'It legally binds us:' Detroit residents meet to discuss RenCen redevelopment concerns

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DETROIT (FOX 2) - Residents from across Detroit are asking major questions amid the major redevelopment of the Renaissance Center and Riverfront after Dan Gilbert pledged a $1 billion fund to support public ownership of the finished product.

Detroit residents sound off on RenCen project

Big picture view:

Many are having mixed reactions to the news. Gilbert's pledged fund would be designed to set up a non-profit board that would own and run the RenCen and the newly rebuilt Riverfront. That was the main topic at Tuesday night's meeting of the Neighborhood Advisory Council, which is designed to negotiate project benefits for the community with project developer Bedrock.

This would mark their tenth meeting on the matter.

They are moving closer in agreement on several millions of dollars in funds to be set aside for affordable housing, skilled trades labor and to make sure Detroiters come first and are not displaced in any way by planned riverfront transformation.

Concerns from Detroiters

What they're saying:

However, exactly how this $1 billion dollar nonprofit will work that generated the most talk Tuesday night.

"I read somewhere that Dan Gilbert donated $10 million to Trump’s ballroom fund, so I guess my question is if he has that kind of money to be donating to Trump, why does he need our tax money? This process is for the community benefit," one resident said at the meeting. "Why is it that we cannot get unredacted financial documents for the community to see? Why is it that we cannot get true public ownership? A nonprofit is also a corporation."

"What does announcement does is that it legally binds us to that commitment, like via the federal government, to not make a cent on the project," said Jake Chidester, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at Bedrock Detroit. "Any revenue will first go to operating expenses, debt payments, into reserves and necessary reinvestment into the assets of themselves overtime in any surplus, if there is any of that is generated - will have to go to support Detroiters and the community as man paid by this nonprofit."

Some people in attendance are still pressing Bedrock and GM to save all the RenCen towers with two planned for removal.