Michael Boettcher Email & Phone Number

Detroit, Mi, Us

Detroit Metropolitan Area

Act as Planning, Zoning and Downtown Development Authority Administrator; perform Site Plan and Zoning Review; interface with residents, business owners, local governments, and developers regularly; and draft zoning amendments (including managing one ongoing full Zoning Ordinance rewrite so far) for communities across Metropolitan Detroit.

Detroit, Michigan, United States

I create and lead tours of Detroit landmarks, historic sites, development sites, and important public spaces for City Tour Detroit, Pure Detroit, Detroit History Tours, and private clients. I began as a freelance and volunteer tour guide with non-profit Preservation Detroit in the 1990s. In 2013 I helped assemble a tour program for Pure Detroit at and from the Guardian and Fisher Buildings. My tours have showed thousands of people from over 60 countries some of the best Detroit has to offer, attracting the attention of Lonely Planet, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post along the way. Tours I've written and conducted in regular rotation include: "the Skyscraper Tour", showcasing Detroit's architectural greatest hits;"Corrado Parducci", featuring the amazing work of America's premier architectural sculptor;"Woodward Avenue", a stroll up Detroit's famed main shopping street;"Detroit Historic Pride", uncovering Detroit's vital but forgotten early LGBT history downtown;"the Packard Plant" (as part of a Pure Detroit team), revealing the deep history and architectural innovation of an automotive history gem; and"Detroit's Origin Story", recounting the difficult first century or so of Detroit's history.Other custom tours I've created include:"Detroit's Chinatown", for the Wayne State University China Institute;"Detroit By Bus", for the American Association of School Librarians;"Detroit Architecture 101" for the Michigan State University English Language Institute;"Cass Park", for the City of Detroit Historic Designation Advisory Board;"Social Justice In Detroit" for Netroots Nation; "Detroit Design", for the Air & Waste Management Association; and "Detroit: Here, There and On the Way Back", for the Michigan Association of Planning.This is a real passion for me. I've created and conducted other tours for senior groups, conferences, family reunions, non-profit organizations and more, and I will have new content for you in 2024.

Detroit Metropolitan Area

Conducted residential and retail market analysis and prepared demand-projection reports for municipal, developer and downtown development agency clients.

Detroit, Michigan, United States

I assisted in vetting and approving construction and public service activities proposed by Wayne County communities, to be funded by County-administered HUD dollars. I ensured procurement, labor and other compliance during the course of those activities; and reported to HUD on accomplishments once complete. My first major task was writing the 2019 annual CAPER accomplishment report to HUD and in 2021, I coordinated the creation and submission of a new five-year Consolidated Plan to guide long-term HUD CDBG, HOME and ESG funding in Wayne County.

Mount Clemens, Michigan, United States

I administered CDBG and HOME-funded community development programs throughout Macomb County. I conducted environmental and Davis-Bacon compliance reviews for housing rehabilitation, public service and public infrastructure projects. I was also the Community Development Division's representative for the Green Macomb initiative.

Greater Detroit Area

I create web and social media content regarding Detroit history, architecture and current events for Model D Media, Metromode Media and others on an intermittent freelance basis. I've suspended my other consulting activities, a few highlights of which are described below, after returning to W-2 employment in 2015.For the Detroit Works Project Long Term Planning initiative (now Detroit Future City), I facilitated community conversations with resident and constituent groups across Detroit, conducted Spanish translation and drafted planning-related website content.I assisted private clients in analyzing Detroit residential markets for Neighborhood Stabilization Program applications. I've researched development incentives to calculate the economic viability of proposed projects in Detroit and represented an out-of-state development partnership in meetings with local officials and funding agencies. I researched best practices to model in creating new Detroit-area programs to attract immigrants as a means of economic development, for a client study. And I've provided pro bono graphic design services to historic preservation advocacy organization Preservation Detroit.

Greater Detroit Area

The nonprofit PDBA has accomplished a lot in the few years since it took over downtown redevelopment from the defunct Pontiac Downtown Development Authority. As the PDBA's first employee, I helped direct the increasing momentum toward Downtown Pontiac's revitalization. Working with the Board of Directors, several standing committees and Main Street Oakland County, we implemented a new parking management system and began developing a business attraction strategy to lure new retailers, restaurants and other businesses to Downtown Pontiac in the coming years, among other exciting efforts.

Greater Detroit Area

I coordinated the activities of the Regional Elder Mobility Alliance (REMA) consortium of nonprofit organizations that came together to improve senior transportation in Metro Detroit. Under TRU auspices, I managed REMA's Senior Mobility Outreach Project, launched to foster support for regional rapid transit among the region's seniors, Baby Boomers and caregivers. I represented TRU at partnerships such as the Woodward Avenue Action Association's Complete Streets Committee and participated in numerous public advocacy campaigns to increase regional support for rapid transit in Metro Detroit.I oversaw TRU's digital accounting system and tracked individual and corporate donor campaigns, improving databases for more accurate financial and donation reporting.

Detroit, Michigan, United States

I helped transition UNI's Community Development functions to a building we were donated in 2010, while working to purchase and begin rehabbing another structure into UNI office space and a new community center for our neighborhood. I also assisted with traffic calming measures and pedestrian enhancements, shepherded two park construction projects through the process, and participated in community planning initiatives including the Detroit Works Project's Southwest Detroit Demonstration Area pilot project.

Working with historic East Downtown Dearborn's 200 diverse businesses and several hundred residents, I set up the EDDDA's first office; created policies, procedures, newsletters, e-blasts and a website; recruited staff, Board members and volunteers; helped attract new development, businesses and customers; and brought media attention to the district for the first time in years. In fact I first lured Artspace to explore project development in East Downtown Dearborn, and that exploration became the $16.5 million City Hall Artspace Lofts project.

Detroit, Michigan, United States

I started as an Economic Development Project Manager, assisting City property sales and project approvals. I was then assigned to Engineering and cleared half a seven year backlog of work in 13 months. That got me a promotion to Planning, where I did long-range work focusing on SW Detroit and transportation policy. With the Advance (long-range) Planning team, I also supervised two planners in drafting the City's existing Master Plan of Policies.

Greater Detroit Area

I worked for Thompson Associates, a retail site selection research firm which was later purchased by MapInfo, a major GIS provider. As Research Assistant, I suppported the retail team with market, competitor and demographic research and map creation for Thompson's retail clients.

I overhauled and maintained the Metro Detroit office's commercial real estate database and provided market and demographic data for the company's brokerage team. It was known as CB Commercial at the time.