Cooperation will be key in transforming Jos. Campau

One of Hamtramck’s most prominent commercial property owners has come under scrutiny in the past couple of weeks.
A report in the online publication Mlive.com has stirred up a hornet’s nest, to say the least.
We’re not going to get into the details of the report or name the property owner in question, but the report raised a number of worthy points.
The biggest issue it raised was: what to do with a person who stubbornly holds out from leasing his many Jos. Campau storefronts?
One thing we have learned over the years is not to gang up on this person. The property owner has his own, let’s say peculiar, business plan and what type of business is desired.
Whatever the merits of this business plan, one thing is obvious: many of the properties have remained vacant for years.
Community leaders and residents were quoted in the report saying that the empty storefronts have resulted in Jos. Campau looking like a ghost town. It also has the effect, they said, of turning off potential businesses from locating here because it appears the city is going belly-up.
It is a frustrating situation to say the lease, err, least.
There is one bright spot in all this. City Manager Katrina Powell has added a city planner.
We think there could be a powerful combination in the works to begin working with the property owner in question and coming up with a new vision of filling those empty spaces that vex so many in this community.
This is certainly going to test the mettle of Powell.
We wish the spirit of cooperation to work its magic in the community and move things forward.