This is an open call to experts in community financing to help an ambitious and sustainable business launch in Detroit, Michigan. We need your help, advice, and experience.
For 18 months we have been working on building an artful, independent 36 room boutique hotel and community space in Detroit – a community business project that will add value to the people coming to visit us and the people already here now. We have had some big wins with partnerships and tremendous media coverage. The central theme is “storytelling” and we are already working with local churches, schools, and arts organizations to capture stories, histories, and experiences from real Detroiters so that when people come to visit us they can better connect with the city and the people who call Detroit home. You can read more about the overall project, our research, and request an .
It is being sustainably designed with repurposed shipping containers on an abandoned railroad line that’s been converted to a beautiful bike and walking path, culminating at the Detroit river. It’s in an amazing part of town, within Detroit’s Eastern Market District, the nations longest continually running farmers market, and an incredible development opportunity for The Right People.
Image by Jeff Wegner from our First Container launch event in May.
It’s actually a great opportunity for everyone, but here in southeast Michigan we are still struggling with both a post manufacturing economy and the brutal recessions of 2003 and 2008. As the city begins its recovery and developers move in from around the world, it is important that at least some of us work hard to keep profits local.
We’ve got a $4M project that produces revenue in its first year and profits in its second, clearing all debt by it’s 7th year and ready to expand. Along the way we will also reinvest profits heavily into social story-based educational and entertainment programs, integrated into the hotel that benefit the people of Detroit, young and old.
It is a good project for foundations, credit unions, union pension funds, and city employees who want to spend their money locally and see the capital gains off interest stay in the community.
Here’s the plan: A small group of investors from the above mentioned groups and perhaps a few private individuals who care about this sort of thing front the total $4m in development costs, which includes construction and operational contingencies. They then sell back that debt at a humble below market interest rate to people in Detroit and Michigan in the form of affordable bonds, perhaps even Social Impact Bonds – $500, $1000, $5000 payable over 3, 5 and 10 years at market rates.
It helps people learn about investing in a lower risk way, increasing financial literacy. It is also a tangible, physical space people can visit and directly experience the role their investment played. Most importantly it keeps the money in Michigan and sets a model for other communities to follow suit, particularly because we will keep the entire process open and transparent for others to learn from.
Can you help? Can you share this with people who can help?
If you are already in Detroit or visiting us soon, stop by our prototype we funded through Kickstarter at firstcontainer.com. We are there every Thursday and Friday from 10am-6pm and Saturdays from 8am-4pm. Come say hi!
Kindly yours,