The University of Michigan Board of Regents voted Thursday to approve starting construction on a $250 million research and education center in Detroit.
“This is a very big deal,” said UM Regent Mark Bernstein. “The action we have just taken, approving the construction of the University of Michigan Center for Innovation in Detroit, elevates our already significant commitment to Detroit and our state and takes it to the next level.”
UM announced its commitment in March to the University of Michigan Center for Innovation, which will be funded with $100 million from real estate billionaire Stephen Ross, $100 million in tax dollars through the state of Michigan and $50 million from donors.
Olympia Development, a company owned by the Ilitch family, is donating the 4-acre Detroit property bounded by Cass and Grand River avenues and West Columbia and Elizabeth streets to UM.
The center will expand programming to boost economic development and job growth for Detroit through graduate education, talent-based community development and community engagement, university officials said.
Lawmakers approved $100 million for the project in the July 2022 budget.
Groundbreaking is expected before the end of the year. Construction for the center is expected to take three years.
The UMCI is part of an ambitious $1.5 billion transformation of District Detroit, which is a joint venture between Ross and the Ilitch family. It is a mixed-income and mixed-use development that is expected to include the construction of six buildings and the renovation of four buildings.
In January, Detroit’s Downtown Development Authority board approved nearly $50 million in funding for District Detroit, the first of several public incentive requests that will total nearly $800 million.
UM President Santa Ono said the center is part of UM’s increased community engagement in Detroit. The director of the UMCI will be a critical voice within the community and a liaison to Detroit stakeholders.
“Our founding as a university traces back to Detroit, so it’s fitting that we reinvigorate and build on our commitment to the city through this center,” Ono said in a statement. “UMCI is essential for our future.”
The project has evolved from one focusing exclusively on graduate education to a strategic mixed model that will usher in a new era of collaboration and partnership with Detroit, said James Hilton, UM vice provost for academic innovation, who is leading the center’s academic programming.
It will include programming and facilities aimed at engaging the business, entrepreneurial and residential communities.
“We want to help develop talent in the community,” Hilton said. “We are looking at how we can take some of the online and certificate-based learning that UM has to build in-person experiences in the UMCI to make that training more real, more community-based, and more meaningful.”
The UMCI graduate programs will focus on technology, robotics, sustainability and computer sciences. The center itself will include workforce training, professional development and certificate programs.
“The potential for the UMCI to be a catalyst for the future of Detroit is exponential and we are excited that President Ono and his team at UM are leading the charge on this project,” Ross said. “We’re particularly excited for the impact the UMCI and its programs will have on the next generation of Detroit students who will have this world-class academic institution at their doorstep.”