Adding a median to Gratiot Avenue, repurposing abandoned schools and creating a micro-commercial district are ideas being explored for the revitalization of Detroit's Seven Mile and Gratiot area.

The neighborhood is being targeted for rehab by the city's Strategic Neighborhood Fund. Fifth Third Bancorp officials said Friday they are funneling $5 million into the SNF and Affordable Housing Leverage Fund. The investment is part of the $35 million committed by seven corporations last year.

"The further we move from downtown, the more people believe this resurgence is gonna bring everyone along," Maurice Cox, the city's planning director, told Crain's.

Cincinnati-based Fifth Third's partnership with the eastside neighborhood follows Troy-based Flagstar Bancorp's decision to focus its $5 million promise on the Old Redford neighborhood on the west side of Detroit. Revitalizing the Seven Mile and Gratiot corridor presents a unique set of challenges for the city and partners. The area is home to several strip malls and supermarkets but has also suffered from population loss and abandonment. Eight miles from the city center, the corridor is far from the sphere of downtown and Midtown resurgence and lacks the institutional anchors found in northwest Detroit.

"When you get further and further away from downtown, you don't have the traditional assets," Cox said. "Churches, libraries and schools are the most iconic buildings in these neighborhoods."

Like with its other targeted neighborhoods, the city issued an RFP for a blueprint of Seven Mile and Gratiot's rehab, which will take around six months to complete. During that time, the city and neighborhoods clubs will host community meetings for feedback from residents.

"The two biggest issues are always blight and crime," George Preston, president of the block club Mohican Regent Residents Association, told Crain's. "We can do something about crime just by being visible, but there are a number of eyesores we need help cleaning up."

Cox said the city will offer a few different plans for residents' consideration. One priority is making Gratiot safer. As it is now, irregularly wide and a haven for speeders, it is far from pedestrian-friendly. The city is looking north of Eight Mile, where the avenue is divided by a median, for possible answers. There are also plans for creating a walkable "micro district" on Seven Mile or Gratiot, and converting vacant property into greenspace.

The city's rehab focus was initially on the Livernois-McNichols, Southwest Detroit and Islandview/Villages neighborhoods before expanding to Seven Mile and Gratiot, Grand River Northwest, Jefferson Chalmers, Russell Woods, Banglatown, Warrendale/Cody-Rouge and East Warren.

The strategic neighborhood fund, managed through Invest Detroit, funds community-driven projects in four specific areas — park improvements, streetscape improvements, commercial corridor development and affordable single-family home stabilization. AHLF, managed through Local Initiatives Support Corporation Detroit, is a tool to support the creation and maintenance of affordable housing in neighborhoods throughout Detroit.

In addition to Fifth Third and Flagstar, the other companies that committed $5 million each are Chemical Bank, Huntington Bank, Blue Cross Blue Shield, American Axle and Penske Corp. The city says it is aiming to pair the companies with its other targeted neighborhoods, and it is hosting community meetings for input from residents.

As with the other SNF neighborhoods, Cox said it is important to protect the character of each one.

"The individual personality of a neighborhood as to be the anchor of recovery," he said. "We have to get together with residents and find out what that unique Gratiot-Seven Mile vibe is."