O
– [Narrator] As a special edition of One Detroit approaches, we’re at the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant History Museum, to catch a glimpse of the NFL Draft, which lands in Detroit in two weeks.
Mayor Mike Duggan sits down for a one-on-one verbal exchange with aide Nolan Finley about what to expect in the draft.
In addition, he talks about the adjustments in the village and what is coming.
Also coming soon will be Claude Molinari of Visit Detroit and Faye Nelson of Detroit Sports Organizing Corp. , who will discuss the impact of the NFL Draft on urban tourism.
And we’re going to premiere a documentary about the transformation of Detroit’s waterfront.
All of this will then take up position at One Detroit, which will last an hour.
– [Narrator] From Delta faucets to Behr paint, Masco Corporation is proud to offer products that fit the way consumers around the world live and enjoy their living space.
Masco, serving Michigan communities since 1929.
Support for this program is through Detroit Public TV’s Cynthia and Edsel Ford Journalism Fund.
– [Narrator] The DTE Foundation is a proud sponsor of Detroit Public TV.
As one of the state’s largest foundations dedicated to Michigan-focused giving, we are organizations that are doing remarkable work in our state.
Visit dtefoundation. com for more information.
– [Narrator] The Nissan Foundation and an audience like you.
(upbeat music) – You now have the door to the Studebaker Service Center, which Peter Cummings has converted into apartments.
And then you’ve got the Fisher 21 factory across the street, it’s apartments under construction, the Fisher 23 factory, they’re coming up with a drum plan.
– Then everything will be part of the ultimate museum.
– That’s right, no, that’s what they call Piquette Flats.
(upbeat music) – In a few days, we’ll all be at the center for the NFL Draft, more than 300,000 people will come.
Are we ready?
-Be.
You know, we control the Grand Prix, we control Taylor Swift, but it’s going to be—” bigger than Taylor Swift?
– She’s even bigger than Taylor Swift, and Taylor Swift is tall.
-My god.
– Yes, another 300,000 people in Kansas City last year.
Here, at least, that’s to be expected.
And this city will be filled with people from all over the United States for 3 days.
– We’re short of what?
Six NFL cities?
– Well, that’s right.
You know, I’ve been to the last two options in Las Vegas and Kansas City, and I’ve noticed thousands of people coming from their own towns with their sports jerseys.
It’s an atmosphere.
But when you’re in Detroit, you can drive here five hours from Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago, Indianapolis.
And that’s why they anticipate a crowd coming to Detroit.
– So it’s not a paid event, for the most part, right?
Therefore, there is no way to know precisely how many more people will show up.
Is it simply based on what was observed in other cities?
– So what you’re doing, it’s correct, is they have something called NFL OnePass, which everyone knows, but you get the app.
And the NFL draft will be fenced in, from Hart Plaza to Woodward to Martius Campus.
And the TV stands, where the players pass when they are selected, will be that fence.
This fence will have a capacity of 75,000 people.
-Wow.
“But the 300,000 people, I would say two out of 3 people, 3 out of 4 who go into the NFL draft, would possibly not be within the barrier of the draft itself.
They will be in Corktown, Eastern Market, Greektown, shops, restaurants, and bars in Detroit.
– So most of us have never noticed one of those versions.
You’ve met a few and I think a lot of other people in this community are still wondering what it is.
How would you describe this event?
– That’s 300,000 die-hard NFL enthusiasts who are confident that this year’s first-round pick will lead them down the path to Tom Brady success.
And they’re all happy, optimistic, and get along.
It’s a lot of fun 3 days.
– So, aside from the variety that will be positioned and televised, what do the others do here for 3 days?
– So the first night is the first round, then it’s Thursday night, it starts at 8 o’clock.
Then you spend the afternoon in the city, doing what you do, bars, restaurants, etc.
Friday is the time for the arrangement, the 3rd starts at seven o’clock, then Saturday starts at noon and lasts all day.
On Friday afternoon, the Tigers game at 1 p. m.
And the way you save time during the day has been a factor in other cities, but I think you’ll see the crowds get there early.
I think you’ll probably see Comerica Park packed at 1 p. m. I play for other people who have wanted to see this stadium and then come.
It’s going to be. . . – And then it puts like this and cultural centers around it.
– Yes, it will be presented.
And I know it’s unrealistic to think that other people will head to remote areas, yet there are a lot of advertising neighborhoods that are getting stuck: “Come see us while you’re here. “
And that’s why it will be attractive to watch.
Will other people move to the IAD?
I don’t know if many NFL enthusiasts will still get their chance.
You can come here and see the first Model T if you’re an enthusiast.
But everybody’s going to sell the other stuff that happens in Detroit.
And when another 300,000 people get up on Friday morning and don’t have to go into conscription until 5 p. m. , they have the whole day to decide what they’d like to do.
And on Saturday.
– So what is the effect of this event?
What are you anticipating?
What are your expectations?
– The last time the City of Detroit made it public nationally was in 2013 when we filed for bankruptcy.
And that’s the last impression a lot of people have of us.
And it’s an opportunity to reintroduce our city to America.
And as you know, whoever comes here and visits us now says, “My God, where did those buildings come from?
Oh my gosh, you don’t have homeless encampments.
You don’t have graffiti on your buildings.
There’s all this activity.
The riverbank is amazing. »
So what we need is a chance to show America that this is Detroit today and erase some of the nasty photographs from ten years ago.
– So, think back to 2006, we had the Super Bowl here and a lot of smoke and mirror activities to observe so that the city looked the way you expected it to look but it wasn’t.
