Cultivating creatives

The brand, the plan

Breakdown of Detroit Renaissance Inc.’s $50 million economic revitalization plan to boost the creative economy and consequently rebrand the region as a thriving place to live, work and visit:

The Brand

Clear!Blue Communications in Birmingham developed the Detroit Make It Here branding and marketing campaign with input from the creative community.

What Detroit Make it Here means: Detroit’s gritty urban environment provides an open canvas for passionate and entrepreneurial creative people and companies.

The campaign will showcase the region’s creative talent, raise the appeal of Detroit as a creative destination, and cultivate and retain existing assets to increase pride among locals. The marketing plan includes viral efforts, an ambassador recruitment program and traditional media marketing.

The Web

Detroit Make it Here (www.detroitmakeithere.com) will heighten the buzz. It combines social networking opportunities with news, tools and resources. The goal is to empower, to build and to unite the creative community through a central gathering place. The site is in its first phase — a beta — the official launch is Sept. 15. Crain’s is encouraging the creative community to critique the site. Meanwhile, staffers will continue to build features, add content, and market the site and its network of users.

Creative corridor

The Detroit office of San Francisco-based architecture firm Gensler developed the logistics of a creative corridor, which will run along Woodward Avenue in Detroit from Grand Boulevard to the river. It’s expected to boost visibility of Detroit’s creative economy by increasing the density of creative businesses and workers in a defined district.

Special attention will be paid to the following districts:

• Sugar Hill: Members of the University Cultural Center Association envision a chain of live/work units for artists, public art displayed along a recreational greenway linking Midtown with Eastern Market and the riverfront. People would be able to walk and bicycle to universities and museums, while pedestrians would notice façade improvements along Woodward.

  
  

• Paradise Valley/Harmonie Park: Within easy walking distance of sport stadiums, major theaters and the new Boll Family YMCA, this sector will be enhanced as a gallery and restaurant district. The Harmonie Club will be reopened as a small auditorium honoring the legacy of Detroit’s African American music and club scene. Detroit Renaissance’s lead partner is the Detroit Economic Growth Corp.

  
  

• Vibrant downtown: Public improvements include fixing fountains, restoring statues and adding theme lighting, while facades will get upgrades. Downtown Detroit Partnership, DEGC and Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit will assure downtown looks inviting to pedestrians.

Business attraction strategy

Austin, Texas-based AngelouEconomics Inc. found that communities with dynamic, creative scenes attract more businesses, more talent and generate more economic development. Angelou developed a business attraction strategy for the region, which includes: leveraging existing incentives and creating new ones, including a redevelopment fund to encourage conversion of buildings into creative-economy businesses; gap financing for neighborhood business services; and rewarding existing creative businesses that convince new businesses to relocate along the creative corridor.

Projected economic impact of the creative corridor and the business attraction strategy within five years of implementation:

• 50-100 new businesses.

  
  

• 800-1,200 new jobs.

  
  

• 10 percent annual increase of new investment dollars.

  
  

• 10 percent increase in total property appraisals.

Creative business accelerator

Washington D.C.-based New Economy Strategies, outlined a strategy for a creative business accelerator, still contingent on funding for implementation.

Detroit Renaissance envisions a Woodward facility that offers business services, subsidized live/work units, enhanced partnerships with colleges and universities and business services. Ilitch Charities already has provided a $25,000 seed grant. The next stage is identifying dollars to bring the massive plans to fruition.

An additional accelerator would be located in the former General Motors Argonaut building in Detroit’s New Center area.