Revitalizing Detroit's Fitzgerald Neighborhood: The Fitz Forward Project

In April of 2017, residents of the Detroit Fitzgerald neighborhood received encouraging news when Mayor Mike Duggan announced the start of a two-year project designed to revitalize the deteriorating neighborhood.

The newly created project, aptly named Fitz Forward, is a collaboration effort between local development firms. It is headed up by the local organization The Platform. It is one of several neighborhood projects being funded by the $30 million set aside by the Strategic Neighborhood Fund which was announced in February during the Mayor’s annual State of the City address.

Partners involved in the project include the Kresge Foundation, Knight Foundation, JPB Foundation, and Rockefeller Foundation. The organizations have contributed a combined $4 million as investment into the first stage of the neighborhood project.

The first wave of the project will involve a residential overhaul of the area. The process will clear blight and debris, rehab over 115 vacant homes, create a 2-acre park, and landscape empty lots. The first stage is said to take approximately two years.

The second stage of the Fitz Forward project will see yet another $5 million invested into the neighborhood as the city and its key partners will turn their focus to commercial development of the area.

“This project is about creating opportunity and working together to strengthen our neighborhoods,” said Mayor Duggan. “Whether you’re a renter or homeowner or someone who just wants to live in this neighborhood, there’s a place for you in Fitzgerald. This is the kind of work we’ll be doing in neighborhoods across the city.”

According to the Mayor’s announcement speech, the project is a means to improve quality of life for the neighborhood’s 600 families while enticing new residents to relocate to the area. The 115 vacant homes scheduled to be renovated will be utilized as a combination of rental properties and residential for-sale homes. Over 20% of the soon-to-be rehabbed homes will be listed at exceptionally affordable prices for Detroit families.

News Source: http://www.detroitmi.gov/News/ArticleID/1268/Strategic-Neighborhood-Fund-Begins-Work-in-Detroit-rsquo-s-Fitzgerald-Neighborhood