Reaction: RenCen Going Non-Profit with $1 Billion Gilbert Gift

Dan Gilbert just made a massive $1 billion announcement about the future of the Renaissance Center,  giving $1 billion to convert and run the massive RenCen redevelopment through a 501(c)(4) non-profit.

That means no tax write-off for the owner of Rocket and the Cleveland Cavaliers, but a huge shift in how this cornerstone project will be developed and funded over the next 30 years — and maybe, perceptions of it.

In this special edition of Daily Detroit, we break down what this non-profit model actually might mean for the city.

We talk about:

Public Money vs. Private Donation: Why Brownfield tax credits and City Council approval are still on the table despite the $1B gift

The Shift Away from Corporate Space: How converting the RenCen into public space, residential units, and hotels opens up the riverfront for the broader community

The Income Tax Reality: Why Detroit’s development strategy is doubling down on job creation and income tax over property tax

Billionaire Philanthropy & Legacy: Is this Gilbert’s version of a Carnegie move, and does it set a new precedent for major urban developments?  

Got thoughts on the RenCen plans? Let us know for our upcoming mailbag episode! Email us at dailydetroit@gmail.com or call 313-789-3211.

01:21 Dan Gilbert's $1 Billion RenCen Non-Profit Announcement
03:58 Nonprofit makes sense, considering the financials
05:12 Community inclusion & Civic leadership reactions
07:26 Shifting needs from offices pace to housing
09:40 How affordable housing regulations work & Metro area metrics
10:18 Role of 501(c)(4) Non-Profits in advocacy
11:15 Billionaire Philanthropic Models & Legacy Building
15:23 Economic Projections of Jobs, Visitor Spending & Growth
17:15 Preserving History vs. Embracing Detroit's Urban Progress
19:13 Tax Base Comparisons & Long-Term Community Impact
22:04 Looking Ahead to 2036 & Episode Wrap-Up

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Hello friends and welcome to your Daily Detroit, a very special edition from Monday, October 19th, 2026. I'm Jer Staes coming to you from our studio at TechTown. To kick off this edition talking about a massive change in the Renaissance Center project,

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two astute individuals: to my left, it's been a while, but producer Shianne Nocerini, how are you? - I'm great, Jer. How are you? - Welcome back to the microphone. It's so good to see you. - I know, it's... people are back in school now, so I have a little bit more freedom.

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- And we're going to be talking about some public policy, and you love policy. - I love policy. - People forget that's your minor, actually. It's part of the reason you're here. Also, excellent editor and keeps all the trains running on time. And then to my right is none other than the Prince of Brightmoor himself,

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coming from the West Side, actually sitting on the West Side of the table this time, Norris Howard, how are you? - What's going on, everybody? The West Side has returned once again. Happy to be here to start off another fantastic week. - So there's really only one topic we can talk about today, right, guys? - Pretty much. - Yep.

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- Dan Gilbert... I went to the press announcement this morning. Dan Gilbert through Jared Fleisher at Bedrock said that they're going to give a billion dollars to a non-profit and basically set up a non-profit to run and develop the Renaissance Center project. Now, the project itself will still be larger than a billion dollars.

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There clearly will still be public moneys involved. - Yep. - But this is a massive change for this to be a donation, and it's going to be to a 501(c)(4), which means it will not be a tax write-off. - Nope. - The reactions online have been intense.

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My own feeling in the room... I thought maybe we'd get an announcement of a movie theater or something, you know? There'd be something, you know. I knew it was an announcement, I didn't expect this turn. And Norris Howard, I feel like this is the kind of thing that sounds like they're listening to some of the community concerns out there.

