Big investment, big plans to redevelop Detroit's Fitzgerald neighborhood

DETROIT (WJBK) - The plan to revitalize a Detroit neighborhood is taking a huge step in the right direction.

"It used to be so beautiful, we had parades up and down the street," said Dawn Tyner, a resident for 50 years.

She's talking about the Fitzgerald subdivision roughly from McNichols to Puritan and Livernois to Greenlawn. But then the neighborhood deteriorated.  

"Drugs took over," Tyner said.

And many of the houses, even today, are deteriorating. But meet the Fitz Foreward team, a developing group along with the city of Detroit to transform a neighborhood.

"We're making sure people can afford these houses, keep people in these houses and keep people in this neighborhood," said Patrick Linder, project manager.

Here's how they do it. First, Fitz Forward buys 10 houses from the Detroit Land Bank for $1,000 each. Then they are committed to putting $1.6 million into renovating those 10 houses. 

When they sell, they hope to get about $65,000 to $75,000 each. But if you do the math, it doesn't make sense.

"The start up is going to look like that," said Henry Bright a contractor for Fitz Forward. "But by the time you get to the end, then the investment will be up and you will have other people bringing in more investment. So it will all even out at the end."

These 10 will be for lower income people and Fitz Forward will also help them obtain financing.  Better yet, some of the people neighborhood can actually help renovating the homes.  

"Workforce development, he's helping me renovate these houses," Linder said. "Next week we have him working with a flooring contractor of ours so he is going to start getting a career."

Fitz Forward has a plan for how about about 94 more properties. Those houses will be renovated and then sold at market price.     

"Hopefully you'll see the neighbors out fixing up their house as well," said Bright.