Hantz Farms Land Grab
Hantz Farms is briefly back in the news this week. By the time you read this, the City Council will most likely have approved the swap of 37 parcels of land on Beniteau Street for 450 parcels scattered throughout the East side. That means Hantz is getting a more than 10 parcels for every one he is giving up. And he is getting these additional parcels for 8.33 cents per square foot. That is the price he negotiated six years ago with the Bing administration. Currently, similar properties are going for between $1.25 and $1.75 a square foot, meaning that he is paying less than 10 cents for every dollar. He also gets 80 houses to “rehabilitate” within two years.
It is a sweet deal for Hantz. He is getting ten times the property and at one tenth the cost. In addition to helping consolidate the land the city wants to give to Fiat Chrysler, this little deal will allow Hantz to consolidate his one square mile farm dream.
All of this is happening without any public oversight or comment. The proposal has been rushed to City Council and they are set to vote on Tuesday April 23, 2019. The last time City Council discussed a deal with John Hantz, the chambers were packed. An open meeting with them on the East side saw more than 1000 people turn out to voice their objections on one of the coldest nights in January. People were overwhelmingly opposed to the land give away being proposed by Mayor Dave Bing on the cusp of bankruptcy.
That vocal opposition is probably why this current deal, roughly ¼ the size of his previous effort, has received little attention in the media and no public notice.
But it makes some things very clear. The purpose of the Land Bank is not to stabilize neighborhoods or keep people in their homes. It is to enable the Mayor to give away the city at the lowest possible price to the richest, whitest people he can find.
Last year when there were rumors that Hantz was looking for developers, Mike Score, president of Hantz Woodlands LLC, said, "The purpose of the farm, the whole mission of the investment, is to create truly livable neighborhoods on the lower east side of Detroit and the farm is doing that. It's not that the farm is for sale. It's that we have made progress of eliminating blight," He went on to say, "We have had a lot of inquiries from developers who have told us from their perspective that Hantz Woodlands has become attractive. We are exploring options."
It is hard to believe any developer could have come up with a better set of options than those offered by Mayor Duggan.
We should all remember that the primary reason people objected to Hantz was because he foolishly told the Wall Street Journal his real motive. He wants to take land off the speculative market to drive the prices up.
The consequences of rising prices are clear. Higher property taxes, higher insurance, more financial speculation and less stable neighborhoods.
While the City Council is not likely to stop this deal, there is a great deal they can do to stop the worst consequences of it in the lives of people. They should immediately establish a moratorium on property tax increases for currently occupied homes, develop the capacity for community land banks, and put a moratorium on water shut offs and foreclosures. They should also establish effective rent controls and mechanisms for people to hold absentee land lords accountable.
This latest land grab by Hantz is an outrage to any sense of fairness or justice. It reveals who the city values and the extraordinary efforts this mayor will make to assist white businessmen in getting what they want.