Overview:
– Detroit’s Solar Neighborhoods Initiative has selected Greenfield-McNichols and Houston-Whittier as the final sites for solar arrays to power 127 city buildings.
– This program aims to expand renewable energy in Detroit, adding over 60 acres of solar arrays to these neighborhoods, in addition to 104 acres in Gratiot-Findlay, Van Dyke-Lynch, and State Fair.
– Homeowners within the solar development areas will receive twice the fair market value of their homes or $90,000, whichever is higher.
– The initiative is set to be completed by late 2025 or early 2026.
City officials have chosen two east side neighborhoods, Greenfield-McNichols and Houston-Whittier, as the final two sites for solar arrays that will help power 127 city buildings as part of Detroit’s Solar Neighborhoods Initiative.
Pending City Council approval, the new installations will build on the program launched by Mayor Mike Duggan, which aims to expand renewable energy across Detroit.
Solar panels in the first phase neighborhoods—Gratiot-Findlay, Van Dyke-Lynch, and State Fair—could be operational by late summer, while the Greenfield-McNichols and Houston-Whittier arrays are expected to be completed by late 2025 or early 2026, Duggan said.
The two neighborhoods will host more than 60 acres of solar arrays, adding to 104 acres in Gratiot-Findlay, Van Dyke-Lynch, and State Fair. Duggan said the two neighborhoods will “complete this project” to power the city’s 127 municipal buildings.
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Homeowners in the footprint of the solar developments will receive twice the fair market value of their homes or $90,000, whichever is higher, according to city officials. Renters will get 18 months of rent to relocate.
“We’ve taken the area that’s the most blighted, that probably only has one house every block or two, and we’re going to turn that into beautiful fields,” Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said at a Wednesday press conference.
Duggan said the city will not condemn owner-occupied homes for the project. However, he said the city is using eminent domain to acquire abandoned homes and vacant lots owned by speculators.
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Sandra Turner-Handy, a resident of the Houston-Whittier neighborhood for over 25 years and