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- I think they're listening to some, you know? I think it's important that we recognize, number one, that this does not sort of write away all of the tax incentives that are written into this current plan. There still has to be community approval for the plan, City Council still has to approve the Brownfield tax credits,

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there's still some public, as you said earlier, there's still some public money left on the table. However, with that part said, this does drastically change the outlay of the project. Throwing a billion dollars of your own money into the project echoes a lot of what we've heard from many, many community organizers,

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what we've heard from many people both at a local and national level when it comes to billionaires and how the billionaires are using their funds. And this, I think, is emblematic of a person who has listened somewhat. Now, I think there are still going to be people who are upset about the concept of the project to begin with, right?

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Who are just upset at the idea that the buildings are coming down. And let me just sort of preface this: it is a privately owned building. It is not publicly owned. The only thing the public has input on is how much money they're going to get in tax credits.

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That's it. But if they decide that the buildings are coming down, the buildings are coming down. - I think it is an interesting turning point because of the fact that this project, the pro formas, everything we talked about—we spent 40 minutes on the show—that this is a project that wasn't going to make any money.

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It feels like this is... if the project in fact is not going to make any money, I feel like this is actually a very logical step. It almost makes the riverfront a platform for future development. - I think with this turn of it becoming a non-profit,

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it takes that sting partially away. I'm not going to say everybody's going to be pleased, because I don't think that... there are always going to be people who are unhappy with this development. - Of course. - But obviously, when they said "this isn't going to make us any money,"

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well, now that they've turned it into a non-profit, it's really not going to make any money. - Exactly. For heretofore. - Right, it specifically will not be. - And by definition, it will be like minus $1 billion on the line, right? - Right. - Because that's not going to be recouped. Now, this is over 30 years, as far as making sure things are funded.

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There would be a non-profit that people included are Bill Emerson, former CEO, Reverend Wendell Anthony—Reverend Dr. Wendell Anthony, let me make sure I get all the honorifics, let's get it right—and he made an interesting point, Norris Howard, at the press conference, saying that he echoed Coleman Young and used Coleman Young's words,

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talking about how Detroit is a city for everyone from the riverfront to 8 Mile, and that nobody should feel like they're not included, especially when you've got this cornerstone of the riverfront that's basically no longer like a corporate identity.

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- Yeah, I think it's going to be really interesting, and I think that's sort of, I would say, the blind spot that I feel a lot of the naysayers have had. Taking my personal feelings out of any of this whole conversation, at the end of the day, it has sat as a corporate headquarters for the better part of 20-some odd years, right?

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- And even before that... - Even before that, it was a series of corporate offices. So, for the better part of the Renaissance Center's existence, it has sat as a fortress of the corporate state, so to speak, right? To now have it be converted into halfway public space,

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some residential, a little bit of office, and still keeping the hotel, essentially does open it up for more public opportunity. Now, do I think that there could have been better ways they went about it? Yes. But ultimately, ultimately, would I rather—and what many of the people in the city of Detroit rather—a giant albatross that is an empty building,

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a multi-billion dollar building that no one is using, or a space that can at least be utilized by the greater community? I think people in time will begin to see that they would prefer a community space. We've already seen how much people love the riverfront. Every time you see people talking to their friends from out of town,

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bringing people to the city, talking about some of their favorite parts of the city, the riverfront is a major part of that. And to see that get even further investment, I think over time will begin to ease some of the hurt that we see right now. But I'll say, and maybe people will be mad at me for saying this,

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but if your only argument is about if the buildings stay up or not—if you're not one of the people talking about the affordable housing conversation, talking about the equity in terms of the development, that's a real conversation to be had. If your only conversation is on if the buildings stay up or not, I don't have time for that, because you don't own them.

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I don't own them. None of us own them. - And the world has changed. This is an indicator to me, and I've gone back and forth with listeners about this, I have had to realize that the world has fundamentally changed. There will never be the need for office space like there was that we knew.

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- Right. - And as part of that, the way that the city will benefit from this... Mayor Sheffield talked about $300 million or so—you can look into the documents, but around $300 million in revenues for the city for this project. This will be a non-profit, which means that's not coming from property taxes.

