Detroit, MI
Durhal: Detroit’s PILOT ordinance is boosting affordable housing development
Detroit is at a pivotal moment in our history. After emerging from the largest municipal bankruptcy in the nation’s history, the city is building and growing again. Among many policy tools, Detroit is successfully attracting investments through tax incentives, which are an undeniable factor in re-energizing our city, drawing in new businesses and development that showcase Detroit’s potential.
When I speak with residents and community advocates, they tell me tax incentives and abatements are great. Their problem isn’t the “what,” but rather the “where” these developers choose to build. As one Detroiter said to me, reflecting the feeling of nearly every person I speak with: “It’s time to build in our neighborhoods.”
They’re right.
Detroiters want a balanced approach to the future development of the city, one that includes investing in the people who call Detroit home, not just in large commercial ventures. And for many of them, the idea of development starts at home, with safe and secure housing in the neighborhoods they love.
Their concern is real. As the city continues to grow, the need for affordable housing is pressing. Around 39,000 Detroiters, or 13% of the city’s residents, spent more than half of their income on rent and mortgage in 2022. Meanwhile, home prices skyrocketed, from an average $37,000 in 2013 to $84,000 in 2023. And though Detroit has built nearly 5,000 affordable units in the past five years, that’s well short of the roughly 46,000 that the Detroit Justice Center estimates the city needs.
To address this challenge, Mayor Mike Duggan and the City Council worked closely to build more than $1 billion in affordable housing. But the reality is that Detroit needs to invest an additional $1 billion to meet our residents’ demand for affordable housing.
When we realized this need, we got right to work, brainstorming solutions and working collaboratively for almost three years. The result of this collaborative effort was the introduction of the PILOT Fast Track Ordinance, or “payment in lieu of taxes,” which is an agreement built on Michigan Public Act 239 of 2022 that allows developers to make reduced payments to the city in place of traditional property taxes.
Instead of paying the standard tax rate, developers receive a lowered rate for a set period. This reduction creates a financial incentive to develop housing that’s affordable for residents. And with lower and more predictable costs, developers can focus on building housing that serves Detroit’s low- and middle-income families.
The PILOT ordinance passed unanimously in late 2024 and is already cranking up the development of affordable housing.
Before PILOT, Detroit had no way to incentivize the rapid building of housing units for middle class families. Back then, families had no relief and doing business in Detroit was just too hard. The city had no way to encourage and reward individuals to fix abandoned and vacant buildings in our neighborhoods.
Under PILOT, developers get extra credits if their project aims to turn these existing buildings and transform them into livable, affordable housing units. In that way, PILOT is paving the way for unprecedented investment in Detroit neighborhoods by encouraging and rewarding developers who build affordable housing where vacant and abandoned buildings once stood.
The Villages at Parkside is one landmark project under PILOT that will bring hundreds of quality homes to the city’s east side. Developers of this project, which breaks ground in fall, said PILOT played a fundamental role in making more housing possible and praised it as the best tool in the state for such projects. The entire city will soon benefit from the great promise of PILOT, which is already attracting smaller and minority developers to build in Detroit.
PILOT represents an innovative model for how Detroit can develop effective partnerships and cut red tape to accelerate the construction of homes that working and middle-class people can truly afford. Through PILOT, Detroit can address housing shortages, rein in rising rents, prevent displacement and reduce homelessness. Low- and middle-income Detroiters will enjoy greater housing stability and more financial flexibility to support local businesses, services and neighborhood programs. They can thrive in the communities they live in and help shape the future of their neighborhoods.
By promoting fairer growth and stability for all Detroiters, we can build the kind of city we all envision — where neighborhood revitalization brings new jobs, spurs local economic growth and strengthens the bonds within our communities.
Fred Durhal is a member of the Detroit City Council.
Detroit, MI
Why a Detroit family’s $300 brick repair job turned into a fraud investigation
DETROIT – What started as a seemingly routine home repair quickly unraveled into something far more troubling for one Detroit family.
A man appeared to be posing as a contractor — arriving in construction gear and accompanied by two teens — showed up April 7 at a west side Detroit home, offering to do brick work for about $300. But according to the homeowner’s daughter, the situation started to seem fishy — and expensive — fast.
