Strategy in Action

Tool : Community Benefits Agreements

In 2016, Detroit voters passed a Community Benefits Ordinance (CBO). The ordinance applies to new development projects valued at $75 million or more, or projects that receive $1 million or more in city property tax abatements or through city land sale or transfer. Qualifying projects are reviewed by the city’s planning department, which determines the project impact area. The city is required to organize community meetings within the impact area and establish a neighborhood advisory council made up of nine community members. The advisory council works with the developer to create a CBO that details the community’s needs and desires for the project, then the CBO is included in the final development plan, which must be approved by the city council.

The Michigan Central Station and Michigan and Church Street development projects are two examples of Detroit CBOs negotiated through this process. Both included provisions requiring the developer to work with Motor City Match, a Detroit-based nonprofit, to identify local businesses to occupy new commercial space. Similarly, “The Mid” development project required the developer to set 12,000 of the 80,000 available square feet of commercial space aside for local and small businesses.