News · Detroit
Detroit council committee sends the $2.2 billion RenCen plan and its $548 million incentive ask to the full council without a recommendation
DETROIT — A Detroit City Council committee on Thursday sent Bedrock and General Motors’ $2.2 billion Renaissance Center redevelopment, along with its request for about $548 million in tax breaks and incentives, to the full council without a recommendation, setting up a possible vote as soon as Tuesday, Nov. 17.
The Planning and Economic Development Committee split on the move after a session that started at 10 a.m. and ran until shortly before 5:30 p.m., the Detroit Free Press reported. Committee chair Latisha Johnson and member Coleman Young II voted to advance the package. Gabriela Santiago-Romero voted against it.
Johnson said she still has questions about the project’s nonprofit ownership model and wants changes to the incentives, but that it was time for the rest of the council to dig in. “If things are not favorable for the entire body, then we can bring (the plan) back to this committee however the council as a whole sees fit,” she said, according to the Free Press.
Santiago-Romero said the process was moving too fast. “This does feel very, very rushed,” she said, the Michigan Advance reported.
What taxpayers would put in
According to the Michigan Advance, the developers are seeking more than $473 million in tax breaks over 30 years, and added commercial tax incentives bring the total ask to roughly $548 million. The Downtown Development Authority would put in $75 million. Bedrock and GM are expected to invest more than $1.6 billion, and about $505 million would come from debt.
The plan would tear down two of the complex’s five towers and turn the other three into 934 mixed-income housing units and offices, with a marina, an observation deck and 18 acres of civic space across a 46-acre site. If the council approves, demolition is expected to start next summer, and the full project would take at least 10 years. A new nonprofit would own and run it, with Dan Gilbert putting in $1 billion of his own money and GM $250 million, the Free Press reported. Gilbert first pledged that money in October, as The Mitten Daily reported then.
The community benefits deal
The package includes a $43.5 million community benefits agreement: $15 million for housing, $10 million for small businesses, $8 million for a community hub, $6 million for workforce development and education, and $4.5 million for parking. The developers also pledged $90 million in voluntary payments in lieu of taxes over 30 years, for $133.5 million in total commitments, the Advance reported. Officials at Thursday’s meeting called it the largest community benefits agreement in the city’s history.
Critics at a rally outside the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center on Thursday morning wanted more time. “This is not a community benefits agreement, this is a developer benefits agreement,” said Nicole Small of Save the RenCen. Russ Bellant of Detroiters for Tax Justice went after the tax breaks directly: “If the word philanthropy meant anything, then he (Dan Gilbert) would pay property taxes,” he said, according to the Advance.
Why the rush
Bedrock and GM want every local approval in hand before the council’s year-end recess. They say they are worried that incoming Gov. Jocelyn Benson could change how the state approves large development incentives after she takes office in 2027, which could bring long delays, the Free Press reported. After the council, the plan still needs a final vote from the Michigan Strategic Fund in Lansing.
Sources:
Detroit Free Press (via 59 WMMI), “Key committee moves $2.2B RenCen plan to full Detroit council,” Nov. 12, 2026, https://59mi.com/story/key-committee-moves-2-2b-rencen-plan-to-full-detroit-council/
Detroit Free Press, “$2.2B RenCen plan moves forward to full Detroit City Council,” Nov. 12, 2026, https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/2026/11/12/rencen-plan-moves-forward-to-full-detroit-city-council/92739419007/
Michigan Advance, “Detroit residents urge delay as city council advances RenCen redevelopment agreement,” Nov. 13, 2026, https://michiganadvance.com/2026/11/13/detroit-residents-urge-delay-as-city-council-advances-rencen-redevelopment-agreement/
Detroit Free Press, “Big votes on $2.2B Renaissance Center project to happen in November,” Oct. 29, 2026, https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/2026/10/29/detroit-city-council-vote-november-rencen-plan/92500660007/
Photo: Crisco 1492, “Renaissance Center, Detroit, Michigan from S 2014-12-07.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, public domain, cropped, color-adjusted and resized, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Renaissance_Center,_Detroit,_Michigan_from_S_2014-12-07.jpg
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