To what extent is it this time?
– So I was part of the organizing committee for Roger Penske in 2006, where we went to Woodward and painted fake storefronts on empty buildings so other people wouldn’t know that our main hallway was virtually empty.
And it’s necessarily the strength of Roger’s personality, in 2006, that put this city in a clever position.
This time, stop by Woodward any Saturday morning and you’ll be packed.
And the department stores are all open and other people live here who didn’t live here.
Of course, 18 years ago no one lived downtown.
It’s another city.
Now we’re repairing the damaged sidewalk slabs and replacing the replaced streetlights, etc. , to make sure it’s beautiful, but actually, look at what’s happened on the riverbank in the last 10 years, and if we get the weather right, I think other people across the United States will be amazed at what’s today called the most beautiful river boardwalk in America.
“So you don’t want to pretend this time?”
-Oh, no.
it’s okay
– So in terms of where those other people will stay, all those visitors, where they’ll be dining, do we have that capacity or expect to see other people throughout metro Detroit. area?
“Oh, of course.
When Taylor Swift was here last year, every single hotel room up to Troy was full for this weekend.
So we’re going to fill hotel rooms in the Tri-County area.
And that’s a smart thing for everybody.
And then it will be a matter of what others do during the day.
And I think we’ve done a smart job of engaging businesses in Detroit to make sure they can take advantage of it.
– So, about the 2006 Super Bowl, now it’s 2024, we have this occasion for the last time, how many have passed, 18 years?
These 18 years have of course seen a notable transformation in Detroit, but of course still where we need to be.
I mean, are we in terms of the return of the city?
If this is the beginning, are we here halfway through this event or past this midpoint in your mind?
Do we have to go through as we came?
– So, you know, this city has been losing population since 1957.
There’s been a decline for 65 years and we’ve probably been increasing for the last 8 or 10 years, so I wouldn’t possibly tell you we’re halfway there.
But when a friend of mine sent me a copy of the San Diego Union Tribune with the headline that San Diego prided itself on being surpassed only by Detroit, U. S. home sales costs went up.
We are in a very different situation than we were.
And so our neighborhoods are coming back.
We lead the nation in terms of expanding home values in our neighborhoods and across the city.
A lot of our industrial corridors now, if you look at what happened in Livernois, you look at what happened in Kercheval and Van, East Warren and others, they’re expanding, but we’re changing the arc of history here.
And that’s a step in the right direction.
– Well, there’s friction between downtown and neighborhoods in terms of people’s expectations and, you know, where researchers deserve to spend it, etc.
What impact will this event have on the neighborhoods?
“Yes, I don’t know if this occasion will have an effect on the neighborhoods.
This occasion would replace the Detroit symbol on a national scale.
We have a lot of neighborhoods with block clubs, they do a phenomenal job and they’re proud of it.
And they’re dissatisfied that their progress has been rejected when they have beautiful gardens, beautiful parks, houses, empty houses full of families moving in.
But if you have friends who come from out of town, you can show off your city.
And, you know, right now other people come from out of town, take them to the Motown Museum, take them to the riverbank, walk downtown.
And I, the vast majority of Detroiters, are very proud of what’s happening.
– There has been an effect of COVID on the progress of the city’s recovery and on the activity of the Centre, etc.
Will it do anything to revive that and allow us to overcome all the COVID-19 setbacks we’ve seen?
– You know, COVID is due to two things.
We probably still have some of the offices empty during the day.
But what was noticed is a massive increase in the number of new homes.
And then they gave you other people who live downtown, you know, you just, you know, you opened a 22-story apartment build on the former Joe Louis site and they gave you other people who live here now, it’s a neighborhood.
And in Detroit, you and I remember, other people would arrive at 8:30 in the morning, 5:30 in the afternoon, and the streets would be empty.
Now it’s the opposite.
During the day we are a bit quiet, but at night and on weekends there are a lot of people here.
So it is another type of center.
Our income is going well.
We have less tax revenue from the other people who paint today, we have more tax gains from the other people who live here.
That’s why it’s cut in both directions.
– But that’s a lot of empty offices and even more empty offices, you know, every week, with leases expiring and not renewing.
Olympia-linked companies said last month that they were tearing down two buildings and would not get the project off the ground, at least until next year.
What to do with all this empty space?
– Once again, Olympia is doing the smart thing, what’s out there all over the country.
They had a plan for 10 buildings, adding 2 buildings.
Right now, there is no need to construct buildings, as other people are fleeing their homes, and that is why they are raising hotel and apartment structures and pushing back buildings.
I’m talking to a couple of other jobsite construction homeowners who are thinking about converting them into housing.
Now, I noticed this before.
We had the hammer built in Woodward, which is the carpenter’s construction that was turned into a house about five years ago.
Of course, the David Whitney was a work building, which was transformed into a residential building.
So Detroit had an advantage.
Today, Chicago, New York, and many others are heading in the same direction.
But I feel smart about the fact that, yes, no one’s definitely going to build offices right now.
But if we can get more people to live here, in the long run it will be a smart thing for the city.
– But you want offices and you want downtown, you want this commerce and activity.
Do we think the update we’re seeing, due to COVID and the work-from-home environment we’re living in lately, is long-term and will update over time?
Or is this something new for Detroit?
– You know, I think other people are going to come back and there will still be two out of three more people.
You have other people who paint 3 days a week, 4 days a week in it and the rest at home.
Most employers conclude that it’s all about creating a culture with everyone on Zoom.
So we end up with the hybrid models.
So our long-term question is: how can Detroit compete for corporations that need to have this kind of team environment?
