Yesterday, someone on Twitter called me out for being silent on the subject of International Village, the $350+ million dollar retail and housing development being proposed for Ypsilanti’s 36-acre Water Street property. According to this person, who was posting under a pseudonym, my silence on the matter was “deafening.” It’s something I’ve heard several times over the past week or so, albeit is somewhat less dramatic terms. A lot of people have been asking me to weigh in on the development, which, according to representatives of the Troy-based development team, is going to be largely funded through Chinese investment. And some, it would seem, have begun to speculate on why it is that I’ve been silent… So, after last night’s marathon City Council meeting, during which our elected representatives agreed to move forward with the purchase agreement, I thought that I should probably say something, even if it comes across as unsatisfying, which I’m sure that it will to many of you reading this.
For what it’s worth, my silence on the matter thus far hasn’t been due to lack of caring. As I think I’ve demonstrated over the past 15 years, my interest in the property is enormous. Not only have I posted several dozen articles and in-depth interviews here about Water Street, it’s history, and the various twists and turns the development has taken over the years, but I’ve also personally adopted acres of the property to start a native flower meadow, and I’ve worked, along with others, to construct what was a thriving public sculpture garden on the site. And, even though digging in the contaminated soil may end up taking years off my life, it’s still one of my favorite places in the entire world. So, no, my silence isn’t because I don’t care. I just haven’t said anything because I’m not sure what to say.
On one hand, I don’t want to contribute toward thwarting what could be our last, best hope to see the toxins on Water Street dealt with, and put the City back on solid financial footing. And, on the other, I don’t want to come out in favor of a plan that I have real and serious concerns about.
And then there’s the fact that, as some of you may know, I have a competing interest in Water Street. Or, at least I did… Long before International Village came to the table, you see, I’d expressed an interest in acquiring a parcel along the river for a project of my own, which I’d rather not get into here at the moment. All you really need to know for the purposes of this conversation is that, while I’d been getting some decent traction with the idea, things pretty much stopped with the announcement that the Country Parks Department had pulled the plug on the idea of building a recreation center on the site, which I’d been depending on to bring roads, water and electricity to the site. None-the-less, though, I still have architectural drawings and a business plan that I think has a tremendous amount of potential. So I suspect that’s another reason why I’ve been quiet, in addition to just being confused — I don’t want anyone to think that, by raising questions about this development, I’m somehow attempting to manipulate things in my own favor.
And, then there are my feelings about Chinese investment in the United States, which according to Fortune, “soared to $45.6 billion (in 2016),” tripling what it was just the year before. While I don’t have a problem with investment, even foreign investment, in general, there’s something about China’s bold push to acquire companies and land in the United States that concerns me. And, for what it’s worth, I don’t think it’s xenophobia that’s driving that feeling. I think it’s just that I’ve had the occasion to know several brilliant, young students from China over the years, many of whom have relayed the same story about the environmental and moral sacrifices that have been made in their country in the name of exponential growth and tremendous prosperity. And I think that’s perhaps given me a little different perspective on those wealthy Chinese business owners who are now so anxious to purchase citizenship through mechanisms like the EB-5 visa system those behind International Village say they’ll be employing.
Let’s just say that, when you have a friend tell you that she has to send respirators back home to Beijing so that her parents can breathe, you have a different appreciation for the sacrifices that are being made in order to produce both cheap goods and untold wealth… wealth that, for obvious reasons, people want to get out of the country, and into more stable investments. [The friend I’m thinking of has to send respirators back because the ones her family can buy in China are invariably cheap knock-offs that don’t work as advertised.] And I’ve been hearing from Chinese friends for over a decade now, about how everyone with money, either in government, or in industry, moves their families and their wealth out of the country, leaving the others behind to deal with the consequences of unfettered capitalism. So, being completely honest, I have a hard time looking at anything related to the EB-5 visa system objectively. And that’s one more reason I’ve been reluctant to speak up. I don’t want to contribute toward tanking a development that could be good for our community, just because I harbor a deep dislike of the EB-5 system, which, by the way, Vox recently described as, “riddled with scandal.”
