Profile - Rough, rough, rough, rough draft

The scene found in downtown Flint on a typical April day, while typical of any downtown area, represents a great deal of progress for the city. Businessmen walking into their offices while on cell phones show how companies have begun moving branches from the suburbs to downtown. The students of local UM-Flint and Mott Community College relaxing outside before class represent the importance of the local colleges to the city. The families carrying shopping bags back to their cars are a group who had long avoided the downtown area in previous times. Road repair and the huge cranes of work crews mark the completion of much-needed construction work.

One of the men most responsible for the progress of the downtown area is local businessmen Tim Herman. A lifelong Flint resident, Herman has been involved in Flint’s finances for the last fifteen years. On top of his private finance work for the Flint branch of Merrill Lynch and his association with a local law firm, Herman previously served as the city finance director and the city commissioner of finance.

His greatest challenge, however, began in 2000, when he formed Uptown Reinvestment Corporation with seven other developers. Disappointed with the deterioration of Flint’s downtown caused by its failing economy and growing crime rates, Herman designed the group as a non-profit rebuilding organization for the downtown area. Uptown has proved to be a tremendous success in only seven years, through both its rebuilding projects and in successfully recruiting other area investors to become involved with the work needed.

As President of Uptown and as President/CEO of the newly formed Genesee Area Focus Council, Herman has spearheaded Uptown’s mission to purchase many of the unoccupied buildings and boarded-up businesses found in downtown, working to renovate and redesign the structures. Herman then combines the newly refurbished facilities with valuable business incentives, such as decreased tax rates and financing, to attract outside investors.

One of the most remarkable aspects of Uptown is its makeup as a non-profit organization. Its funds are almost entirely composed of private money from local investors, with the remainder coming from contributions from either local foundations, or from state-supplied grants. Herman and the other investors gain no profit from their work, as all gains are then invested back into the general fund.

Many around Flint, though, are skeptical about Uptown and for Herman’s involvement. Some believe that the group secretly takes a profit, while others wonder about Herman’s political aspirations. Others such as Randy Huber, a 56 year old Flint resident and GM employee, wonder about the monopoly Uptown is seemingly forming in downtown. “They (Uptown) are the ones who are buying all those buildings there (downtown),” Huber stated. “Who knows what will happen once they own it all?”

For his part, Herman understands such criticism. “Our (non-profit) work has been completely different from the other groups that have tried to renovate downtown. It’s only natural for the people to question why we would do it without the profit,” Herman stated. Recent research completed by the Flint Journal backs the groups’ claims about profits, and Herman doubts whether political office is in his future, citing the obvious conflict of interests.

Herman views his involvement as a way to give back to his community. At the time when Flint’s infrastructure was crumbling, Herman decided to stay and continue working in the city, a decision many of his peers failed to comprehend. “I had friends, co-workers who left Flint and went to the suburbs or went to Detroit or out of the state, who thought I was crazy for staying around. They saw the city failing and went for the greener pastures.”

Meanwhile, Herman never moved from the city and feels his current work allows to him to pay the city back for all that they have done for him and his family. He still feels the importance of working and living in the heart of the city. He has sent his children to Flint schools, and has remained very involved in his community.

Herman feels that his dreams for Flint are realistic. Instead of falsely promising a quick and easy overhaul, he realizes that Uptown’s must rebuild a small step at a time. Paramount to the development will be ability of investors to attract citizens to move into downtown. Herman sees the newly completed loft apartments as a key to the downtown rebuilding. He believes that outside businesses will be hesitant to invest in the area without a significant increase in the area’s population.

Herman feels that the local colleges will be another important component of the downtown renewal. Both have large campuses in the downtown area, and both desire to expand their enrollments and campuses in the next five years. He hopes to attract students to use the loft apartments as off-campus housing, eventually hoping for an Ann Arbor-style development of college-related businesses to the downtown.

Another focus of Uptown has been on roads and the environment. Uptown recently completed a $2.5 million renovation project, repairing the cobbled streets of downtown, restoring the arches of Saginaw Street (once a trademark of the city), adding new trees and cleaning the Flint River. Lighting in the downtown was increased, encouraging more people to walk around the downtown at night.

With new housing and students living in the downtown area, Herman hopes to cause a domino effect. First, he hopes to attract entertainment venues in the downtown area. A current $3.8 million project overhaul of three buildings includes tentative plans for a Brazilian steakhouse and a nightclub. An oft-delayed renovation of the Capitol Theatre, a historic theatre closed for over twenty-five years, has recently been green-lit. Herman also recently announced a successful Flint restaurant will open a chain in the downtown area.

Herman stated that several different kinds of businesses are still needed downtown to attract citizens to move to the area. A grocery store is desperately needed, as is a pharmacy and gas station. “We’ll run into trouble convincing people to move if they have to drive to the other side of town just to buy a gallon of milk,” Herman worried.

One of the final keys, however, will be the development of small specialty stores and other locally-owned stores. He believes that small clothing shops, bakeries, and arts and crafts shops will help bring people into the downtown area. “The final piece,” Herman believes, “won’t be a McDonald’s or a Walgreen’s or branch of a large corporation. It will be when we attract local small-business owners to open their shops in the area.”

Still, though, it can appear difficult to follow Herman’s plan. The streets are paved, the arches restored and new construction completed, but the renovation of downtown is not a cure-all to Flint’s troubles. The unemployment rate still remains incredibly high, the public school system is in shambles, the crime and murder rates still place Flint near the top of the country. Loft apartments and small businesses may attract the citizens of Flint back to the area, but, with its falling population and failing economy, it’s unclear how many people will remain in Flint to enjoy the fruits of Uptown’s labor.

However, even with remaining concern’s many other problems unsolved, the efforts of Tim Herman and his group have been a complete success. Herman has already completed a great deal of renovating projects, and his efforts have already begun attracting new investors. Herman’s work has allowed for the organization of other investors to focus on a single project at a time, allowing for increased cooperation between groups with similar aims. It will only be through the efforts of people like Herman that Flint will finally repair itself.