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The Greater Corktown Development Corporation (GCDC) is the product of a merger between Corktown Consumer Housing Cooperative (CCHC) and Greater Corktown Economic Development Corporation (GCEDC) that received final approval on February 4, 2002. Assets, programs, and board members of GCEDC have been absorbed into the structure of CCHC, with the resultant organization renamed Greater Corktown Development Corporation.

Greater Corktown Development Corporation has completed a significant restructuring designed to build capacity so that the CDC can embark on housing, economic and neighborhood building activities on a larger scale.

• The board of CCHC made the decision to transition the staff position of Administrator to Executive Director while hiring a dynamic individual with private development experience to fill that role.
• Revitalizing the board through a campaign by the Executive Director to recruit members that bring a blend of community commitment and professional skills.
• Strategic planning, made possible through the Neighborhood Partnership Academy, has allowed the board of CCHC to evaluate and implement the decisions to restructure and merge. The second phase of the strategic planning process was completed with the election of a new board in January 2002, at a Board retreat. At that time, the board adopted new By-Laws and refined and updated the GCDC Strategic Plan.

CCHC was founded in the 1960's as a number of organizations and individuals in the neighborhood, including Holy Trinity Catholic Church and the Corktown Historical Society, came together to form the Holy Trinity Non-profit Housing Corporation. CCHC itself was actually incorporate in 1976. CCHC's basic mission was revised in 2001 as part of the strategic planning process and now states that the organization is dedicated "to facilitate the redevelopment of a diverse, vibrant and affordable urban village in the greater Corktown neighborhood."

GCEDC was formed by the Corktown Citizens District Council in 1992. The mission statement states that the organization "…is dedicated to raise and stabilize the economic, educational, and social levels of community residents…by attracting or creating new jobs and business opportunities."

In 1998, the City Council decided that it was a conflict of interest for Corktown Citizens District Council and GCEDC to share office space, equipment, and personnel. GCEDC then proceeded to hire an executive director and establish itself as a stand-alone nonprofit organization.

History/Development Strategy

GCDC has undergone a thorough strategic planning process that started through CCHC and grew to include board members of GCEDC as the decision to merge moved from discussion to implementation. Specific goals established by GCDC include single-family housing rehab/homeownership, single-family new construction in-fill, owner-occupied rehab and revitalization of commercial strips.

CCHC historically had a conservative approach to development in that most work was done at the board level. In 1998, the organization went through a strategic planning process. The key themes and major ideas of that strategic plan are expected to form the core of the mission for GCDC:

Neighborhood Revitalization: to commit to neighborhood revitalization as the core of its mission. The focus will help the development of homeownership services in this low and moderate-income neighborhood, and also involve the development of new programs and services that will be strategically selected and developed on the basis of neighborhood needs.

Productivity: the core of the plan is a commitment to improve the efficiency of producing affordable housing for low to moderate-income households as a routine and ongoing activity.

Resource Development: specific recommendations for assembling the resources (human, financial, and otherwise) to successfully undertake the programmatic and administrative direction of the plan.

With a concerted effort on productivity, in January 2001, the board decided to hire staff with the appropriate development experience to drive their projects and take that responsibility out of the hands of board members.

GCEDC hired its first Executive Director, and only staff person, in December 1998. However, lack of funding forced a temporary lay-off. When the Executive Director left the organization in 2000, there was a lack of funds available to hire a replacement. In her short term at GCEDC, the Executive Director coordinated community meetings around the reuse of Tiger Stadium, secured funding for a façade improvement program and began planning street and infrastructure improvements along the major Corktown commercial strip of Michigan Avenue.

All of these initiatives have continued after the merger into GCDC.

In the late 1970's, CCHC was instrumental in moving several houses that faced demolition for Tiger Stadium parking. These houses helped to complete the street wall on Bagley. In the mid-80's, CCHC partnered with MSHDA to develop Clement Kern Gardens, an 87-unit apartment complex that was originally intended to act as a cooperative. More recently, CCHC renovated a severely distressed single-family residence and built three new in-fill houses. On an ongoing basis, the organization has assisted homeowners to upgrade their houses.