And I think the most important thing will be the University of Michigan graduate school that’s being built in Grand River.
Because we have one of the most productive graduate schools in America, producing graduates in synthetic intelligence, climate change, software technology, mobility, and more.
This will then allow not only Stephen Ross, but also Dan Gilbert and everyone else, Bill Ford, to say, “Now I can recruit more people because I have the skills pool here. “
And so, over the next two or three years, I think you’re going to see us attract big national corporations that need to come here, where there’s housing in Detroit, where there’s none in other hot spots across the country, where there’s not.
And so I think the combination of the University of Michigan, what’s happening at the exercise station and the Newlab next door, I think in the end we’re going to play a big role in filling the buildings with workplaces.
What kind of demand do you see from investors, from other people who need to come here, build things and do business in Detroit?
– Housing, hospitality and production of course.
– Are we under-hoteled?
– It depends on who you ask, but yes, there is a lot of interest in hotels.
Of course, at this time, the community advisory committee voted unanimously in favor of the conference hotel next to Huntington Place, which will give us an adjacent high-end conference hotel.
To attend the maximum number of primary conferences, you want to have a traditional hotel attached to the conference center.
I think that’s going to be a thing.
So we know the interest in hotels.
Right to us.
Fortescue is building a battery gathering plant.
We continue to have a high demand for production facilities in the city of Detroit.
And that’s exciting.
And that’s housing.
And basically everything is going great in the office.
– So how close are we to Detroit as a market-rate investment, where other people can come here and put up cash without needing municipal tax subsidies, state tax breaks, where rents and lease bills will pay for the investment?
– So it’s assignment after assignment.
The Sterling Group has just built this 20-storey building next to the conference centre, on the former site of Joe Louis, with tax incentives.
But they rent their most sensible piece of land for $4,000 a month, and that’s the market price.
Amazon has a 4 million-square-foot factory on the fairgrounds with no tax incentives.
But if you need to have buildings that you’re going to reserve for other low-income people, because we believe that other people with all incomes deserve to live in each and every neighborhood, you’re going to have to get tax breaks. Otherwise, the numbers don’t work and may just not be built.
So I think I’m going to see the same thing.
In general, market-rate projects can end up with tax breaks.
But if we want to own a home, we’re going to need those tax breaks.
– So the Ford automakers, the central depot complex and their innovation there in Corktown will be up and running in a couple of weeks.
– That’s right, on June 6, yes.
– In a few weeks.
What do you expect from it?
– That’s already awesome.
Of course, if you drive down Michigan Avenue, as you know, the transformative effect has already occurred with the Godfrey and the new hotels, housing, etc.
But basically, attracting another 5,000 people to Corktown.
2,500 frames for Ford, 2,500 frames for Ford-affiliated startups.
And that has created a massive demand for housing.
And because of that, we have several hundred homes under construction, many of which are affordable because someone will have to be there to paint in those areas.
It’s been transformative.
What has happened to Corktown in years is unbelievable.
– And of course, it’s at the other end of where we are now.
I mean, that’s where it all started, and now it’s going to be the EV and automotive hub, you know, the vehicle hub of this industry.
I mean, there’s a lot of synergy between, you know, beyond and with automakers.
-Not bad.
We’re sitting in the Piquette factory, where Henry Ford’s team built the Model T by hand. . . – [Nolan] And several of them us.
– before joining the gathering line at Highland Park, where he replaced the global with the $5 workday.
But just down this block from Piquette, which most Detroiters don’t even know is right here next door, the old Studebaker Service Center is being rebuilt through Platform as a group of magnificently constructed apartment buildings right now.
On the other side, the Fisher 21 plant, which used to make bodies for GM cars, is now being built through Fortescue as a battery production site; across the street is the Fisher 21 plant, that big, ugly, white building you see at 94 and 75, unoccupied for 40 years, Greg Jackson and Richard Hosey are turning them into one-component apartments.
It’s on this block.
Hundreds of apartments, lots of production jobs.
Before, the only thing on this block was the old Model T.
And that’s very exciting.
– One of the things we haven’t talked about much in recent years is public transportation.
Public shipping is for this region.
For at least two decades we have been searching for an answer to this question.
With the update in the work environment, fewer people commuting to work downtown, fewer people commuting and staying home, how has that replaced attention to public transportation and how do we need to reconsider what that will look like?
– So we want to think about two things.
First of all, I don’t know when the robotaxis will be here, but every time someone laughs at Elon Musk, they get it.
And I don’t know if in five or ten years’ time the time will come when we will have more cost-effective point-to-point transport.
The thing about public transport is that it follows a direct line.
If you live in Woodward and work in Woodward, a bus line and a train line are great.
If you want to connect, now you’d better make sure the connection comes soon because other people may not be sitting around for 15 or 20 minutes waiting for a connection.
So I think the short-term answer is that we want to particularly increase the frequency of buses, I think, what’s called immediate bus transit, which is a way to get on and off buses temporarily without having to exchange documents or slow down. deposit money. The fair is a step in the right direction.
That’s why we particularly want the quality of the bus service.
And I think at the end of the day, it’s going to be a bridge.
And I know other people don’t need to hear that, but I think over time robotaxis will be a vital component of transit choice in this country.
– Without knowing what the future of public transportation will look like, does it then make sense to invest billions of dollars in a formula that might work today but could be obsolete in a decade?
– And those are the things we’re on.
If you build constant rail lines now, it would take you 10 or 15 years to build them.
And again, Detroit is like Chicago or New York, with skyscrapers closing in on their streets, we’re much more spread out.
