The airport’s acreage and infrastructure are rare and also have been attractive to companies in automotive and manufacturing sectors, said Justin Robinson, vice president of business attraction for the Detroit Regional Chamber. The administration, he said, is initiating the study to determine the best use for the airport, with a chief focus on job creation and economic impact. The last master plan for property commonly known as City Airport was conducted in the early 1990s, but Howbert said this may be the first time Detroit has broadened its scope beyond aviation. Whether it should be aviation - general or commercial - or something else, we need to understand what the options are.” “We’re going to let the facts lead us where they lead us. “You can’t continue with the status quo,” Jed Howbert, executive director of Duggan’s jobs and economy team, told The Detroit News. The city hopes to select consultants by June to analyze financial and infrastructure needs as well as aviation and non-aviation uses for the east side airport that’s been in disrepair and subsidized for years by the city’s general fund.

And the review isn’t leaving anything off the table. Young Municipal Airport, which hasn’t had regular service from a commercial airline in more than 15 years. Mayor Mike Duggan’s administration will begin seeking experts Thursday for a study it hopes will change the trajectory of the financially troubled Coleman A.

Detroit - For the first time in recent history, city officials want to consider the potential of closing Detroit’s troubled municipal airport and converting the land for other uses.

Detroit city airport lessons