Benzinga | Mar 25, 2021 12:19PM EDT

Rocket Companies Chairman Dan Gilbert To Invest $500M In Detroit Neighborhoods

Dan Gilbert is giving back in a major way.

Gilbert, the Rocket Companies (NYSE:RKT) chairman and owner of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, will be investing $500 million over the next decade to help revitalize Detroit neighborhoods.

The effort is starting with a $15-million commitment by the nonprofit Gilbert Family Foundation, founded by Gilbert and his wife Jennifer, to pay off delinquent property taxes for about 20,000 Detroit families.

One-third of homes in the Motor City have been touched by property tax debt, Gilbert said at a Thursday press conference in downtown Detroit.

"This isn't just a sparse problem, it's a problem that's massive and it's contagious.

But it's not the properties we're most concerned about, it's the people who live in them, so we went to work," he said.

"Tomorrow morning will be a new start and new era for a large chunk of the city's residents who have been left behind too long."

'This Has Become Personal For Us': Of the $500-million commitment announced Thursday, the Gilbert Family Foundation will contribute $350 million and the Rocket Community Fund will commit $150 million.

The mechanism for the payments of tax debt will be the Detroit Tax Relief Fund, administered by the nonprofit Wayne Metro Community Action Agency.

Jennifer Gilbert held focus groups over the last year with Detroiters, and she said Thursday that the conversations made two things clear: Detroiters are resilient and need greater access to economic opportunity.

"This has become personal for us. We find ourselves talking about these issues as a couple and a family often. We can do better. We will do better."

Rocket Companies is the parent company of Rocket Mortgage and Quicken Loans, the nation's largest home mortgage lender. The company listed on the New York Stock Exchange in August 2020.

Gilbert founded Quicken Loans in 1985 and moved its headquarters to the city of Detroit in 2010; the company now has 24,000 employees.

See Also: Rocket Companies CEO Downplays Rising Interest Rates

Finding A Better Way: The tackling of Detroit's property tax debt crisis epitomizes one of Gilbert's "isms" that underpin the corporate culture of Rocket Companies, said CEO Jay Farner: "It's best summed up by saying we are truly obsessed with finding a better way."

Of the Detroit homeowners who are behind on their property taxes, roughly 90% should qualify for relief, said Rocket Community Fund Vice President Laura Grannemann.

Wayne County, where Detroit is located, is investing $5 million in future foreclosure prevention alongside the Gilbert Family Foundation, she said.

"Today we take one huge step toward building systems of economic justice that work for every Detroiter in our city, and I could not be prouder to be a small part of it."

FYI: Detroit homeowners who have received or are eligible for the Homeowners Property Tax Assistance Program and the Pay As You Stay program can find out more about the property tax debt relief by calling 313-244-0274 or visitng the Wayne Metro Community Action Agency website.