This makes it more complicated to build a landline that serves a huge number of people.
And that’s why I think a first-class bus service to this area makes a lot of sense.
And, you know, we had a proposal in Lansing for Wayne, Oakland and Washtenaw counties to join, but it was blocked by the legislature, but we would have a particularly higher frequency of bus service.
Maybe we’ll come back to that.
Macomb County has not expressed any interest in becoming a part of it.
But, in my opinion, a dramatic increase in the quality of bus service is the next step in the next five years.
– There are another 300,000 people who come here, many of them from out of town, and they probably ask the same question: Is Detroit a safe place?
Is Detroit safe?
– So last year’s numbers, of course, you saw Chief White at the National Conference on Public Safety, where he chose to introduce President Biden because we’ve had the fewest homicides since the 1960s.
We’re still 30% down, in 2024, in shootings and carjackings.
The city is heading in the right direction.
Now, they saw at the Superbowl victory parade in Kansas City, a million people on a surely beautiful day, and two guys got into the traffic jam and started shooting at others.
And this greatly harms the symbol of the city on a foreign scale.
But we have an extraordinary police service.
I think other people who were at the center last year know that Evolv gun detectors have proven to be an incredibly effective tool.
We’re going on to have 60 of those gun detectors in the vicinity and on public streets, as anyone who’s been here knows, if you have a permit to bring in a concealed weapon, when you go through the detector, it will show you that you have a firearm, the officer will say, “Can I see your license?
You get your CPL license, you don’t have a problem.
If you make illegal shipments, you will be arrested.
But we saw it last year, we didn’t see other people transporting illegally.
We had 20 Evolvs on the street last summer, we’re going to have 60 for the NFL Draft.
So I can’t tell you that there won’t be anyone stupid enough to do something, but the work that Detroit police are doing will minimize that risk.
– And for the rest of the people who live here on a regular basis, you say that the crime landscape is improving.
This is the case for many other primary cities.
What did Detroit do differently?
– Well, first of all, we have the most productive police leader in America, and we probably have 30 or 40 of our top executives in the police branch who have gone through Wayne State’s executive MBA program.
And this may seem obscure, but I realize that of the 40 most sensible executives at the Detroit Police Department, 39 had a degree in criminal justice and one guy had a degree in chemistry.
That’s how you run a $300 million organization with 2,500 people.
So we partnered with Wayne State and created an MBA program that says, “This is how you manage human resources, this is how you manage a budget, this is how you do strategic planning. “
And now, what you’re seeing is our officers deployed on the streets with a minimal manpower that has a good reputation every day with rigorous measures on reaction times.
If we have an officer who suffers multiple attacks, those attacks are removed and the camera footage is reviewed.
This is a total point of the department.
And last year, we introduced this network violence initiative with six teams of network activists, and now we’re eight, nine months in, and we’re seeing early feedback from other people in the network participating in the teams that they’re most angry about to communicate. Manage that anger in a way that doesn’t involve settling your dispute with gunshots.
And let those things work.
Now, we’re going to have a report card until the end of this summer, however, over the last nine or ten months, Detroit has been leading America when it comes to reducing violent crime.
– We’re getting to the point where, when other people decide where to buy a house, where to live, where to send their kids to school, Detroit becomes competitive, crime is not a factor, schooling is not a factor.
– Well, we have a hard time locating parents with school-age children.
This is a problem.
But beyond that, I mean, the explanation for why we saw a 23% increase in home sales costs in Detroit last year is because a lot of other people are moving out, which is increasing demand.
There are so many families with school-age children.
And I think Dr. Vitti has taken the school district in the right direction, but that’s the biggest hurdle that’s holding us back right now.
– I talked a lot about what happened, you know, in the last 10, 15 years.
If we take a look at the next 10 or 15 years, what else do you want to go through?
– Things that wouldn’t be a priority, but we asked the carpenters, for example, to build a nice school on I96.
Hundreds more people are being trained to construct all those buildings in Detroit.
We are very close to an agreement with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers to build their center in the city of Detroit.
Electricians will be trained here.
We want to make sure we create career paths so that Detroiters can take financial advantage of those opportunities.
We’re running it.
In the end we have to change, at one time we were 40% of the people in poverty, now we are at 30%.
We want to convey a significantly smaller amount than that.
As we continue to build, and there will already be a decade of structure in place, we want to make sure, as Detroiters, that we get advantages from jobs.
– If you take a look at the distribution of jobs in the city and the opportunities in the city, are we in a position where, whatever your career ambitions, no matter what you need to do, you have opportunities in the city of Detroit?
– We’re getting closer.
So when I started, we had a huge number of graduates from top schools who were unemployed.
And that’s why I worked so hard after the Jeep plant, why I worked so hard after GM built Factory ZERO for electric vehicles, why I settled on Amazon, which starts at $19 an hour with benefits.
And we did, we made a dent there.
But we also need the most talented kids who grew up in Detroit to say, “I don’t have to go to Atlanta or Los Angeles. “
That’s why we want to attract the tech corporations of the future.
This is now happening at Newlab and at Ford at the exercise station. It’s happening now with a tech company like Majorel that has hired another 500 people to manage the interfaces you have on Twitter or Facebook.
We want to attract many more of those corporations so that whatever your dream is, you can pursue it in the city of Detroit.
– What will the University of Michigan Innovation Center play a role in?
-Enormous.
I mean, the Innovation Center at the University of Michigan will be one of the leading manufacturers of graduate tech talent, and the incubator will be next door.
