Hantz Farms LLC is buying 450 parcels of mostly vacant property from Detroit and the city's land bank as part of a deal to expand its urban tree nurseries on the lower east side, renovate up to 80 dilapidated homes and free up land Fiat Chrysler Automobiles needs for its Jeep assembly plant project.

Under a deal Hantz Farms has struck with Mayor Mike Duggan, Hantz will swap the city 37 parcels on Beniteau Street that are needed for stormwater retention and parking at FCA's Mack Avenue engine plants, which the automaker plans to convert into a new assembly plant.

Hantz will pay the city and Detroit Land Bank Authority 8.33 cents per square foot for the 450 parcels under a price the company negotiated with former Mayor Dave Bing's administration in 2013 for 180 acres of land that was used to establish Hantz's urban nursery, said Basil Cherian, Duggan's deputy group executive for jobs and the economy.

"This agreement also allows us to finally complete Hantz Farms, a mile square project on the east side of Detroit we have been working on for seven and a half years," John Hantz, CEO of Southfield-based Hantz Group LLC, said Tuesday in a statement.

The Hantz deal is part of Duggan's larger effort to assemble 200 acres to subsidize FCA's $2.5 billion investment in automobile manufacturing around the Mack Avenue facilities and its Jefferson North Assembly Plant that's expected to create nearly 5,000 new jobs.

The mayor's office is trying to get quick approval on the land deal from City Council by April 23 ahead of FCA's April 26 deadline for the city to acquire the land it needs to finalize the Mack Avenue project.

Duggan also is asking City Council to approve a swap of 22 land-bank-owned and three city-owned parcels with DTE Energy Co. in exchange for 40 acres at the energy company's former Conner Creek power plant site between Jefferson and the Detroit River. That deal includes giving DTE the Public Lighting Department building on 3rd Street downtown, Cherian said.

DTE has said it plans to use the remainder of the parcels scattered throughout the city to build future substations and pullout yards for parking trucks and equipment.

Hantz Farms' land purchase amounts to about $150,000 for 370 vacant parcels and up to 80 homes that need to be rehabilitated, plus the unspecified value of 37 parcels that will be transfered to FCA, Cherian said.