At a brief hearing on Thursday, the Detroit City Council approved a tax abatement for the firm that is evicting over 100 low-income, elderly and disabled tenants from their Section 8 rent-subsidized apartments in downtown Detroit. In May of this year all the tenants of 1214 Griswold were given eviction notices when their building was purchased by a firm called 1214 Griswold LLC, which has close ties to Detroit billionaire Dan Gilbert and was created specifically to buy the one building. The firm will now be awarded a Commercial Rehabilitation Exemption Certificate, allowing it not to pay taxes for up to ten years. The evictions, as well as the sweetheart deals for real estate developers, are part of a drive to remove low-income residents from the downtown area. The Griswold building is right around the corner from the headquarters of Gilbert-owned Quicken Loans, which is the largest employer in downtown Detroit. It is also just a few blocks from the future location of the recently approved entertainment district centered on a new Red Wings hockey arena, to be owned and operated by billionaire Mike Ilitch for a period of at least 60 years. The Griswold building is to be transformed into higher-rent housing and commercial space. After facing resistance, including an open letter written by the tenants addressed to the working people of Detroit to defend them against eviction as well as a recent downtown demonstration, 1214 Griswold LLC was forced to offer token concessions to the tenants. These include the paltry sum of $157,000 (or about $1,300 per tenant) to be used for moving expenses. The funds are to be disbursed by the Neighborhood Service Organization, a private non-profit with ties to the corporate establishment.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 17:39:09 +0000
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