at scale, Citizen Robotics founder Tom Woodman tells Axios.
- Trying out a new type of homebuilding is a useful step, Woodman says, but it's not affordable and doesn't erase larger problems like high permitting costs, zoning challenges and construction costs exceeding appraised value of homes.
What they're saying: "The elephant in the room is that we can't get infill homes ... funded. If we could get them funded, tons of developers would step forward and want to do that," says Woodman, who is now focused on homes that allow renters to build equity.
Between the lines: The housing department's Schneider told City Council that while 3D-printing technologies are challenging, but their marketability and cost-effectiveness have improved over the years.
- She's excited to work with partners to attract businesses to Detroit that build that kind of housing.
What's next: Sheffield seeks to ease some of the friction that homebuilders experience, at least for traditional methods.
- The city will create a pre-approved menu of design options aimed at speeding up, simplifying and reducing upfront costs of new single-family homes.
- The designs are tailored to fit various vacant lot sizes and the character of existing neighborhoods, without requiring zoning changes.