By ANN RICHARDS
Detroit is not the only Michigan city attempting to bring back its downtown. Across the state, smaller metro areas such as Flint, Muskegon and Port Huron are working to restore the prosperity of their central cities.
In Flint, private investors are working to provide a vision and some “patient equity” to help transform the city’s once lively downtown into a place where people once again can work, live and be entertained.
Philip Shaltz is one of the original members of the Uptown Six LLC, which is a partner with Uptown Reinvestment Corporation (URC) that formed Uptown Investments. He is old enough to remember downtown Flint as a place that had heart and vitality.
“When I was a kid, it was a real treat to go into downtown,” he said. “In my memory it was like a kaleidoscope -- full of color and sound. It was full of people and life.”
That memory -- and the recognition that Genesee County needs a strong, central anchor if it is going to prosper -- prompted Shaltz to become part of revitalization efforts.
During its short history, URC has managed the Saginaw Streetscape, a redevelopment plan for Flint’s red brick main street; attracted investment from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation; and, partnering with the Uptown Six, has purchased downtown buildings and entered into partnerships to rehabilitate several of them.
Shaltz, CEO of a local automation company, is one of seven Uptown Six investors who currently are providing “patient equity” for these redevelopment efforts.
Patient equity plays a key role in real estate development finance, according to Christopher B. Leinberger, a national champion of progressive development, which embraces walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods.
“Today, many of our cities and older suburbs boast many of the artifacts of great development from the 1920s and earlier,” Leinberger said.
“Until the middle of the 20th century, real estate was considered a long-term asset class and was financed as such. The original developer built and held onto projects for a long period of time.”
Today’s real estate financing, with an emphasis on lower-risk, short-term returns, discourages quality construction that weathers the economic ups and downs endemic to the real estate industry, he said.
Profit -- short or long-term -- is not what motivates Shaltz and his Uptown Six partners.
“You can’t look at this investment in terms of money. Patient capital is the vehicle we have to use if we’re going to re-do downtown. If -- or when -- we start to realize a financial return, it’s going to be reinvested anyway,” Shaltz said.
“We’re not outsiders. We’re not interested in building something and walking away with a profit. We can’t walk away; it’s our reputation and our city on the line. Every one of us profited from Flint in some way, and this is our way of returning the favor."
“We’ve got a vision, we can help make it happen, but we can’t keep it going by ourselves. We need people to support it -- to come downtown, eat in the restaurants, shop the galleries, and live in the lofts.
“In our saner moments, we’ve asked ourselves why we’re doing this. But 25 years from now, I hope to look back and say we were a part of Flint’s resurrection. It’s going to be tough, but we have to make this work.”