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This is a double down on the income tax and the idea that there's going to be thousands of jobs—more than 2,000—that will be permanently created, as well as a number to construction jobs. - Of construction jobs. - This is a bet, and I think this is a fundamental understanding that everyone needs to get about Detroit,

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is that we are dependent on the income tax. The property tax... this is a non-profit, this is going off the rolls. - Mm-hmm. - And so that really tells me about the future of development in a lot of ways, for me. - Yeah, I mean, I think it is telling. And I think one of the biggest things that continues to be at the forefront of a lot of people's minds,

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beyond the tax conversation—because I do think that that's a very important conversation—but I think also, and I just want to set the record straight on this, is the conversation of kind of what people want to do in the future with development, specifically talking about housing. And as I've said to many times to people, downtown Detroit is nowhere near full.

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- No. - Downtown Detroit is not full, right? So, obviously people want more and more and more housing, but we haven't even filled up the housing that we currently have downtown. And we could talk about pricing, we could talk about all that, that's a different conversation. But at the end of the day,

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there was not going to be this massive over-investment where 80% of the development was going to be housing, because the demand has not shown that they need to build that much. Now, the last thing I'll say, and this is another thing I want to just clear up because there's a knowledge gap here:

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the city and the state do not set the prices for affordable housing, right? I'm not caping for Bedrock or for Dan Gilbert or none of that. I'm just trying to explain to everyone: the federal government sets the prices for affordable housing based on your metro. Is that unfair? Yes.

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Can we change it? Sure, but we need to change it at the federal level. I don't think that's going to be happening with this administration. - No, but I do think as I think about the impacts of this thing, and the idea that there will be a non-profit—a 501(c)(4), meaning that it's a social welfare organization—which also means it can deal with politics to an extent.

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Now, I actually understand why this would be, because when it comes to a project like this, you have to deal with so many layers of government that a normal non-profit would not, right? 'Cause Norris, you used to work in the non-profit sector. - I have, and a C4 does free them up to be able to support different ballot initiatives and causes.

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They cannot directly endorse candidates, but what they can do is begin to push forward and support legislation that either would help fund the 501(c)(4) or forward maybe more affordable housing within the development, or aid with construction, so on and so forth. - Also, some could argue that for them to be able to lobby for themselves

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in this process, dealing with Brownfield tax credits from the state and things like that, they would need to be a 501(c)(4) so that they actually would be able to lobby for themselves. - Yes, absolutely, and be able to employ someone as a liaison specifically with the city, state, and federal government. - Now, a billion dollars is a huge amount of money,

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and I think I'm still kind of in shock around it a little bit that this is... and I wonder, is this the beginning of a number of things? There was an episode a couple of years ago, me and Devon O'Reilly, I think you remember it, when we were up at Mackinac, talking about like the targeted areas that Dan Gilbert is going to give in.

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One of those target areas has been stroke care, right? And the medical center stuff. One area has been relief for homeowners and foreclosure relief. Another has been making sure that Detroit Public School kids could get their transcripts, 'cause the district had so many logistical issues that graduates couldn't get their school transcripts.

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- Oh, trust me, I went through that myself, and no, it was not easy. - So, is this a better way for a billionaire to act? Does this change the calculation for people, maybe in this one instance, because right now the narrative is "I hate the billionaires."

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- I mean, there is no ethical... right? Like, a billionaire is a billionaire, and so when you have somebody with so much money not doing anything—there are people who don't do anything with their billions—and then you have Dan Gilbert being like, "Okay, well, I'm going to focus it here."

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I mean, he still has $30 billion. That's still a lot of money. - But I think it makes a huge impact in the community, and I also think that we're in a system where they do exist, right? And where we're in a system that they're not going... like, I know... - Billionaires are not going to go away. - They're not going away, right? And so in reality, don't we want a situation that's a lot more philanthropic for longer-term goals

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than what we've seen from some? - Oh, listen, I'll put it this way, and I've said many times, you know, my issue with somebody like Elon Musk or my issue with somebody like Jeff Bezos is that, at least the Carnegies, as terrible and awful and racist and heinous as they may have been, at least they built libraries.

