Feds direct $100M in grants to help broke Detroit tear down vacant buildings, spur job growth

9/26/2013

A young man walks in front of a row of abandoned houses in Detroit, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2013. Four of President Barack Obama's top advisers will converge on Detroit Friday to meet privately with state and local leaders about ways the federal government can help the bankrupt city short of a bailout. The White House said Thursday that top economic adviser Gene Sperling will join U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan in the closed meeting. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

DETROIT — The Obama administration is repurposing, redeploying and expediting more $100 million in federal grants to help Detroit as the city moves through the largest municipal bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.

White House chief economic adviser Gene Sperling said today that the grants aren’t new money but is money that was already allocated for use in Detroit.

For various reasons, he says the grants weren’t used or were slated for release at later dates.

The grants include $65 million for blight eradication and $25 million to tear down vacant commercial buildings.

Sperling, Attorney General Eric Holder and the transportation and housing secretaries will meet Friday in Detroit with city and state officials.