Mayor Dugan Announces Detroit Housing For The Future Fund With JPMorgan Chase And Others

(CBS DETROIT) – If you've been to certain areas in the city in recent years you've noticed things look much different, but with all the opportunity, growth and development, Mayor Duggan says he wants to make sure Detroiters are benefiting.

Midtown, an area once known as the Cass Corridor, has gone from a large homeless and poverty area, to a destination with swanky shops and high-priced real estate.

But Mayor Duggan says unlike in other cities, he refuses to allow gentrification in Detroit.

"In too many cities in this country the residents who have stayed get forced out either they literally have their low-income housing taken away from them or the rent goes up so high that people have to move out of the neighborhood they may have lived in for years," said Duggan.

The Mayor says Detroiters should not be forced out of areas just because new businesses and developments come in – and that's why the city preserves 20 percent of new housing developments for low-income residents.

He says in order to continue this and attract new developers, more funding is needed and announced Tuesday the Detroit Housing for the Future Fund.

"Nobody is going to build apartment units, where the cost of building it cost more than they get back in rent, they'd all go out of business," he said.

The fund will help close the financing gap for developers preserving existing or building new affordable housing units. Forty-eight of a $75 million goal has been reached through private sectors. One being JPMorgan Chase who has guaranteed $50 million to the fund.

"Access to the quality and affordable homes is not equitably available, so it's something that we have prioritize from the beginning," said Peter Scher, head of Corporate Responsibility and chairman for the Mid-Atlantic Region, JPMorgan Chase.

The city's goal is to preserve 10,000 units of existing affordable housing and develop 2,000 new units.

© 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.