Detroit City Council has approved a cash settlement in a land condemnation case involving a prominent landowner and his bundle of properties next to the city’s municipal airport.
Council members on Tuesday, Feb. 24, voted unanimously in favor of paying the $444,135 settlement for the 28 vacant parcels owned by Michael Kelly. The land is situated adjacent to the main runway at Coleman A. Young Municipal Airport on the city’s east side.
The settlement amount includes a past $74,600 payment to Kelly for some of the land that was based on an early appraisal.
The city of Detroit wants the land for its so-called “French Road Mini-Take Project,” a condemnation initiative to expand what it has called a “safety zone” around the airport and satisfy Federal Aviation Administration requirements.
Airport Director Jason Watt told council members Tuesday that the FAA will reimburse the city for 95% of the settlement, leaving the city on the hook for 5% of the $444,135, or just over $22,200.
Watt said the acquisition will also allow for future expansion of the airport, including a new air traffic control tower that would go on the to-be-acquired parcels.
“The FAA mandated that we acquire this property,” he said.
Kelly is a prominent landowner and residential landlord whom Detroit officials once estimated could own as many as 1,000 properties throughout the city.
Land records show he obtained some parcels in the airport bundle for just $500 apiece in the mid-2010s at the annual Wayne County tax foreclosure auction.
Kelly’s lawyer objected to the city’s previous offers for the airport properties as falling short of just compensation under the Michigan Uniform Condemnation Procedures Act. The lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday about the newly approved settlement.
Contact JC Reindl: 313-378-5460 or jcreindl@freepress.com. Follow him on X @jcreindl.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit City Council OK’s $400K+ settlement for land near airport
Reporting by JC Reindl, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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