Wayne State has done a task with TechTown, but we need the founders, we need those twenty-somethings who need to get out of school and start their own business.
Silicon Valley has benefited enormously, Austin, Texas, is now reaping huge benefits, Miami is reaping huge profits today.
We need Detroit to tie in that same group.
And we, the University of Manitoba Innovation Centre, will be the driving force behind this.
– When this resurgence started about twenty years ago, it was fertile ground for entrepreneurs, maybe other people who didn’t have a lot of resources will come and go through it.
You didn’t have to wait in line.
What is entrepreneurship like in Detroit today?
-Oh, yes.
Motor City Match introduced 167 new businesses to the city.
The vast majority of Detroiters and our fellow citizens fight over a subsidy because their business plan is so sound, and yet that’s 167 times we’ve gotten rid of plywood from empty storefronts in Kercheval, Warren, Livernois, and businesses created.
And he conducted national surveys that Detroit is the most productive position for entrepreneurs.
And other people have told me, “I couldn’t pay the rent in Chicago to start my business.
I can pursue my dream here in the city of Detroit.
It’s a welcoming atmosphere, very lively and with a lot of intelligence from the city. “
– So, over the next couple of weeks, there’s going to be a lot of moving parts in this week of the draft.
A lot of things that the people will have to accomplish.
Talk about the logistical challenge, this preparation and execution in the field.
– It’s monumental.
So we’re going to have to tell people, “This is how it’s done. “
All have been informed.
It’s the strangest thing I can say, but I tell companies, “For a week or two, you need your staff to work from home. “
And all of them, you know, of course, now know how to do it.
Those who want to be in the office, we have arranged for them to go through the barriers and get to their parking lot.
But it will be two or three weeks of significant disruption downtown, but also two or three weeks of excitement.
And I think most people are willing to accept that.
– We’re talking about Detroit’s long-term, what about Mike Duggan’s long-term?
What are you going to do next?
You’ll complete your third term next year, right?
You’ll have to do that whether or not you need to run for office.
What’s in your projects?
– You know, I’ll make that resolution this summer when I make an announcement this summer, but I’ll never be mayor of Detroit.
You know, the city is in crisis and it occurs to me that I can help.
And we’re going to go down and evaluate what the shape of the city is and what is the right resolution to make.
And I will this summer.
– Do you feel the same way about the state of Michigan?
Could you the state of Michigan?
– You know, I think if there’s one thing I’ve done that’s going to be sustainable in the city of Detroit, it’s that I’ve removed the “us versus them” policy from the city.
It used to be black versus white, the city versus the suburbs, the city versus Lansing, the mayor versus the unions, all of us versus them.
And it has been seen, not only in the mayoral elections, but also in the municipal council elections, a success in which councilors stay away from the “us versus them” rhetoric and involve everyone.
Then you go to Lansing or, God forbid, Washington, and you see how the “us versus them” rhetoric is hurting this country.
So the question would be: Is there anything that can be done?
But now I speak at a national convention once a month with high-level business executives, they all need to know the same thing.
How is Detroit coming back?
And I tell them, “We’ve taken politics away from you. “
And all of you are trying to inspire the parties to put an end to the animosity.
Don’t tell them why you hate the other person, tell them what you’re going to do for them.
– So what will happen if you run for governor?
– You know, let’s see.
We’ll see.
– If you participate, can you win?
– You know, I’m worried about all that.
Right now I’m in Detroit.
This summer, I will make a decision on whether or not to run for office.
And once I’ve made that decision, from there I’ll know what else I’m going to do.
– And we’ll contact you about it.
Thank you for your time today.
-Definitely.
– [Stephen] All eyes will be on Detroit for the NFL Draft, and it comes at a time when the city has been identified via USA Today for having the river prom and art museum in the country.
I met two other people who have played an important role in attracting tourists, on the waterfront and in organizing primary sporting events.
Here’s my conversation with Claude Molinari, president and CEO of Visit Detroit, and Fay Nelson of the Detroit Sports Organizing Court.
– People are so surprised.
(upbeat music) – So, Claude, recently, or recently, we replaced your organization’s call to visit Detroit.
I suppose that’s an apt phrase to describe the NFL draft, but I don’t think we imagined that everyone would respond at the same time, “Come make a stopover in Detroit” on the same weekend.
I mean, the number of other people that we’re talking about here that are going to be interested in this, that are going to come to our city, I can’t believe something like that.
– Yes, I don’t think there’s ever been an event like the NFL Draft, where 300,000 people descend on the city in such large numbers and en masse over three days.
It’s going to be incredible.
And I think it continues to show that the Detroit narrative is turning because last year saw the highest number of visitors we’ve ever had, in 2023.
2024 will be boosted by this huge NFL draft and all the big occasions to come.
This is a normal time for our region.
-Yes.
I didn’t know then that 2023 was the year we had the maximum number of visitors.
What is the explanation for this?
– I think a lot of that is due to all the occasions that happened and the good luck of the Lions and, frankly, there’s a lot going on here.
And the belief of Detroit, southeast Michigan and the state of Michigan is improving.
And other people are starting to realize that it’s a wonderful place to visit, live and invest.
-Yes.
– What to climb to Claude’s point, other people are so amazed and amazed by this town we call Detroit.
I mean, I had the privilege of co-chairing the annual convention of the International Women’s Forum, which was held here in Detroit, in collaboration with my colleague Mary Kramer.
We welcomed 700 women from all over the world, from 20 countries, to Detroit, most of whom had never been to the city before.
-Yes.
