Much of Detroit’s housing stock isn’t accessible to residents with disabilities and city officials say they aren’t going to make any assumptions about what Detroiters need.
The City Council last week signed off on a $208,000 contract with national architecture and accessibility consultants expected to drill down on deficiencies in nearly two dozen multi-family rental housing complexes in Detroit and provide a range of recommended modifications to improve them.
Keegan Mahoney, program director for Detroit’s Housing and Revitalization Department, said the one-year contract with Massachusetts-based KMA, LLC., will allow the city to examine accessibility for residents with varying abilities at up to 20 buildings with rental housing. KMA will identify accessibility barriers in each property and develop reports that lay out inclusive design improvements. KMA will offer a range of low-to-higher-cost enhancements to improve building conditions for residents with disabilities – and its work will inform future programming centered on improving the accessibility of Detroit’s existing rental properties, he said…