Detroit Construction, Development, and Design Summit

Wed Sep 16, 2026

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Detroit Construction, Development, and Design Summit

Capital, civic engagement, and new projects in the Sheffield Era

Wednesday September 16 2026 @ 8:00 AM EDT

$100.00

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Speakers and Panels

H. Luke Shaefer, PhD

H. Luke Shaefer, PhD is the City of Detroit’s first Chief Executive of Health, Human Services, and Poverty Solutions, overseeing the City’s Health Department, Office of Immigrant Affairs and Economic Inclusion, new Department of Human, Homeless and Family Services, and leading the city-wide childhood poverty reduction strategy. He is on academic leave from the University of Michigan, Ford School of Public Policy, where he is the Hermann & Amalie Kohn Professor of Social Policy. From 2016 – 2026, Shaefer served as the founding director of U-M Poverty Solutions, a presidential initiative that partners with policymakers and communities to find new ways to prevent and alleviate poverty. Shaefer has presented at the White House and has testified before Congress on multiple occasions. His research has been published in top academic journals, has been featured in media outlets such as the Washington Post, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal, and he has appeared on programs such as PBS NewsHour. Shaefer’s co-authored book, $2.00 a Day, was named one of 100 Notable Books of 2015 by the New York Times. His co-authored book, The Injustice of Place, received the Lester Award in labor economics given by Princeton University’s Industrial Relations Section. The New York Times and Time have credited Shaefer’s co-authored research as one of the driving forces behind the expanded Child Tax Credit of 2021 that led to a historic decline in child poverty. Shaefer is the co-founder of Rx Kids, the nation’s first community-wide prenatal and infant cash prescription program launched in Flint, Michigan in 2024 and now active in more than 40 rural and urban communities across Michigan including Detroit. He received his PhD from the University of Chicago, School of Social Service Administration and is a recipient of an Andrew Carnegie Fellowship.

City of Detroit

Chief Executive, Health, Human Services, and Poverty

Keynote

H. Luke Shaefer, PhD

Chief Executive, Health, Human Services, and Poverty, City of Detroit

Matthew Temkin

Co-Founder, Greatwater

Zarah Karapetyan-Broglin

VP Construction, Olympia

LaJuan Counts

Senior Director, Design & Construction Services, Wayne State University

Trae Allman

Principal and Co-Founder, Innovo Development Group

How You'll Do More Business

Detroit just turned a corner. After 12 years of Mike Duggan, Mayor Mary Sheffield was sworn in on January 1, 2026 as the city's first woman mayor — winning 77% of the vote and signaling a new chapter focused on neighborhoods, affordable housing, and economic dignity. At the same moment, GM officially moved into Hudson's Detroit, the JW Marriott is rising on the riverfront, the District Detroit's UMCI campus is breaking ground on its residential tower, and a Bedrock-led $1.6B redevelopment of the Renaissance Center is in the planning phase.

Detroit's CRE story has never been more in motion. Bisnow's Detroit Construction & Development event convenes the developers, owners, capital partners, public officials, and design and construction leaders building the next chapter — downtown, in the District, in the neighborhoods, and across the metro.

What We'll Explore

The Sheffield Era
- Detroit's first woman mayor, a 'Rise Higher' platform, and what her affordable-housing and neighborhood-investment priorities mean for the development pipeline
Beyond Downtown
- Sheffield's signature commitment to push redevelopment into the middle neighborhoods — and what capital, partners, and policies it will take to actually deliver
Hudson's, the RenCen, and What's Next from Bedrock
- GM's move-in, the Edition Hotel, the $1.6B RenCen plan, and Bedrock's downsized life-sciences pivot at I-375
The District Detroit, Phase II
- Olympia + Related's revived plan: UMCI ($250M, 2027), the 313-unit student/faculty residential tower, Henry Street Apartments, two new hotels
The 2026 Hospitality Pipeline
- JW Marriott Water Square (600 keys), Detroit EDITION at Hudson's, NoMad at Michigan Central, Little Caesars Arena Hotel — 1,200+ rooms coming online
Capital, Incentives, and Brownfield Politics
- Transformational Brownfield Plans, MSF awards, and the political conversation around incentives that Sheffield is now stewarding
Closing the Capital Gap for Black, Women, and Neighborhood Developers
- How Cinnaire's WE Build, Capital Impact / EDI, JPMorgan Chase's Empowering Change cohort, and the Detroit Development Fund are scaling the next generation
Healthcare and Higher Ed CRE
- Henry Ford's $1.2B 'Destination: Grand,' UMCI's robotics and manufacturing focus, and what institutional users are doing to the demand picture

How You'll Do More Business

Detroit's most active developers, owners, and capital partners will be in one room — the people actually closing deals on Hudson's-, District-, riverfront-, and neighborhood-scale projects. Whether you're underwriting your next acquisition, sourcing capital for a project, evaluating a market entry, or building your network in Detroit's new political era, this is the morning that puts the right people at the same table.

Why You Should Attend This Program:

Bisnow events convene the biggest power players in the industry to help you grow your business across a complex market. With engaging discussions, exclusive networking opportunities, and the largest and most equipped audience in the field, Bisnow’s unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities of the market makes attendance a value add for any CRE professional.

Questions about your ticket purchase or interested in sponsoring?

Reach out to customerservice@bisnow.com for customer support. For questions, recommendations, comments or press inquiries please email our Chicago event producer Will Follett at will.follett@bisnow.com. To request disability-related accommodations, please contact janet.fernandez@bisnow.com no later than seven business days prior to the event.

Agenda

Time	Activity
8:00 AM 9:00 AM	Breakfast and Networking
9:00 AM 9:15 AM	Opening Keynote: Luke Shaefer: Chief Executive, Health, Human Services, and Poverty, City of Detroit
9:15 AM 10:00 AM	The Sheffield Era — Capital, Policy, and the Next Chapter for Detroit A new mayor, a new platform, a transition team stacked with foundation and CRE leaders, and a city budget that codifies "rise higher" priorities. What does Sheffield's first year mean for what gets built, financed, and incentivized in 2026 and 2027 — and how does the development community work with this administration?
10:00 AM 10:45 AM	Building Detroit — The Pipeline, the Deals, and What's Next The developers, owners, and capital partners delivering the city's signature projects — and the rising firms expanding the definition of who builds Detroit.
10:45 AM 11:00 AM	Closing Networking

Want to get a recap of everything covered at the event?

Purchase the post-event summary and get the highlights sent to you in a post-event summary. Purchase here.

Call:	202-684-2034
Email:	eventregistration@bisnow.com