– So there was a lot, you know, I wouldn’t possibly say concern, but there wasn’t a lot of understanding of what Detroit was and what it was about.
And I have to tell you, they were impressed.
It’s fabulous.
And, you know, a lot of them talked about going back just to us, to their families.
It’s just incredible.
And we had the privilege of collaborating with Visit Detroit to coordinate this conference.
“So Faye, I’ve been worried about this for a long time.
You know, we now look at Riverfront as just one component of downtown Detroit, and that gets us all kinds of praise and recognition.
And I think we’re now 20 years into that effort.
I’m not sure everyone knows who the user who created this or that you were the first.
You are the first to lead the Riverfront Conservancy.
– Yes, no, that’s very good of you.
It’s a privilege and an honor.
Me for Riverfront Conservancy as the first executive director in 10 years, a little over 10 years.
But it was a normal experience to be able to lead, in collaboration with our public and personal partners, the progress of a place and a space that no one would have imagined would have the possibility of being renovated or restored.
That’s why it’s a wonderful honor and a glorious opportunity.
-Yes.
And a lot of what we’re talking about now in terms of Detroit and progress in places like downtown, that’s running across the river.
I mean, if you think about what used to be, this dirty, inaccessible place, and what it is now, which is a gathering place, this charm towards other people is what fuels the concept that, well, what else can you do?what do I do downtown?
“Oh, of course.
– Or are there things?
– Oh, it’s a source of pride.
I mean, there’s been a lot of other people visiting the waterfront, family gatherings, business meetings, you know, and other people are still surprised to say, “Oh my God, across the water, this is Canada, this is some other country.
But it’s wonderful.
And the team that’s been making its way down the waterfront lately has just done a job.
– People ask us, “Do you dye this water?
It can’t be that blue. »
– I said, “That’s natural, Michigan baby, what do you do?”
(Stephen laughs) They think it’s like water in the Caribbean.
It’s so awesome.
– Like genuine water.
“But I think the most vital point, you know, in thinking about the progression of the coastal zone is what he’s done in terms of bringing the network together.
The public and sectors work in partnership with organizations such as Visit Detroit, the Broader Community.
It’s a glorious story to tell.
-Yes.
Yes.
So Claude, let’s talk about the logistics with the draft.
300,000 inhabitants, almost part of the city’s population.
Even though the mayor might yell at me if he heard me say that, because he thinks there are more people, it’s still a lot of people.
How will it work?
– The assignment is set up so that Hart Plaza, Woodward Avenue, then Campus Martius, and Cadillac Square are the primary assignment area.
But we’re going to have satellite locations all over downtown.
Grand Circus Park, Capitol Park, Beacon Park and Harmonie Park will all be equipped with secluded spaces provided with video and audio screens.
So as this expands and expands and the fans, you know, flood pretty much the entire city, we’re still going to have a wonderful experience for everybody.
And again, Corktown will be very important for this, Greektown will be very important, Monroe Street will have activations and video screens.
So while around 60 to 70 million people around the world will be watching, they will see an incredibly colorful and exciting downtown, filled with people from all over the world enjoying all the wonderful things happening in the city of Detroit.
And we will be very excited to welcome them.
-Yes.
So when you sell something like that to the NFL, I mean, they would have genuine questions, I think, about hotels, highway access, restaurants, things like that.
Was it to sell that?
– It wasn’t.
You know, it’s funny how it turned out.
You know, the National Football League cares less about having multiple hotel rooms downtown.
As with meetings and conferences, they recognize that they want to have, you know, 5,000 or 6,000 particular rooms within walking distance of the conference center.
This gives us some time.
But in reality, very few cities can accommodate all the hotel rooms that the city center will need.
So there’s going to be a cut, which is frankly wonderful news for us because we have 45,000 hotel rooms in Oakland, Wayne and McComb County alone.
The most productive component is that now that downtown Detroit’s hotel rooms are sold out, it will spread downtown and then to the suburbs.
And we expect Macomb and Oakland counties to be flooded with attendees as well.
-Formation
Faye, when you think about all the other types of elements that you had to combine for something like this, and you’ve got the personal sector, you’ve got corporations that’re springing up in the center, think about how different it is from what it would be. They’ve been for us, let’s say, 20 years ago, when we hosted the Super Bowl here.
And we had to do other things, right, to prepare for that.
It’s another city.
And we had to dress, I guess, like when it happened.
It’s something else now.
And I feel like there are more people around the table, willing to help in any other way than they are.
But it’s actually impressive progress.
– Oh, I agree.
Me when the Super Bowl came to town.
And you know, it’s good.
There were other people from the suburbs who were marveling at being downtown for the first time in 10 or 20 years, you know.
But you know, the vibe is very different now.
There’s a lot of pride in Detroit, where it is now and where it’s headed.
So we’re a very proud community.
And that’s just, I think from Claude’s point of view, you know, in the draft, you know, everybody wins.
And so, just the number of other people that we plan to come to the city, not only on the network, not only on the network in terms of signage in the center, but also on the network.
Not only about where and when this event will take place, but also about when it will take place and what we are doing for our children and families.
-Formation
That of the Vital Heritage program, which focuses on literacy, right?
– Well, it focuses on literacy and play.
We’re very grateful to the philanthropic network and the millions of dollars that went into the publication of this Living Legacy program in coordination with the publication of the draft, but, you know, the key to this legacy program is that it goes beyond the project. .
The focus is on literacy.
We are very excited to apply with Alycia Meriweather as she has identified it, and we are supporting two schools, Dixon Middle School, which is a conduit to Cody High School and Detroit Lions Academy.
