In the spring of 2025, the corner of Rosa Parks Boulevard and West Canfield Street in Detroit's Woodbridge neighborhood was a groundbreaking ceremony on an empty piece of a former school site. Now there's a four-story building, and people are applying to live in it.
Woodbridge Neighborhood Development, Cinnaire Solutions, the city of Detroit and community partners celebrated the ribbon-cutting of Canfield Parks Apartments on Oct. 14. According to the city's announcement, the $25.8 million development at 4401 Rosa Parks Blvd. adds 60 affordable homes to one of Detroit's historic neighborhoods.
During construction, the project was called 4401 Rosa Parks Apartments. Ground was broken in May 2025, according to the city's groundbreaking announcement, so the building went from shovels to ribbon in about 17 months.
What's in the building
Canfield Parks has 40 one-bedroom and 20 two-bedroom apartments. The city says the units are energy-efficient, with in-unit washers and dryers and accessible, ADA-compliant options. The building also has a community room, green gathering spaces, a corner plaza and ground-floor commercial space along Rosa Parks Boulevard. Applications are being taken now for the income-based apartments. When the project broke ground, the developers also planned a new playground and a MoGo bike share station on the site.
The site has a bigger future. Canfield Parks is the first phase of a multi-phase redevelopment of the former Wilbur Wright School/Detroit School of Arts site, and the first project built west of Rosa Parks Boulevard under a resident-led plan for Woodbridge focused on keeping the neighborhood affordable, connected and true to its character.
"Canfield Parks is the cornerstone of a resident-led plan to preserve affordability, promote connectivity and protect the neighborhood's sense of place," said Jai Singletary, executive director of Woodbridge Neighborhood Development.
Woodbridge has a lot of history to protect. Located about two miles from downtown, it was largely established in the 1870s, the city noted at the groundbreaking. It is known for its late 19th and early 20th century homes, and was designated a historic district in 1980.
The financing
The city describes a layered package, which is about the only way a building like this gets done:
- 9% and 4% Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and gap financing from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority.
- HOME funds from the city of Detroit.
- A grant from the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority.
- Equity investment from Cinnaire.
- Project-based vouchers from the Detroit Housing Commission.
- Construction and permanent financing from Independent Bank.
"No single organization or funding source could make a development like this possible," said Yulonda Byrd, vice president and Detroit market lead for Cinnaire.
Mayor Mary Sheffield said the building "brings 60 new affordable homes to Woodbridge while advancing a community-driven vision for neighborhood revitalization." Julie Schneider, director of the city's Housing & Revitalization Department, said it shows what's possible "when residents help shape their neighborhood's future."
MSHDA CEO Amy Hovey said turning vacant property into new housing "creates opportunities for residents to put down roots." Independent Bank, which provided construction and permanent loans, was also an investor in the project, according to the city's groundbreaking announcement.
Neither city announcement names the general contractor, and none is public in the project materials we found. A 2024 environmental mitigation plan posted by the city does assign the general contractor some specific site duties, including installing an active sub-slab depressurization system to deal with vapor intrusion and building a stormwater pond on the northwest part of the site.
Why it matters for Contractors
Canfield Parks shows the kind of job that keeps coming in Detroit's neighborhoods: a four-story, 60-unit affordable building on a former school site, financed with a stack of tax credits, grants, vouchers and bank loans. Work like this includes environmental pieces, such as vapor mitigation and stormwater management, on top of the usual concrete, structural, roofing, MEP and finish packages, and it comes with the reporting that public money requires. Because this is only phase one of the old Detroit School of Arts site, more construction is likely on the same ground. Contractors who want to be part of the next phases should keep an eye on Woodbridge Neighborhood Development and Cinnaire Solutions, which have shown they can assemble the financing to get these projects built.