GCDC now intends to significantly increase its development efforts with larger projects that can produce more observable impact. Its short-term development pipeline includes 33 in-fill housing units, a park renovation, and a joint venture with Scripps Park Associates, LLC to develop 120 units of low-income tax credit housing. These first projects will center around Owens Elementary School, a high performing elementary school with a long-standing principal who has been actively involved in community affairs and was recently elected to the GCDC Board of Directors.

These projects are part of a long-term neighborhood development strategy that GCDC has developed for the northern section of the community. This portion of the community has traditionally been known as Briggs, though it is increasingly referred to as north Corktown. GCDC has created an ambitious development plan to revitalize this neighborhood by developing or sponsoring 500 units of mixed-income housing over the next five years. These projects will all be new construction and include a combination of single-family, for-sale housing affordable to low- and moderate-income residents, lease to purchase homes financed through low income housing tax credits, and market rate developments completed by private developers working in a planning process with GCDC.

Greater Corktown Development Corporation's overall boundaries are Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard to the north, the Lodge Freeway/Grand River on the east, the Detroit River on the south, and 18^th Street winding along the train tracks up to the service drive of the Fisher Expressway on the west. This area encompasses Corktown and North Corktown (historically known as the Briggs Neighborhood).

The development plan recently developed by the organization focuses on North Corktown. GCDC is shifting its main affordable housing emphasis away from the traditional Corktown neighborhood because there has been substantial improvement in that community, as demonstrated by market rate developments that have produced townhouses and lofts. There is also very little city owned land in the historic district.

North Corktown encompasses the area north of I-75 and south of Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard with the eastern boundary at the Lodge Freeway and the western boundary at the service drive for the Fisher Freeway. The community is primarily a residential neighborhood of single-family homes. There has been a severe decline within this neighborhood. There are 2,936 residents and median household income is $9,182. 49% of the residents have incomes below the poverty line.

There has been considerable depopulation, which in turn has led to demolition of vacant houses. The result is an area with a significant amount of vacant land. The 1997 Community Reinvestment Strategy produced for Cluster 4 reported that in the area bounded by Grand River, I-75, and I-96 (which includes North Corktown and the Core City Communities), more than two-thirds of the parcels are vacant and half are city-owned. The median housing value was $14,999 at that time.

While there have been some efforts in the past by nonprofits at revitalizing North Corktown, all these groups are now defunct and GCDC is the only CHDO certified to operate in this area.

The Motor City Casino, which opened in 1999, is located on the eastern boundary of North Corktown. Significant community institutions include Michigan Medical Center, Covenant House, Trinity Church and three public schools. The southern boundary of the community is Michigan Avenue, a major commercial strip. Tiger Stadium, now vacant, is at the corner of Trumbull and Michigan Avenue. The city is negotiating with a private developer for a mixed-use project, that would retain much of the stadium's structure, but actual development is far from certain.

North Corktown borders areas that have seen economic improvement. There have been a number of market rate developments in Corktown that have produced townhouses and lofts. The Woodbridge Farms Historic District, located three blocks north of North Corktown and the Woodbridge Historic District, a bit further north, have been a focus of a variety of private rehabilitation efforts over the past several years. In the late 90's, Core City Neighborhoods developed Alberta W. King Village, a new construction project that utilized low-income housing tax credits to build 120 rental units in an apartment complex along MLK Boulevard, between 14^th Street and Rosa Parks Boulevard. In addition, North Corktown is in close proximity to downtown and midtown, with all of the cultural and entertainment options they offer.

The former Jeffries Housing Projects will be redeveloped through the HOPE VI program. This site is located to the northeast of North Corktown. The redevelopment will include retaining four high-rises as senior only housing (337 units). There will be 395 units of new construction that will include rental and homeownership opportunities targeting a mix of incomes. The scale of housing will include one- to three-family homes and townhouses. Plans by the developer include commercial development along Grand River.

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