The Detroit Center for Innovation, a high-profile project by developer Stephen Ross to build an academic research center in downtown for the University of Michigan, has snagged a $100 million earmark in the state’s next budget.
Stephen Ross, a Detroit native, U-M megadonor and chairman of New York-based Related Cos., previously committed to donating $100 million for the center to be built.
With this new earmark, part of a $76 billion state budget deal finalized at 2:30 a.m. Friday, the center will presumably have $200 million of its anticipated $250 million in costs.
Ross’ Related Cos. is to construct the center, then donate the building to the university. Groundbreaking for the project is to happen sometime in 2023.
The state’s $76 billion budget, which takes effect Oct. 1, includes a large influx of federal COVID-19 pandemic relief dollars.
U-M on Friday referred all questions about the center to the Related Cos., including whether the university plans any fundraising for the project.
The New York public relations firm handling inquires for the Related Cos. would not answer Free Press questions Friday about the project or $100 million state funding request.
However, the firm issued a statement on behalf of the project that thanked Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Legislature for “investing in the development of this nonprofit, world-class research, education and entrepreneurship center.”
“The DCI will accelerate the development and retention of homegrown talent, provide new educational pathways, propel job creation, drive and diversify inclusive economic growth statewide and attract new businesses to Michigan,” the statement said.
The Ilitch family organization is a partner in the DCI project with Ross, and is donating land for the development.
The 200,000-square-foot DCI building is to be part of a three-building campus on what is now Ilitch-owned land and parking lots west of the Fox Theatre in downtown Detroit.
An Ilitch representative on Friday also referred all comment to the Related Cos.
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The center was originally proposed in 2019 for the site of the scrubbed Wayne County Jail project off Gratiot at the edge of downtown. But those plans changed after the Related Cos. and Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock real estate firm, which owns the so-called “fail jail” site, canceled their collaboration for unspecified reasons.
When the new DCI location was announced in December, Detroit officials said the project would not make use of local tax breaks or development subsidies.
The $100 million earmark would be direct funding from the state.
Ross and the Ilitch organization could extend their collaboration beyond just the DCI.
In May, they jointly released conceptual renderings showing an array of new retail, housing, hotel and office developments in and near downtown, including a possible Equinox Hotel to be built next to Little Caesars Arena.
Ross said the Detroit Center for Innovation would be a catalyst for those new potential developments to happen.
“People want to live in downtown areas, and I don’t think there’s a site anywhere in the country that has the opportunity that this has,” Ross told the Free Press in May.
Ross also owns the Miami Dolphins NFL team and attended this spring’s Mackinac Policy Conference.
The DCI would be focused on high-tech research and education and serve about 1,000 U-M students, primarily graduate students and undergraduates in their senior year.
The center also is to have programs for those who aren’t U-M students, including internships for young Detroit students and opportunities for adults in the local workforce to upgrade their skills.
Business Leaders for Michigan, a business group, issued a statement praising the inclusion of the $100 million earmark for the DCI in the budget.
“This world-class research, education and entrepreneurship center — and more like it — are key for keeping our economy competitive on the global stage,” the statement said.
ContactJC Reindl at313-378-5460 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @jcreindl. Read more on business and sign up for our business newsletter.