Dexter Avenue, long treated as a cut-through on Detroit’s west side, is suddenly getting dressed up – and investors are starting to show up.
Detroit’s $8.5 million streetscape and infrastructure overhaul along Dexter is reshaping a long-neglected corridor and clearing the way for new private projects. The public work, combined with a Strategic Neighborhood Fund package, has set the stage for housing developments, façade grants and city RFPs on vacant land that developers are now circling.
As first reported by Crain’s Detroit Business, the city committed roughly $8.5 million for streetscape and infrastructure improvements along a stretch of Dexter west of the Boston-Edison area. A related request for proposals from the Housing & Revitalization Department, posted through the City of Detroit, mirrors that figure and folds the work into the Strategic Neighborhood Fund. Sidewalks, protected bike lanes, lighting, and landscaping are all called out as part of the upgrades, underscoring how public money is being used to make the corridor more walkable – and more appealing to developers.
What The Streetscape Put On The Ground
The Department of Public Works says the Dexter streetscape covers the corridor between W. Davison and Webb and includes new sidewalks, curb ramps, bus shelters, protected bike lanes, street trees, and signage, according to the Department of Public Works. Those physical changes were paired with a city-run retail pop-up and a mural program meant to boost foot traffic and give storefronts a clearer presence in the neighborhood.
Affordable Housing And Private Bets
The Strategic Neighborhood Fund, combined with state Low-Income Housing Tax Credit awards, has already pulled affordable housing projects toward Dexter. City materials say about $37 million in tax-credit support has helped assemble roughly 160 affordable units in planned or active developments along the corridor…