So it’s one piece.
And then the detail is active play.
It’s to inspire our kids to get out. . . – Get out.
– And outdoors and playing, right?
– Be active.
– There you have it.
And a partnership with, of course, the Detroit Sports Commission.
We partnered with Project Play, which is a collaboration between the Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan, the Wilson Foundation, and the Aspen Institute of Sports.
So, those are two main projects that we’re looking at to continue funding and beyond the project.
As a member of the Detroit Sports Commission’s board of trustees, it is a privilege and a pride that I have made a commitment that on each and every major sporting occasion we can attract the city of Detroit, there. It’s going to be a network engagement, a component that will educate and play for our network.
-Yes.
I hope many will come to see the draft as well.
– We will.
– I think it’s going to be great.
– Well, very quickly, there are a number of recreational and sporting activities that are planned.
It will be presented in early April.
But there are plenty of activities scheduled for draft week, and most of them will take place at the Draft Championship. Corner Ballpark.
– Corner of the baseball stadium.
– Ah, there you have it.
– Yes, we, us, the Youth Central.
There will be so many activities for families in this area, so we are delighted.
– A massive flag football tournament that will bring together combined groups from across the country.
– Oh, very cool.
-Oh, yes.
Oh, yes.
“So, Claude, your task is to sell Detroit everywhere, and you’re still new to that role.
Tell me where we are and what we still want to do, the gaps we still want to fill to make this position as as possible.
– Yes, I think we’ve really done that, I think we’ve been very planned by having big assemblies to make plans every year.
You know, one year we used 1200 Connect Partnership organizers.
The following year, we convened 500 clinic community assembly organizers.
This summer, we’ll welcome another 1200 people from the Professional Conference Meetings Association to show off and reintroduce Detroit as a destination for industry meetings, conventions and shows.
I really think it’s a wonderful opportunity for us to show the things that we now have at stake.
Once again, all the new hotel rooms brought us up to par.
We’re not where we are, but we’re getting closer.
And with the paintings we’re doing at the hotel that’s going to be the conference center, I’m hoping the paintings will start in early spring.
And then we’ll be in a much bigger position.
In the recreational realm, we’re seeing massive advances.
We have a lot of groundwork in Europe.
We’ve been working with our French and British partners to get the word out that Detroit is a wonderful position to come.
And we’re also seeing the culmination of those efforts.
And so as other people start doing more and do it again, we think Detroit will be a very strong destination going forward, and we’re seeing the benefits of that.
And the component is that our hotel components see it, which means it drives further development.
And then we started seeing even more hotels.
And it’s a virtuous circle.
The more people there are, the more money there is in tourism, which means there is more development, more marketing and it starts to get better.
– I mean, obviously we want the hotels and the hotel space.
Are there other things along the same lines that we think about?
– Oh, huge things.
I mean, you know, when other people come to you, they’re probably like, “Oh, okay, I love your stadium” or “I like your room, but where am I going to eat?”
Where will I sleep?
Where am I going to party?
Where will I go shopping?
Where am I going to exercise? »
So, all the things that you can do, I mean, even our airports, the fact that, you know, we have the number one megaairport in North America run by Chad Newton and his team, they’ve built one, that is. A merit to us.
For example, the fact that Turkish Airlines and Iceland Air now operate non-stop flights.
Because it’s a two-way street, yes, our people are deceiving them, but now other people are coming to us.
And I think all the attractions, the Ford Piquette plant, that we’re talking about, are huge advantages for our area.
All the other attractions that drive other people to come here.
– And once they’re there, we’ll be able to tell our story.
It’s just about this beautiful boardwalk, but think of all the amazing assets that are in Detroit, our museums, you know, our history in music.
I mean, so much that we have to offer, our restaurants, our hotels, our hospitality as Detroiters.
Once we get them there, we’ll be able to tell our story, and that’s what’s exciting.
And I think that’s one of the things that homework will give us the opportunity to do.
And you talked about, for example, the International Women’s Forum, and there was a little bit of concern, but very often we say that if we can bring them here, we will bring them here.
All we have to do is introduce them to people, and once they realize it, they’re like, “Oh my God, I wish I’d known better. “
-Absolutely.
“Now I’m coming in more sensibly,” and they’re starting to see it.
And that’s why we’re winning those big events, those big meetings and conventions because other people are starting to replace that perception.
-Yes.
-Yes.
Yes.
You know, I watched the draft in Kansas City last year because I knew it was going to take place here, and I saw how many other people were there, and I kept thinking, “How are we going to do this in Detroit?”
But I heard Kansas City is isolated from the country.
It’s hard to get to by car from NFL cities, but here you can get there in five to six hours from other NFL cities.
So, I mean, I’m a little bit, I’m a little bit about. . . – You’re nervous.
– There’s going to be a lot of people, how are we going to do that?
– It’s going to be a lot.
– We have six NFL cities just a four-hour drive from Detroit.
-My god.
– Also, just like Minnesota and Green Bay, their enthusiasts come a lot because we play them every year in Detroit.
– Because they are in our league, in our comfort.
– So we’re expecting a lot of people, but it’s going to be wonderful because, you know, we’re going to have 3 Tigers games to entertain you that time.
– [Stephen] Wait, so there are Tigers games in the draft?
-Yes.
Yes.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
– So people?
– And then you have. . . – Everything will be fine.
It’s going to be okay.
– Okay, whatever.
You may have to go out of town this weekend.
“No, we’re going to want you as an ambassador. “
You have to be part of the team.
We will be very prepared.