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- Right. - And universities. - At least there was some sort of thought, you know... yeah, the Carnegies, the Mellons, whatever, there was thought to some form of public good. Now, was that public good accessible to everyone? No. But there was some thought about it.

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And so when I see what's happening, there is Dan Gilbert at least thinking about what his legacy will be after he is gone from this earth. And I think that that's important when we're talking about people with such vast resources. And I think, honestly, if we're going to be perfectly clear and honest,

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we have lamented as a society consistently that we want billionaires to put more of their own money up. Put your money up, you got it, we know you got it. Sure, could Dan Gilbert fund the entire project by himself? Probably, but even in your own homes, you don't spend your entire savings on one couch.

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So, you know, it's give and take, right? But he put his money up. And for me, when I look at it, it is hard for me to then come down from on high and criticize somebody putting up a billion dollars for a project that he kind of doesn't need to do that for at this current juncture,

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and to then have the wherewithal to put it within a non-profit to say, "I don't even want to get a return on this, this is a donation, this is for the public good, you can have it, and let me continue doing stuff elsewhere." - And there's nothing to say that he's not going to put up more some other time. - Chances are he will. - Right, you know, so I do think that that is something.

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It's not just Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk creating rocket ships to go up in space for whatever reason, for a dick-measuring contest. - Stupid flying cars that nobody's ever going to be able to buy. Right? So, you know, I agree with that. And like I said, it's not that I am caping for billionaires. I don't like the concept that billionaires even really exist.

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However, they do exist, and I would like to see them do more things like this, to answer your question. - Well, not only do they exist, but even more will exist, right? That is the reality that we're heading to with the various ways that the stock market is for valuations, things like that.

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I want to make sure I get the numbers correct: developers project more than 2,700 new full-time jobs and 8,200+ construction jobs. Visitor spending is expected to exceed $3 billion over 30 years.

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I think this is something where the whole world is going to be watching what happens on this riverfront and Detroit. And having this signature of a billion dollars put up, this is nationally a huge deal. This is a kind of thing that reframes the conversation in what can be done.

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And I think it's interesting, 'cause Gilbert isn't the richest person in the world—he's up there—and he isn't the richest person in the country, but he's up there. - Yeah, he's got a lot of money, man. He's got a lot of money. - But could this be something like the Gates Pledge that helps encourage other people to do more?

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- I hope so. I hope so, right? I mean, I have no confidence in this current crop of billionaire technocrats. They have shown that they have no sort of empathy or really care about anything that's going on, particularly as we're talking about the Nvidias and Palantirs and the Googles and all that of the world.

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They haven't necessarily shown me that they have any care beyond their own bottom line. However, I hope that something like this shows that there is another way, there's a better way to use the gross amounts of wealth you've accrued in your life to better the surroundings that you decide to reside in, to better society.

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There are ways that you can do it. Now, the last thing I'll say, and what I think is really important, is that I also want us to begin to sort of reframe the conversation even about the buildings themselves, because that continues to be the biggest part of the conversation. And I remember—and Jer and Shianne, you two will remember this even more vividly than I did—

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which was the conversation about when the Hudson's building was supposed to be imploded. - The first thing that I ever covered in Detroit, that's where I started my career. - And you remember that there were factions and groups of people that said, "No, it's a historical icon, we shouldn't tear it down. I have so many memories there, the city has so many memories there. Why would we do this? This is terrible," so on and so forth.

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And look at what has happened to that space now. Now, I will also say that this doesn't seem like it'll be some hole in the ground now sit for 30 years in the same way that the Hudson site did. But I think for Detroit, and I think as we move forward into 2027 and beyond,

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I love the conversations that I'm hearing from the community about equity and about the use of our tax dollars. I love the fact that people are going to these City Council meetings, but I also want us to understand that there is a certain level of change that we should embrace. - And we shouldn't be afraid of the change. - And we shouldn't be afraid of certain types of change, right?