Tameka Kelly said the trio told her 76-year-old mother they were with “State Line Construction” and began working almost immediately.
“I just felt used and taken advantage of,” Kelly said, looking back at the situation.
“They kept working — kept putting cement down, I said, ‘you might want to tell them to stop.’ He said, ‘well right now it’s $1129.’ I said, ‘my mother‘s not paying you $1000,’” Kelly said.
At one point, the man even offered to repair the bottom of the home’s wheelchair ramp — something Kelly said her sister, who lives with her mother, relies on daily. But she refused because something just didn’t sit right.
“I gave him the $300,” Kelly said, hoping they would just leave. “I thought, well, he knows where my mom lives. I don’t want him coming back trying to do something to my mom‘s house or something to our vehicles.”
Kelly later tried to confront the man, who identified himself as Brian Lopez, and called the number on the invoice.
“When I called he was like, ‘no no no brickwork no brickwork’ I said, ‘yes you did. You were just here. I said I don’t forget a voice,’” she said.
But the biggest red flag came when she looked closer at the address listed on the invoice.
The address — 70 West Maple in Troy — turned out to be a McDonald’s.
“I really got upset when I found out that address was to a McDonald’s,” Kelly said.
Initially, Kelly said when she tried to file a report with Detroit police, she said they told her the situation was a civil matter and she could not file one. She then filed a complaint with the Michigan Attorney General’s Office.
Now, Detroit police tell Local 4 they will be taking Kelly’s fraud report, and once that is completed, an investigation will follow.
State Line initially told Local 4 they were not familiar with a Brian Lopez, then an attorney for State Line construction told Local 4 that, after checking the company’s records, there is no Brian Lopez that works for the company. As a matter of fact, the attorney said, State Line Construction does not do cement or residential construction. He said they focus on electrical work.
Attempts by Local 4 to reach the man going by the name Brian Lopez with the number given were unsuccessful.
Kelly said she felt compelled to speak up to prevent others from falling victim.
“I’m really upset about it, and I don’t want it to happen to anybody else,” she said.
Copyright 2026 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.
Detroit, MI
Detroit Pistons already facing must-win Game 2 vs Orlando Magic
Pistons vs Magic Game 1 reaction, lessons learned and what must change
Omari Sankofa II, Shawn Windsor and special guest Bryce Simon react to Detroit Pistons’ Game 1 NBA playoff loss to Orlando Magic, April 19, 2026, at Little Caesars Arena.
How in the world did things get so bad so fast for the Detroit Pistons?
In just one outing in the 2026 NBA playoffs, they went from top-seeded darlings of the Eastern Conference to punching bags punked by an 8-seed short on rest but long on resilience and toughness.
“I would say they ‘outphysical-ed’ us today,” Pistons wing Ausar Thompson said after the Orlando Magic stole Game 1 of the first-round NBA playoff series, 112-101, at Little Caesars Arena on Sunday, April 19. “One, because they got more rebounds than us. They forced more turnovers.”
Yes, this was always going to be a physical series. Though you would think the Pistons, owners of the NBA’s second-best defense and playing at home, would have a sizable advantage.
It also should have helped them that they were coming off six days’ rest, as opposed to the Magic coming off winning a play-in game just 47 hours earlier.
It didn’t help that Pistons star Cade Cunnigham was playing in just his fourth game since suffering a collapsed lung and missing 11 games. He scored a game-high 39 points, but he didn’t operate as smoothly as usual, with just four assists (far off his 9.9-assist season average) while committing three turnovers.
Another indictment of the Pistons’ worrisome play: Tobias Harris (19 points) was Cunningham’s only teammate who scored in double digits. Meanwhile, all five Magic staters did so, led by Paolo Banchero’s 23 points on 8-for-15 shooting.
And just like that, the Magic came out firing, scoring 35 points in the first quarter and never trailing.
“Yeah, just that we came out a little too tight, lax, whatever the word is, maybe both for some of us, but just didn’t come out with the right energy,” Cunningham said. “Gave them life further on. And then, you know, we had to deal with that for the rest of the game. We were better in stints, but can’t dig a hole like that.”