And, lastly, I probably haven’t spoken up until now because I actually like members of our Planning Department and City Council, and I sympathize with them. As Councilman Vogt pointed out last night, it’s not easy to say “no” to a credible developer, especially when the citizens of Ypsilanti, in good faith, just voted to raise taxes on themselves to pay the debt associated with Water Street, with the understanding that our elected officials would do their best to bring in a developer as soon as possible, and terminate said millage. [To those in the audience who were talking about how International Village could force rental rates up across the city, Vogt responded by pointing out that homeowners were suffering too, paying higher taxes, and, in some cases, forgoing medication to do so. I don’t know how accurate of a comparison that it is, as I suspect, in most cases, homeowners are far more secure than renters, but, as it was something that I hadn’t considered before, I thought that I’d include it here.] And I know that our overworked and under-appreciated City staff is doing their best to make something positive happen for Ypsilanti. Whether or not you agree that International Village, as explained to us last night, would be a positive for the community, I think you’ve got to admit that our folks have been working their asses off to find something that will see the toxins dealt with, create jobs, and increase the tax base, so that we no longer have to cut away at city services and contemplate the prospect of receivership, which would truly decimate this city that we love.
So, yeah, for all of those reasons, I’ve been quiet… Like many of you, I’m confused and frustrated. And, without a solution to suggest, I’ve felt it best that I just stay out of it altogether, and watch how things unfold from afar.
But, then, last night, after spending about five-and-a-half hours watching community members address City Council, Council members discuss the still unclear terms of the deal, and representatives of International Village talk about what they have in mind, I decided that I might as well put in my two cents and ask our elected leaders, as many did last night, to slow things down, giving us more time to think things through.
I won’t go into a lot of detail here, but I saw and heard several things last night that concerned me greatly, and I’m not just talking about the fact that the International Village construction manager described their proposed architecture as “soft… like a woman.”
OK, so here are just a few rough, admittedly incomplete notes. Please take them for what they’re worth, and in the spirit in which they’re given.
1. Like I said above, this could just be coming from my anti EB-5 bias, but I worry that that primary business of International Village may not to run a successful business in Ypsilanti, but instead to facilitate the purchase of visas by wealthy Chinese individuals. I think this fact may have been overlooked by many, but, during the entire presentation, the representatives of the company did not once mention their justification for building 1,100 dwelling units, which would include 150 hotel rooms and 110 condominiums. Maybe it was just me, but it seems as though, this whole thing has been approached in a backwards fashion, starting with the fact that the developers intent to raise $250 million by essentially selling 500 EB-5 visas, and then working in reverse from there, instead of first looking at what our community actually needs, and would support, and going forward from there to determine a budget, etc. And, as someone in business, that concerns me greatly. So, if they have a true business justification for what they’re building, I’d love to see it. I know, because I just called, that the Peninsular Place student housing complex is at capacity, so there may be a real need for more student housing, but how much? And what evidence do they have that people will be willing to pay the rates that they alluded to last night, which they suspect will be as high as $2.10 a square foot per month in some units? Have they conducted a through study of the local real estate market? Do they have anchor tenants onboard? Is there anything at all that would demonstrate this could be an economically feasible development?
2. As they say that this development, although funded by Chinese investors, will be equally welcoming to non-Asians, I’m having trouble understanding the Chinese design sensibility described by International Village’s construction manager. Again, it seems to me, it has less to do with what would actually work here, on Water Street, over the long term, and more to do with what would resonate with Chinese investors. I know it may seem like a small thing, but it signals to me, again, that the long term viability of this development may be secondary to other, more immediate, objectives, like creating an opportunity for Chinese business people and their wealth to make their way to America.
3. There seemed to still be a number of significant unanswered questions… As Councilman Robb pointed out, while these developers have given us their word that they won’t come back to the Ypsilanti taxpayers, requesting that we give them millions of dollars in tax credits to deal with the remediation of Water Street, there’s really no way to be sure that they won’t, at a later date, essentially try to extort said tax credits from us, threating to walk away if we don’t give in. [There would be a small financial penalty as outlined in the current purchase agreement, but, was Robb pointed out, it’s just a fraction of what they could ask the City for.] And, after listening for over five hours, it’s still unclear to me how the permanent, local jobs these developers have promised are counted. [I should have mentioned it earlier, but, for these Chinese investors to receive their visas, International Village first has to demonstrate significant job creation over a period of at least two years. No one, however, as far as I could tell, knew what kind of jobs counted, or how many jobs would need to be created. Furthermore, there seems to be a history when it comes to EB-5 visa developments of not actually delivering the jobs promised.]
