City of Detroit Ends Lawsuit with Marvin Winans’ Unfinished Perfecting Church
The city of Detroit has agreed to end a lawsuit against Gospel singer Marvin Winans and his Perfecting Church in Michigan for failing to complete their 18-year-old new church project at Woodward Ave & W 7 Mile Road promptly. Now both sides have come to terms, and the lawsuit has been dropped in return for a schedule of goals and a timeline that must be met.
"Under a stipulated order of dismissal, both parties have reached a resolution which we believe will result in Perfecting Church resuming construction at their 7 Mile and Woodward Avenue location," said Detroit Corporation Counsel Conrad Mallet, Jr. "The agreement includes specific commitments from Perfecting Church to the City of Detroit regarding the timeline for construction, permitting, and financing."
An agreement has been made between the church and the city of Detroit, there is now a reasonable expectation that work on the project could begin as early as spring 2024, as long as the appropriate permits, approvals and financing for the project are secured.
Previously, a lawsuit was filed asking a judge to declare the future home of Perfecting Church at Woodward Ave & W 7 Mile Road a "nuisance." The city had asked that the church be forced to clean up the property by April 3 and complete construction or transfer the property back to the city so it can demolish the unfinished church building and sell the land.
In March of 2005, Perfecting Church bought the land for $13,000 with the expectation that the church would build a 4,200-seat auditorium for worship, a 35,000-square-foot administration building, a 1,000-space parking facility and 70 condos costing $60 million. More than 18 years after construction on that dream began, however, the property remains a symbol of blight in the community.
