Downtown Detroit companies offer incentives to employees who move close to the job

DETROIT (Tell Us Det) - About 16,000 employees of five major downtown Detroit companies will be eligible for cash incentives to buy or rent a residential unit in the greater downtown area under the Live Downtown program.

The five companies are DTE Energy, Compuware, Quicken Loans, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Strategic Staffing Solutions.

"The program will help create the density that downtown Detroit needs," Mayor Dave Bing said during a news conference announcing the program. "Detroit is a city of renewed opportunity and distinct character. ... This is a great day."

Modeled after the popular Live Midtown program announced earlier this year, the Live Downtown incentives will provide a forgivable loan of $20,000 toward the purchase of a primary residence. New renters can receive a $2,500 allowance toward the cost of their apartment in the first year and $1,000 for the second year.

If you work for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Compuware, DTE Energy, Quicken Loans or Strategic Staffing Solutions, it literally pays to Live Downtown. These employers are offering financial incentives for their employees to live where they work.

Live Downtown is a residential program to entice you to live and invest in a Downtown home. There are four incentive options to help you purchase or rent a home in one of the neighborhoods in and near Downtown Detroit: Downtown, Corktown, Lafayette Park, Eastern Market, Woodbridge and the Midtown areas of Brush Park, Cass Park, Art Center, and Lower Cass

Existing renters downtown can receive a $1,000 allowance for renewing a lease in 2011. And existing homeowners can receive matching funds of up to $5,000 for exterior renovations costing $10,000 or more.

The units purchased, rented, or improved must be within a geographic area consisting of downtown, Midtown, Eastern Market, Lafayette Park, Woodbridge, and Corktown.

In making his remarks at the news conference, Bing also teased that he'd be making more big announcements this week. One is widely expected to be Whole Foods' announcement of a new store in the Midtown district.

The mayor also said he would be announcing on Wednesday which city neighborhoods would become areas of concentration under the Detroit Works program.

The Live Downtown program has been organized by the Downtown Detroit Partnership, a civic group headed by Dave Blaskiewicz, president and CEO. The program will be administered by the non-profit group Midtown Detroit Inc., which already runs the Midtown incentive program. The Hudson-Webber Foundation is providing funding to support the program's administrative costs.


Details of the program are available at the Web site www.detroitlivedowntown.org.