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- Opponents raised concerns about the use of park and recreation center land, as well as potential gentrification.
- The city’s Board of Zoning Appeals granted conditional approval for the four-story development.
A controversial affordable housing development near Detroit’s West Village neighborhood will continue to move forward despite strenuous objections from some area residents.
After more than 10 hours of deliberation and public comments spread over two meetings on back-to-back weeks, members of the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals voted on Monday, March 30, to give a conditional approval to the four-story and 48-unit development at 7737 Kercheval that would also include ground-level commercial space.
The board dismissed a formal objection to the project from a local community leader, Toyia Watts, the president of the Charlevoix Village Association. She and others criticized the development for needing to be built on a section of the parking lot for the nearby Butzel Family Recreation Center as well as on a small portion of the rec center’s outdoor park.
“Why’re you taking something we utilize, that we use, and you’re going to make it so difficult that my grandkids can’t come up there and use the space anymore, because you’re taking the majority of our park away,” Watts said Monday, March 30. “We don’t need to be squeezed in.”
“We welcome the project — just not that location,” another resident, Teresa Davis, said.
But city officials and the project’s developer — Zach Kilgore of the nonprofit development firm Arrive Community Development — insisted that all of the lost park space and the lost parking spots would be fully replaced nearby as part of the overall plan.
The project’s opponents also voiced concerns about the new apartments adding to traffic congestion on Kercheval Avenue, and they questioned whether the units would truly be affordable and not lead to more “gentrification” in the neighborhood.
“Everywhere in District 5 that has suffered from gentrification has been sold with the premise of affordable housing,” resident Taura Brown said during the project’s March 23 public hearing, making reference to the area being Detroit City Council District 5.
“What you all don’t understand is, affordable housing means if the highest rent is 4 (thousand) or $5,000, your affordable rent is only 2 or 3 (thousand) — that is not affordable,” Brown said.
However, Kilgore emphasized that all 48 units would be offered at below-market rents under a 45-year deed restriction and reserved for those with incomes between 30% and 70% of the area median income, which would mean rents of about $500 per month at the lower end.
What’s more, he said, the building’s five commercial spaces would also be offered at below-market rents to support small Detroit businesses.
“I know what this is really about is trust — and I get it,” Kilgore said Monday. “There have been so many developers that haven’t kept their promises.
“Frankly, it is frustrating to me that other developers will use the word ‘affordable’ when they’re talking about rent that is basically market rate. But that’s not what this project is. This project has real affordability.”
The board of appeals’ vote included two conditions: that the project be modified to preserve some parking off of Kercheval and that all future community engagement meetings be held in the Butzel center for the convenience of the neighbors.
The project’s opponents vowed to appeal the board’s decision. The next step in the appeals process is ordinarily Wayne County Circuit Court.
“We definitely will be appealing,” Davis told the Free Press after the meeting Monday, March 30.
The 48-unit building would be the first development project for Kilgore’s Arrive Community Development. Detroit officials selected his firm out of four responses to a request for proposals to develop the city-owned site.
Kilgore said he is codeveloping the project with Ethos Development Partners and they anticipate breaking ground in late 2027 or early 2028, with construction then taking about a year and a half. The project would make use of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, he said.
Several supporters of the project also spoke at the earlier March 23 public hearing.
They included Leon Stevenson, a pastor at Mack Avenue Community Church, who said there is a major need in the area for affordable housing.
“It’s good that the city is doing something right,” he said. “They are trying to use their land to help people who need housing.”
This story was updated to correct the spelling of a name.
Contact JC Reindl: 313-378-5460 or [email protected]. Follow him on X @jcreindl