And I think, you know, Mayor Duggan and the leaders, Warren Evans, the Wayne County Executive, have done an amazing job of being very concerned in all the discussions about this, about making plans and what we’re going to look like. Parking other people and moving them around town and other people’s transportation is now free. That’s a big plus.
So we’re looking at infrastructure work that’s going to make that, I mean, the next best event will be the first one.
So not everything will be easy, but I can tell you this: whatever demanding situations we face, it may not be because we haven’t planned enough or analyzed all the other scenarios.
– Or we’re ready.
– So I’m excited and we’re ready.
I mean, we’re going to be ready.
– So what’s the next step after you get over that?
– You know, he asked me last week, and lately we have more than 60 tenders.
“Dude, really?”
– So, from the NBA Allstar game, to the NHL Allstar game, the Big 10 football championship, and the International Association, you don’t care, but they’re going to fill each and every hotel in the area.
So we’ve got, you know, a lot of those other occasions on the calendar, and we’re offering and being able to take advantage of them.
-Yes.
Thank you to anyone for all their work.
And thank you for being with us at One Detroit.
-Thanks a lot. -Thanks a lot.
– [Claude] Thank you.
– [Stephen] And note on Detroit Riverfront, a documentary about Riverfront’s progression will be screened at the Free Film Festival this weekend.
It airs here on Detroit Public Television on Monday, April 29 at 9:00 p. m.
“Ignore the Noise: The Transformation of the Detroit Riverfront” is a collaboration between Detroit Public Television and Free Age Films.
Here’s a sneak peek.
(catchy music) – There are a million tactics for this task to simply be eliminated.
It didn’t have to be this way.
And it’s rare for a network to accomplish such a thing.
– The riverbank is desolate, abandoned, absolutely ruined.
– Huge piles of cement, burnt buildings, abandoned cars, eroded coastlines.
It wasn’t a position that had an explanation for visiting her.
I grew up in Detroit and didn’t know we had a river.
Unless I’ve been to Belle Isle, I never noticed.
♪ It’s Detroit ♪ ♪ I love living in this city ♪ ♪ My neighbors are other people who care ♪ – [Interviewee] There were cement silos there, there were aggregates everywhere.
It’s pretty bad.
♪ Detroit ♪ ♪ Detroit, my home ♪ – I was commercial when I started racing on the Riverfront.
At the time, it was a bit like, “Are we going to make this a beautiful river?”
I just couldn’t see it.
There are so many paintings to be done.
– [Narrator] Detroit literally means straight or river, so when we talk about our waterfront, the words are like the thing itself.
The water that flows near our city is our city and in large part shapes who we are.
(upbeat music) – [Narrator] And finally, we thank the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant Museum for providing the stage for today’s exhibit.
The nonprofit is committed to preserving the birthplace of the Model T, a legacy that is actually Detroit.
Learn more about the museum’s President and CEO, Jill Woodward, here.
(upbeat music) – The Ford plant on Piquette Avenue is in fact one of the most important ancient sites of the automotive industry in the world.
That’s the origin of The Motor City, so when we ask ourselves, you know, “Where did Detroit emerge as The Motor City?”
It happened here in Milwaukee Junction.
Henry Ford plant the Ford Piquette plant in 1904.
He was here until 1910.
And that’s where he envisioned and built the first Model T, which we know is the car that put the world on wheels.
We reconstructed Henry Ford’s secret experimental room here on the third floor of the museum.
And it’s a sacred place for a lot of people, to see the place where this vehicle was made, the first one.
More than 15 million have been made, and when you come here, you can see, for example, the number 220 that was made right here in this building.
That’s our Model T at the bottom, a 1909.
Here we have more than 65 very rare vehicles, adding one of Henry Ford’s collections of letter wagons.
These are all models that lead to the T and can be seen all over the world, where they were made.
I feel like I lost a little bit of the importance of Milwaukee Junction.
That’s precisely where The Motor City came to be, here thanks to the railroads.
All of this innovation and entrepreneurship paved the way for what Henry Ford was going to do right here in this building.
It was the Silicon Valley of the time.
When we think about Detroit and what it means to the rest of the world, I think our contributions are summed up in announcements like this that involve our history, our history that replaced the world.
In fact, the Model T has replaced the way we live and drive today.
To have the birthplace of this vehicle here in Detroit preserved thanks to the possibility and many printed paintings is, indeed, a lovely gift.
– [Narrator] That’s going to be for this special episode of One Detroit.
Thanks for watching.
Visit One Detroit to learn more about our NFL Draft policy.
(upbeat music) – [Narrator] The NFL Draft is coming up and you can help tell the country what Detroit is all about.
What do you think of the landmarks and indeed Detroit?
Check out our special collection of Truly Detroit stories and then comment to share your possible options on our virtual platforms.
Visit onedetroitpbs. org/trulydetroit to learn more.
(upbeat music) – [Narrator] This program is made imaginable in part through Timothy Bogart, Global Planning Strategies.
– [Narrator] From Delta faucets to Behr paint, Masco Corporation is proud to offer products that fit the way consumers around the world live and enjoy their living space.
Masco, serving Michigan communities since 1929.
Support for this program is through Detroit Public TV’s Cynthia and Edsel Ford Fund for Journalism.
– [Narrator] The DTE Foundation is a proud sponsor of Detroit Public TV.
As one of the state’s largest foundations committed to Michigan-focused giving, we are organizations that are doing remarkable work in our state.
Visit dtefoundation. com for more information.
– [Narrator] The Nissan Foundation and an audience like you.
(upbeat music) (loud music)