An illustration of the $9.7 million housing and retail development coming to Northwest Detroit.
Photo provided by Roderick Hardamon
A $9.7 million development is in the works for Six Mile Road near Livernois in northwest Detroit, developer Roderick Hardamon, CEO of URGE Development Group, confirmed with The Michigan Chronicle recently. Located at 7303 W. McNichols the project would bring online 38 apartments and stores in 2022.
Hardamon said that Detroit developers overseeing the project are George N’Namdi, of the N’Namdi Gallery in Midtown and Richard Hosey, a Downtown Development Authority member who has led redevelopments in Midtown and downtown.
The goal is to have a summer groundbreaking. The project will look to have a little over $1 million of its costs offset by a brownfield tax incentive, Deadline Detroit reported. Also, all of the units are slated to qualify as affordable housing, Hardamon confirmed. The brownfield incentive application requires that the units be designated as 60 percent and 80 percent of the federally designated Area Median Income.
Hardamon said the retail mix-use space is creative and innovative. “There has to be some wow factor,” he said, adding that there’s been some community excitement while also wanting to ensure the prices are good for residents. “I think they are always looking for affordable housing options. I think that resonates well.”
He added that there are also natural questions and resident feedback including concerns about an influx of parking, a lot of construction, and more. Hardamon and the team held a number of community meetings and addressed these concerns, including letting residents know that there is a municipal parking lot about a block away.
Hardamon said that he used to have a cushy job on Wall Street with little risk and a lot of gains. He switched careers and is dedicated to his work here to push “collective progress in our communities.” That is what he is passionate about in his projects.
“I am making sure we are included in our community and the way African Americans need to push forward is to have a seat at the table and intentionally invest in neighborhoods slightly off the beaten path,” he said, adding that it is about finding great opportunity and allow the next generation of Black boys and girls to “see someone who looks like them.”
The Strategic Neighborhood Fund (SNF), a city and philanthropic partnership that is filling financial gaps on projects that support Detroit neighborhoods, is also in the mix along with Invest Detroit, which is the fiduciary for the fund overseeing the commercial corridor component, which Hardamon’s project is a part of in the Livernois-McNichols neighborhood, according to an official.
“Two big components of SNF are its commitment to working with developers of color as well as a commitment to community engagement in these projects, which Rod is in the middle of now,” Randy Hyde, senior vice president, external relations, Invest Detroit, said.
Keona Cowan, executive vice president of Lending for Invest Detroit said that Invest Detroit is strategic about working with developers of color, which is “resonating with the community.”
She added that all the moving financial parts help bring projects like Hardamon’s and others together.
“The combination of capital finances, new market tax credit, sweat equity — these are developers that not only bring cash to the project but their expertise,” she said. “They know how to develop and construct a project … that is critical in bringing this all to fruition.”