Developer: Tax subsidy would help RenCen create ‘Navy Pier-like’ destination

• A $1.6 billion plan to remake the Renaissance Center prompted a backlash because it sought $350 million of public money
• A Bedrock executive said it was a ‘mistake’ to emphasize public funding
• Public money would only fund public improvements to the site, he said, instead of demolition or other costs

DETROIT — A top aide to billionaire Dan Gilbert is taking blame for the public backlash against a $1.6 billion plan to redevelop the Renaissance Center, saying messaging for the rollout last year could have been better.

Rather than focusing on a $350 million public subsidy sought for the project, the rollout should have focused on how the project will benefit Michigan and downtown Detroit.

“It was …  a mistake on my part, to talk about it from ‘this is the number,’ “ 

Jared Fleisher, vice president of government affairs for the Rock Family of Companies, said Thursday at the Detroit Policy Conference at Motor City Casino.

Fleisher said he should have emphasized “the use of the funds” for the plan to demolish two towers, convert offices into housing and create a “Navy Pier-like family-friendly entertainment destination” along the Detroit River. He was referring to the Chicago landmark.

“No one is seeking funding for demolition, and no one is seeking an upfront check from the state for the proposed redevelopment,” Fleisher told Bridge in a statement. 

Related:

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• Should taxpayers pay bill for RenCen rehab?
• 2 Detroit RenCen towers could be torn down as part of new plan
• GM to exit RenCen, relocate to Hudson’s site that has received big tax breaks
• GM layoffs in Michigan an 'unmistakable sign the auto industry is slowing'

General Motors Corp. owns the RenCen and plans to exit its corporate headquarters for the Gilbert-developed Hudson’s Detroit skyscraper, compounding vacancy problems at the nearly 50-year-old complex.

GM is partnering with Rock subsidiary Bedrock on the redevelopment  project that seeks  $250 million in tax capture reimbursement from the state and another $100 million contribution from the Detroit Downtown Development Authority. 

Supporters say the rehab will give a boost to a property that is rapidly becoming obsolete, empty and dragging an emergent downtown.

Critics say the public money request is an affront to taxpayers who have already subsidized both companies. 

Fleisher and David Massaron, GM’s vice president of infrastructure, spoke at the conference organized by the Detroit Regional Chamber. The speech drew a capacity crowd, even though it was the first scheduled session of the conference and traffic was slowed by overnight snow.

“This is something that's top of mind, not just for Detroiters, but people from across the region,” said moderator Brad Williams, vice president of political affairs for the chamber.

The public funding would allow development of the planned public space expansion, Fleisher said, made possible by the demolition of the two towers closest to the Detroit River. 

The primary use of the public funds would address “about $137 million of purely public space as part of this project,” Fleisher said. 

More would aid redoing the intersection of the RenCen and Jefferson Avenue, which resembles “a game of Frogger” for pedestrians, said Fleisher, referring to the 1980s arcade game. 

The resulting promenade would be “truly public infrastructure,” he said.

The state funding would come from the Transformational Brownfield Plan,  created in 2017 after lobbying by Gilbert for tax reimbursement for large-scale redevelopments of obsolete property. 

Under that financing, Bedrock would not receive up-front funding; instead, taxes generated by the redevelopment would cover a portion of the costs.

While General Motors has reduced staffing to fewer than 1,000 workers from 6,000 about 15 years ago, the vacancy issues at the RenCen are “not just GM,” Massaron said.

He said the RenCen is tough to design because of its uniqueness, with circular walkways, concrete walls and Brutalist architecture. The automaker had tried for years to come up with a redevelopment plan before it connected to Bedrock.

The bulk of the buildings include “traditional office space that needs tremendous investment to be functional,” Massaron said. Post-COVID, very few tenants would seek that kind of space, he said.