September 12, 2025
Detroit will undergo a nearly $20 million facelift thanks to the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Detroit will receive nearly $20 million from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to support new investments into the city’s art, technology, and public spaces.
Announced on Sept. 7 during a community celebration at Michigan Central, the Knight Foundation will invest $19.8 million in 12 Detroit projects, the Detroit Free Press reported. The funding will expand trails and public green spaces, strengthen the city’s equity-focused tech economy, and revitalize educational and arts institutions, among other efforts.
“These are all things that we believe are really important to creating a vibrant and thriving city,” said Maribel Pérez Wadsworth, President and CEO of the Knight Foundation. “By focusing on these areas, we create opportunities for connection, we help preserve vital history for the community, we provide ways for the community to really access one another and the downtown core.”
The Unified Greenway Project will receive the largest share of the investment, with $5 million allocated to expand nearly 30 miles of trails and public spaces connecting the Joe Louis Greenway, the Detroit Riverfront, and 23 neighborhoods. The funding will be split evenly, with $2.5 million going to the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan and $2.5 million to the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy for construction and activation.
Black Tech Saturdays, the Joe Louis Greenway Partnership, the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, and the Vanguard Community Development Corporation will each receive $2 million. The funding will help scale Detroit’s tech space by connecting residents to high-growth jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities, create the Woodward Avenue trailhead linking Highland Park to the 27.5-mile greenway, upgrade the museum to expand community programming, and complete the city’s new cultural hub at the North End Community Campus.
“Detroit has always been a city of resilience and reinvention,” Wadsworth said. “Our latest investments support a Detroit that will continue to be shaped by the creativity, talent, and vision of its residents. Whether it’s transforming public spaces along the Joe Louis Greenway, expanding local residents’ economic power in tech, or strengthening the city’s creative economy, these efforts reflect the energy of a city on its triumphant rise.”
The Eastside Community Network’s Mother Tree Wellness Campus will receive $1.5 million to complete a nine-acre public space focused on health and the environment. Detroit Horse Power will get $1 million to develop a 14-acre equestrian center with youth programs and community events. Give Merit – Merit Park will receive $1 million to convert vacant land into a youth hub with sports fields, outdoor classrooms, retail incubators, civic spaces along the Joe Louis Greenway, and a small business space at Merit Park Plaza.
Design Core Detroit/College for Creative Studies will receive $1 million to support local creative businesses through training, funding, and events like Detroit Month of Design. Black Leaders Detroit will receive $1 million to fund a no-interest loan program for marginalized developers and entrepreneurs, expected to support over 30 residential projects and create 150 jobs. Downtown Detroit Partnership will receive $800,000 to improve accessibility in spaces such as Campus Martius and Capitol Park, while Rootoftwo via CultureSource – The Transformer Building will get $500,000 to convert a former electrical substation into a civic studio with tech labs, digital tools, and workshops.
“We’re here to support the amazing, creative, passionate people who are Detroiters, who have the ideas about what it is that their community needs in order to continue to thrive,” Wadsworth said of the projects chosen to receive the funding. “Knight’s role here is really only to serve as the wind at the back of these amazing people who care so much about their community. So every one of the decisions about where we invest is driven, first and foremost, by the people of Detroit.”
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