Herman Gardens
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Herman Gardens was a housing project located in Detroit, Michigan.
First built in the year of 1943, Herman Gardens, known as "the Gardens", had 2,144 units of mostly two-story multi-family buildings. The 129-unit Gardenview Senior building was on the Herman Gardens site. “The Gardens” was located on the west side of Detroit, close to “some of the most affluent neighborhoods in the City.”
The Herman Gardens was home to a few notable individuals. Automobile giant John De Lorean[citation needed], and TV judge Greg Mathis both called Herman Gardens home. Many problems occurred in the buildings when the drug organization known as "The Young Boys Inc" (YBI) began a failed attempt take over the drug trade of "The Gardens".
When the Detroit Housing Commission (DHC) had applied for HOPE VI funds under the 1996 NOFA, it intended to reduce the number of public housing units from 1,573 to 672. By August of 1996, HUD had approved the demolition of 685 units using other (non-HOPE VI) funds, and the HOPE VI application proposed demolishing another 538 units. The application also proposed renovating 274 of those existing units and building 222 new houses, along with 92 single-family houses and 84 duplexes, for a total of 672 units at the revitalized site.
The cover letter for the 1996 application declared, “The Plan presented in this application does far more than demolish and rehabilitate old apartments, it rebuilds lives on a foundation of entrepreneurship, jobs, and training.” However, six years later, in the fall of 2002, nothing is rebuilt: not residents’ lives which have been disrupted since demolition began in 1996; and, not affordable housing as is evident by 139 acres of empty land that once was “Herman Gardens”.
On July 31, 2002 DHC submitted a new revitalization plan to HUD. This latest Plan called for 804 new units: 470 rental units (350 family townhouses, only 88 of which will be public housing (or Annual Contributions Contract) units; and 120 public housing senior apartments), and 334 homeowner units. It also included a campus of Wayne County Community College, a “regional athletic facility,” and a neighborhood commercial center. The new neighborhood is named Gardenview Estates.