He’s right. The Pistons can’t dig a hole like that in Game 2 on Wednesday night. Because if they do, and they lose, the Magic would not only have homecourt advantage – they got that with Sunday’s victory – but could close out the series without another win in Detroit, with three of the next four games coming in Orlando.
That’s precisely what makes Game 2 a must-win game for the Pistons. It’s bad enough they lost the opener at LCA, where they were 31-9. But now they’ve let the Magic set a hard-edged tone in the kind of the game that could lead them to steal the series.
“I know that they feel great about this game,” Cunningham said. “This was a big win for them. They came in, they handled their business and stole one on the road. That’s what you want to do in the playoff series.
“So I’m sure that they feel great about that. Obviously, we’re sick about losing this one. It’s a long series, though. There’s no confidence dropped from us. We know that team. They know us. So it’ll be a long, fun series.”
Cunningham might be right, because the Pistons are arguably the better team. They have enough talent and more depth.
What the Pistons don’t have is the advantage of desperation. They had an excellent season from start to finish, closed with a 60-22 record, and wrapped up the East’s top seed on April 4.
The Magic, meanwhile, have been playing with fire (and not always the good kind) down the stretch, while their fifth-year coach, Jamahl Mosley, entered the postseason on the hottest of hot seats after his squad went 0-7 in road playoff games over the past two seasons.
To make things even worse, the Magic lost the regular-season finale to the Boston Celtics – well, their reserves, at least – to blow their chance at the 7-seed and homecourt in the play-in tournament. Then Orlando lost to the Philadelphia 76ers (on the road, of course) in the first play-in game before beating the Charlotte Hornets (in Orlando) to advance to a best-of-seven series – featuring four road games – vs. the Pistons.
Now, it looks like the Magic have found their form, as they routed the Hornets, 121-90, and stunned the Pistons. And just like that, Mosley went from hot seat to just plain hot.
Banchero wouldn’t go so far as to say the victory set up his team to steal the series, but he didn’t deny it was exactly the kind of start Orlando needed.
“It’s just a good win for us as a team getting it on the road against a great team and 1-seed,” he said. “But at the end of the day, we got to come back Wednesday, you know, reciprocate it, you know?
“They’re not going to lay down. They’re going to turn it up. So we’ve got to be ready for that. And it’s just one-game-at-a-time mentality, you know? That’s what it’s got to be. It’s the first of four.”
Yes, it’s just the first of four wins the Magic needs to advance. If the Pistons don’t find an answer quickly, the math – and hardly anyone else – won’t be on their side when they head to Central Florida this weekend.
Contact Carlos Monarrez at cmonarrez@freepress.com and follow him on X @cmonarrez.
Detroit, MI
Game 21: Tigers at Red Sox, Garrett Crochet battles both Detroit and the weather
After getting absolutely annihilated in his previous start on Monday in Minnesota to the tune of 11 runs in just 1.2 innings, Garrett Crochet is set to retake the mound today and convince us all that everything will be fine as far as he and his health are concerned.
Unfortunately, he won’t just be battling the Tigers. Mother Nature is once again destined to play a roll in today’s match up, and here’s how the radar looks inside of an hour from first pitch:
The good news is the initial batch of heavier precipitation has moved out and east of Boston, but more unsettled weather still lurks to the west ahead of a slow moving front. That mess will push through eastern Massachusetts over the next several hours, filling in the current dry slot. While this incoming precipitation won’t be as heavy as what fell at times earlier today, it will come attached with colder and windier conditions, so a miserable weather game lies ahead (if they even try and play through it at all — The Yankees did not and waited around for three hours before starting their game against the Royals at 4:20pm). The other option will be to just wait until after sunset when it will be dryer, but still very cold and windy.
When they do get started, today’s lineup includes Roman Anthony leading off in leftfield, Andruw Monasterio at first base, and Jarren Duran, Masataka Yoshida, and Marcelo Mayer all starting on the bench with an opposing left-handed starter on the mound in Framber Valdez for Detroit.
OTM’s own pitching guru Jacob Roy will be around later to handle the postgame wrap and tell us if we should should be freaking out or breathing a sigh a relief when it comes to Crochet.
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