The leading, mission-based real estate development company in Detroit.

 

WHO WE ARE

Develop Detroit is a full-service real estate development non-profit company that specializes in affordable and mixed-income housing. We are mission-driven developers striving to build and preserve high-quality housing that helps transform neighborhoods across Detroit, while also enabling a wide range of Detroiters to live, work and thrive. Guiding our approach is a strong belief that healthy cities are racially and economically diverse.

Our team has over 100 collective years of real estate, asset management, finance, capital markets and investment analysis experience. Since inception in 2015, Develop Detroit has acquired and preserved over 350 units of affordable housing. We operate several properties and have over 800 housing units under development.

WHAT WE DO

We build opportunities. As Detroit’s most prominent, mission-focused real estate developer, our team imagines, designs and builds beautiful affordable and mixed income housing – for the full range of Detroiters. In addition to building and providing housing, Develop Detroit also undertakes strategic economic and commercial developments that will help stabilize and transform disinvested neighborhoods.

We believe in an integrated neighborhood investment strategy that can simultaneously address a range of challenges, including single-family stabilization, foreclosure mitigation, the development of higher density, quality multi-family rental housing that supports commercial investment and the provision of enhanced services for resident and community members. Our unique approach to neighborhood-building authentically engages local communities to develop programs and services that benefit current and future residents.

 

In working toward stronger Detroit neighborhoods, our team provides the following services, both for our portfolio and as consultants:

  • Site Selection

  • Land Assembly and Acquisitions

  • Entitlements 

  • Project Design

  • Financial Feasibility

  • Project Financing

  • Construction Management

  • Asset Management

 

WHY WE DO IT

Detroit is in the midst of a remarkable period of change. As the city continues to rebound from decades of disinvestment, its affordable housing options are increasingly under threat. Left alone, free-market forces will drive investment to Detroit neighborhoods in an inequitable way. This does not have to be the case. 

Develop Detroit believes that equity should be at the forefront of how Detroit neighborhoods are shaped. We believe that healthy neighborhoods are ones in which there is housing and amenities for a range of residents, regardless of age, race, gender, sexual orientation, or income.

We will not stop our work until Detroit neighborhoods have become places where all Detroiters can thrive. 

OUR OFFERINGS

Our organization focuses on the physical environment of neighborhoods in Detroit and believes that communities should have housing options that appeal to a range of incomes, lifestyles and tastes.

Product offering includes:

  • Multifamily rental housing 

  • Preservation of existing affordable housing 

  • Service-enriched housing, including for seniors, veterans and the homeless 

  • Single family for-sale 

  • Mixed-use developments

  • Retail & commercial property

  • Community & cultural centers