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I think that moving forward, seeing what is going on in the city of Detroit, we can have those conversations in real and equitable ways, but we should not be the type of people that stop progress from happening because we're really good at building progress, and I want us to get back to that.

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- I think that progress is crucial, and I think it's necessary. I mean, I look at the economic numbers for the city of Detroit, and listen, this is a regional asset in a lot of ways, because the whole state... this is the tallest building in the entire state of Michigan. - And it still will be. - And it's iconic, and everybody knows what the RenCen is, globally. - Yeah.

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- But it's a piece of crap currently. - I know! I know that! - I'm sorry, I had to say that! - I have no love lost for the RenCen, frankly. - So with 36% of Detroiters making a living wage, change is required. Yes, necessary.

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Two-thirds of city residents leave the city for work, right? So an entertainment district that helps bring more city residents to work in that district could be really helpful. All the ways of, like, whatever kinds of jobs we can get in, because at the end of the day, there is this social media conversation, this online conversation, I get in my inbox, too.

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And it's kind of frustrating, 'cause people be like, "Well, Mamdani in New York did this, and can't..." - Mamdani has a tax base of 400 billion... 400 millionaires and like 60 billionaires that he's pulling from. - 140 billionaires. - 140 billionaires. - The city of New York's budget is bigger than the entire state of Michigan.

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- And then some. - Yeah, with a lot to spare. - And so we have to realize that we are at a different path in our trajectory and what are the things that will work in the areas that we need to support. You know, there's a lot of people working very hard to make businesses, non-profits, all these other things happen, and they crucially and definitely need resources.

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And the idea that this non-profit could help be a platform to bring in $3 billion worth of resources... - Is huge. - I think it's crucial in this moment. When I talk to people out there, some of them are doing well, some of them are facing a lot of challenges, I think we need to look at it and go, take everything we can from the equity conversation,

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but also be real about where we're at as a community and understanding that change has to happen. I mean, change in any city that's alive, change is constant. - Mm-hmm. Yeah. - The city's not the same as it was 20 years ago, 30 years ago, and I was there for it. - And the thing is, I don't want it to be. I don't want it to remain the same. I want to see changes, I want to see new people,

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I want to see new businesses, I want to see new investment. And so, you know, I think the trepidation that native Detroiters, many native Detroiters have had about this project, I think are founded, I understand, 'cause listen, people are operating off what they know and what they've seen previously.

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And what they've seen previously is massive tax breaks given to another billionaire family to make the one thing they said and none of the other stuff, right? They've seen tax breaks given to other people where they do these half-built-out projects and now we've got to abandon them halfway through, right?

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So I think when people are talking about the trepidation that they have in terms of the changing demographics of downtown, in terms of the changing vibes and energy and all that, I respect all that. But at the end of the day, what I want is more people, and what I want is more jobs, and what I want is more people living in this city.

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And sometimes that is going to require a massive development, and I think this is one of those types of massive developments that we're beginning to see. - Well, it'll be a story to watch all the way through 2036. - Yeah, man, it should be interesting. It's going to take a while. And, you know, maybe I'll be old and gray by that time.

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It should be fun. - I feel like you'll be full Unc at that point. - I will be full-blown Unc. I will be full-blown Unc—Crown Royal bag and all! [laughter] - I'm going to leave it there. Thank you so much for listening to your Daily Detroit.

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I hope you enjoyed these reactions and I hope they made you think. If you've got your own thoughts, we will, of course, include them in a mailbag episode. Send them along: dailydetroit@gmail.com or 313-789-3021. With that, I'm Jer Staes. - I'm Shianne Nocerini. - And I'm Norris Howard.

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- Thank you so much for listening. Remember that you are somebody, and we'll see you around Detroit.