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David Bing recently announced that if he is elected mayor of Detroit, he would reconsider living in the Manoogian Mansion if it means financially benefiting the ailing city.
The Detroit Free Press reported that during the last couple of months of his mayoral campaign, Bing promised that he would not live in the mansion because of the lingering controversy that surrounds it, including the alleged wild parties that occurred while former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was in office.
However, business leaders and community stakeholders alike have been pushing for Bing to reconsider moving into the mansion if he wins next month’s election, for the sake of helping to rejuvenate the city.
“Having that facility — the Manoogian Mansion — available for him to bring in dignitaries, for him to bring in developers, gives him a place to take people to showcase the city, to sell the city,” said Freman Hendrix, co-chair of Bing’s turnaround team who also served as deputy mayor under former Mayor Dennis Archer.
The mansion has been unoccupied since the Kilpatrick family moved out last year in September, but still requires an annual upkeep budget of $160,000 that includes the mayor’s executive protection guarding the premises.
In the event that Bing does take office next month, his administration has already launched a survey to determine whether other large cities provide mayoral housing, examine whether it is cost effective or cost prohibitive for him to reside there, and to find other alternatives to utilize the residence including leasing it for weddings and other events to help reduce the city’s deficit.
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