Excerpts from the article:
After a week of fielding questions about what he’s going to do on the field, Pittsburgh Steelers star and former Detroiter Jerome Bettis now faces an even tougher question — what he plans to do off the field.
But he has plenty to keep him busy, including potentially developing two massive projects in the city of Detroit and running the Detroit-based Jerome Bettis Bus Stops Here Foundation.
“I’m committed to this city, not only speaking about it, but I’m willing to put my resources into the city to try and make it the city it can be,” Bettis said at a press conference Monday.
He is a partner in Bettis/Betters Development L.L.C. with Pittsburgh developer C.J. Betters. The team plans to redevelop the former Uniroyal site at the base of the MacArthur Bridge, which leads to Belle Isle. Co-developers are Detroit-based SDG Design Inc., Arcadis G&M L.L.C., a Southfield-based environmental consultant, and Cooper Robertson Partners, New York City-based urban planners.
Plans for the 44-acre site call for a mixed-use development consisting of different levels of housing and up to 1 million square feet of commercial space.
The company also is interested in redeveloping the former cement silos. George Jackson Jr., president of the Detroit Economic Development Corp., said Bettis/Betters is one of the companies that has submitted bids for at least part of the property east of the Renaissance Center. Details of that plan have not been made public yet.
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is encouraged by Bettis’ interest in contributing to the city’s growth. He told Crain’s Thursday that it’s more than some big-name athlete throwing a few bucks at the city he grew up in.
“He’s deeply engaged in this development; it’s his first major project. He talked about wanting to be very involved and being out on the site a couple times a week,” Kilpatrick said.
“We want him here,” Kilpatrick said.
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