4. While I don’t want to name individual members of Council, I was surprised by what, at least to me, appeared to be a significant misunderstanding of the EB-5 program, with at least one councilmember seeming to believe that these wealthy Chinese investors would be moving to Ypsilanti once their visas were granted. [That isn’t how the program works. Once these investors have their visas, they can live anywhere in the United States, and it likely won’t be Ypsilanti. In fact, the only reason this development, as far as I can tell, is being discussed in Ypsilanti, instead on either the east or west coast, is because, under the rules of the EB-5 program, investors only need to invest $500K per visa here, where it would be $1M in a more financially stable area.]
5. Maybe I missed it, but I didn’t hear that this Troy-based development group had done anything even remotely like this anywhere else. If they have, I’d like to know how it went, how many jobs were created, etc.
6. The discussion on gentrification and affordable housing was great, even if the developers chose not to participate. There is a lot of passion in this community, and it was good to hear. I don’t know that it makes sense to hold the eventual Water Street developer responsible for solving our affordable housing issues, but I do think that any development of this size should have within it an integrated affordable housing component, not unlike the Veridian project planned for Ann Arbor’s County Farm Park. And, as long as we’re on the subject, I think that we need a comprehensive countywide plan to address the fact that we live in the 8th most economically segregated region of the country thanks in large part to the rapidly rising housing costs in Ann Arbor, and that city’s refusal to build sufficient affordable housing.
I could go on… There was lot that was observed last night, and many pages of notes were taken. I suspect, however, that’s probably sufficient for now… In closing, however, I’d like to say that, even though this is messy and ugly, I’m very happy to be having this conversation with all of you. In most cities that I’m aware of, it seems like, by the time people start talking about things like these, it’s too late. Here, though, it feels like we might still have time to work together to plot a course forward that we’re all happy with… one which, while receptive to creative ideas for growth, is also sensitive to the needs of all citizens, and not just those of us who are fortunate enough to own homes.
I think I speak for a lot of folks when I say that I moved to Ypsilanti not just because it was cheaper than Ann Arbor, but because it had more heart. I’ve loved this community since I first came here in the early ‘90s, and I knew early on that this is where I wanted to put down roots and start a family. I know change is necessary, but there’s smart change, and there’s the kind of change that takes generations to undo. I know it’s a difficult thing to accomplish, but I have to think that we have enough smart, dedicated people here to find a way that we can all advance together, and still retain what it is that we value most, learning from the mistakes of others, and always challenging ourselves to do better.
And I do think, in the case of International Village, we can do better… Maybe, however, that’s with these same developers. It seems to me that they, after all, have assembled a credible team. What I haven’t seen from them yet, however, is a willingness on their part to engage with the City’s citizens at a meaningful level, in hopes of building a relationship that might better serve the interests of all parties. What form that might take, I’m not sure. Now that Council has voted to move forward with the purchase agreement, though, and the development team has the security of an agreed-to deal, maybe we can find a way to facilitate a conversation, during which the developers can actually find out who we are, what we value, and what we thing, given our history, might actually work on Water Street. [One piece of advice to the developers, assuming this keeps moving forward. When you’re in a public meeting, like the one last night, don’t spend your time texting. Instead, listen. You might actually learn something of value about this town you claim to care about.]
One last thing… I’d advise CIty Council to move slow and steady, bringing more people into the mix, and asking more questions. And, personally, if I hear a developer ever again suggest that we have to move faster, I’d be happy to have them walk, even if it means paying more in taxes. This is just too important to the future of our City to fuck up… The development of Water Street, as we’ve been saying for years, will determine the trajectory of our city for at least the next 50 years, and we can’t allow anyone else’s timetable to dictate how quickly we move. This is an investment for them. This, however, is our home.
