The name sounds catchy, even cute: the "blight bundle." Its contents, however, are far less appealing: 6,350 properties -- mostly abandoned homes in disrepair and overgrown vacant lots -- peppered across the city of Detroit.
No one was really expected to buy the so-called Detroit blight bundle when it entered the Wayne County tax foreclosure auction earlier this month. But someone did.
A group of developers led by Herb Strather put in a $3,183,500 bid -- just over the required minimum -- for the 6,000-plus properties and won the lot as the only bidders when the auction closed Tuesday afternoon.
We were rather shocked [by the sale of the bundle]," Strather told The Huffington Post. "We turned on a dime, if you will, and decided to be the bidder, because we were concerned. We wanted to make sure the redevelopment of Detroit was in Detroiters' hands."
Strather said he has about two dozen students who will be working on the properties.
"They're going to add a lot of great value to the development project by doing a lot of sweat equity," he said.
(Just in case someone is like ... Well how come you nikkas ain't buy the properties....)
Why does it seem so impossible? Because it was pretty much meant to be. The properties were bundled to discourage speculators from buying them individually. If Strather's group hadn't bid, vacant lots and houses in good shape would have gone to the Detroit Land Bank, where the sales agreement makes more demands on the buyer, and the blighted properties could be dealt with more efficiently.
"This process will speed the demolition of properties that continue to be a cancer in Detroit neighborhoods," Mayor Mike Duggan and Wayne County Treasurer Raymond Wojtowicz said in a statement when they announced the blight bundle.
Strather, however, seemed beyond enthusiastic about the challenge that lies ahead.
"I think I was born to do it," he said. "The idea of redevelopment in my community would be a work of love."
Strather spoke with passion and even shed a few tears
while talking about rebuilding Detroit. However, he did not release extensive details about his development plan for the 6,000 properties, in part because he is still negotiating with the county. Strather emphasized the importance of neighborhoods and community-led development, saying that every neighborhood in Detroit deserved a sit-down restaurant, retail shops and new housing. He said he believes it's "homeowners first" and said if any struggling families were currently residing in the properties he would work with them. He also plans to work with community groups and individuals who had earlier plans to buy vacant lots included in his bundle.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/...=fcbklnkushpmg00000058&ir=Detroit#slide=start
