Two new Detroit Blight Authority project areas are to be announced Monday morning in a news conference with Bill Pulte, the nonprofit's founder and chairman. U.S. Sen. Carl Levin will join Pulte for the announcement.

The organization — which has razed large areas of blighted homes near Detroit'sdistrict and is expected to do so in Brightmoor on the city's northwest side this year — was founded last year by Pulte, the grandson offounder William J. Pulte and managing partner of

The Brightmoor area to be razed is 424 lots; the Eastern Market area demolished last year was 218 lots over 10 blocks.

During the Eastern Market pilot project, the average cost of demolishing a building was less than $5,000, roughly half the $9,500 price tag typically associated with publicly funded efforts to demolish a home in Detroit.

Pulte said nonstructural blight such as trash and debris in the 96-acre Brightmoor area has been cleared, and the 67 blighted homes are expected to be razed by the beginning of the summer.

"We want to prove that nonstructural blight removal is just as important as structural blight removal," he said.

The authority is awaiting approval from the cityto begin building demolition, Pulte said.

He declined to identify the blight authority's two new target areas.

Pulte's blight removal concept can be described as "reverse engineering," a demolition process that applies the same efficiencies used by PulteGroup in preparing sites for home building.

The organization is embarking on an ambitious five-step plan, which could cost between $500 million and $1.5 billion, to eradicate blight in Detroit, where Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr estimates there are 78,000 blighted buildings.

In May, thereceived a commitment for in-kind office space at the Dan Gilbert-owned, 719 Griswold St.

The news conference is scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday at theat the corner of Burt Road and Lyndon Street.

Kirk Pinho: (313) 446-0412, [email protected] Twitter: @kirkpinhoCDB