Gilbert company interested in the land
By Corey Williams
Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) — Construction continues on a $300 million county jail, despite outside interest in the site which takes up a good chunk of a popular Detroit entertainment district.
Rock Ventures, the umbrella for online mortgage lender Quicken Loans and founder Dan Gilbert’s other companies, has had talks with the county about acquiring the land where the new jail is being built, according to June West, spokeswoman for Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano.
“The basic thing is there is no offer on the table,” West said Tuesday.
About $100,000 has been spent so far on the new jail, which is expected to house about 2,000 inmates. Early plans called for closing and consolidating the operations of the current three county jails into the new facility when it opens.
The county also has had discussions with the state of Michigan about possibly leasing a former prison on Detroit’s east side. The Mound Road Correctional Facility closed in January 2012, but could hold county inmates after renovations and new construction, West said.
Two of the three county jails and a juvenile detention facility are in Greektown, just east of downtown and home to one of the city’s three casinos.
In April, the Michigan Gaming Control Board approved the sale of the Greektown casino to Gilbert, who also owns the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers.
Gilbert said in a statement then that the Greektown casino “is the perfect intersection” of his investment focus in Detroit. He’s been steadily buying up a portfolio of buildings over a large stretch of the city’s downtown.
The downtown jail buildings historically have been “a barrier to economic development” in Greektown, while consolidating them at the Mound Road site “could allow for better use of resources and save the county millions of dollars,” according to a statement from Rock Ventures.
As it stands, the new jail — when finished — would not adequately satisfy the needs of the sheriff’s office, Sheriff Benny Napoleon said Tuesday.
The original project called for between 2,300 and 2,400 beds, but that was scaled back due to cost overruns, he said.
“It would be too small, will not have the technology that was promised and will not create the savings that was anticipated,” said Napoleon, who also is a candidate in August’s Detroit mayoral primary.
Napoleon said he is budgeted for 1,800 inmates, but his jail population is 400 to 500 inmates over budget each day.
“I am open to a discussion regarding any facility that saves money, but it has to be safe for both the inmates, the public and my deputies,” Napoleon said when asked about a possible lease for the Mound Road facility.
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