DETROIT — A “For Sale” sign is going up on more of this city’s property, to help boost its shrinking finances with cash and to discard land it’s not using.
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Surplus land sales in the last fiscal year brought in $32 million–double the previous year’s total. In the coming year, Detroit officials hope to sell another $30 million worth of property it no longer wants.
Much of that property is within the city limits, but some of the most desirable land on the block is in the suburbs.
Some critics worry that the city is too quick to sell its jewels to plug the budget with a one-time windfall. That was among the arguments that City Council members cited last month when they rebuffed Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s first attempt to sell Rackham Golf Course in Huntington Woods to developers for up to $11 million.
Other big-ticket Detroit properties for sale include a 200-acre summer camp near Brighton, three closed police precincts, part of Rouge Park and, possibly, other city golf courses.
An upcoming report could recommend selling other parks in empty areas of the city–not just for the profit, but with the hope of making way for new, tax-paying housing developments.
Detroit is counting on the sales to offset budget deficits. Without them, it could mean it will have to cut more or borrow more to keep the city going.
“Those holdings represent the heyday of the city,” said Robin Boyle, a Wayne State University urban planning professor. “We are in a new world. It makes accounting sense.”
The $32 million in surplus land sales this year include everything from a parking lot on Michigan Avenue for $3 million to $646,000 for 51 acres near the Far Eastside Project, one of the biggest housing developments in the state.
Last month, the city closed on a $3 million deal that will be the first phase of a $12 million agreement to sell about 310 acres it owns at the old Detroit House of Corrections site in desirable Plymouth Township; more of the land will be sold in September. The city bought almost 1,000 acres in the area in 1917 for a prison farm.
But it was the potential sale of the Rackham Golf Course that got the most attention recently because of the bidding war between developers, who want to build homes, and Huntington Woods officials, who want to keep it as a golf course.
The city had hoped to record the Rackham sale this fiscal year because the city’s total land sales are short of a $40 million goal. But questions persisted over the deal.
“I don’t think we should act as if we’re in such dire straits that we should look to sell off every asset,” said council president Kenneth Cockrel Jr.
City officials have said they want to get out of the golf business and may be willing to sell other courses, including Rogell Golf Course in Detroit.
By selling property such as golf courses and other surplus land, the city is slimming down to basic services, they say.
But some argue selling land alone won’t be enough to turn the finances around.
“Those actions don’t lead to a long-term structural solution,” said Jonathan North, a vice president at Moody’s Investors Service, a credit rating service. “At the end of the day, it provides the city a little breathing room.”
The city is close to a deal to sell the Detroit Recreational Camp, known as Camp Brighton, to a non-profit, said Douglas J. Diggs, city planning and development director.
The 200-acre camp, with a 40-acre lake, was a destination for city kids for decades, since Detroit bought it in the mid-1920s. But it’s been mostly closed in recent years, even with the city spending $5 million on renovations between 1997 and 2002. This year, it was reopened for rentals, such as graduation parties and family reunions.
There may be resistance among some council members.
“That’s the only place inner city kids have to go,” said council president pro tem Monica Conyers. “I want to make sure that we aren’t just selling everything.”
Diggs said the buyer wants to keep the land a camp, and will let Detroit kids attend.
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Camp Brighton may not be the only park land to be sold. The city’s master plan for parks, which is expected to be issued this summer, may recommend selling parks in unpopulated areas. But if they are sold, parks would be added in more populated areas, officials said.
Big properties aren’t the only ones Detroit wants to unload. It’s vowing to cut through its notorious red tape and sell smaller parcels quicker–especially vacant lots sandwiched between homeowners.
But as the city becomes more aggressive about selling land, observers say it needs to monitor potential buyers, to avoid speculators and slumlords.
The city hopes to roll out a program soon to expedite the sale of vacant lots to adjacent homeowners for $200 each. And others are pushing for a city land bank, to clear titles more quickly and get better access to special financing.