JPMorgan Chase Commits $5 Million To Detroit Neighborhoods
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - JPMorgan Chase plans to invest $5 million to help create a fund to drive economic growth in Detroit.
The $30 million fund will support resources directed toward commercial and residential real estate, jobs and infrastructure in the city as part of the Detroit Strategic Neighborhood Initiative.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan says that the money being announced Wednesday will help "new small businesses open, existing businesses expand and new residential developments take place."
Initially, the plan will target the West Village, Southwest Detroit and Livernois-McNichols neighborhoods. The fund will develop twelve projects, four in each neighborhood, and will specifically focus on stabilizing real estate, creating jobs, providing more mixed-income housing, and improving infrastructure in the neighborhoods. This includes building new multi-family housing, establishing new places for businesses to thrive, new parks, and improved lighting of Detroit's streets and sidewalks.
Officials say neighborhoods like West Village are uniquely positioned to become dynamic, walkable communities because of recent new market activity like new restaurants and retail stores opening in 2015, close proximity to the Riverwalk and Belle Isle Park, as well as the forthcoming Bike Share and Belt Line Greenway on the horizon next year. The West Village's higher employment rates coupled with lower vacancy rates presents an impactful opportunity to add housing, improve public spaces and stabilize the historic neighborhood overall, officials said.
JPMorgan Chase's $5 million is part of the bank's $125 million, 5-year pledge to invest in neighborhoods in cities around the country.
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