NBA Hall of Famer and businessman Dave Bing builds middle-income homes

NBA Hall of Famer and businessman Dave Bing is building 40 middle-income homes and supporting the start-up of 15 charter high schools in an effort to help revitalize Detroit's north side.

Bing who is a former Detroit Pistons star and one of the most respected businessmen in Detroit told the Detroit Free Press, “Two years ago, when I decided to do this, I looked at the community and I saw the deplorable conditions of the housing stock and I said, 'People don't have to live like this. People need to dream.”

The homes which will be built next to his Bing Group headquarters will range in price from $170,000 to $200,000. Seven of the 40 homes have already been sold.

The Bing Group which is made up of 10 companies employs 1,400 and has revenues of $550 million in annual sales.

Bing who opened his first plant with a $5 million investment in 1980 expects his group of companies to reach $1 billion in sales by 2010.