LANSING — A $100,000 grant for a manufacturing business incubator at Lawrence Technological University and a $10 million loan to the city of Detroit for the demolition of Joe Louis Arena were among the business expansion and community development projects approved Tuesday by the Michigan Strategic Fund board in its final meeting of 2018.
The $100,000 grant will help LTU and the city of Southfield open the Centrepolis Accelerator, a 6,300-square-foot incubator for manufacturing companies that is to include a product development, prototyping, and innovation laboratory, as well as office, conference, and event space. More at Crain’s Detroit Business.
The MSF also approved $544,613 in Business Incubator Gateway Grants to the Central Michigan University Research Corp., Lansing Economic Area Partnership, Macomb-Oakland University Incubator, Muskegon Innovation Hub, Midland Tomorrow, and the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine; $326,600 in Business Incubator Grants to the Innovation Marquette Enterprise Corp., the Michigan Tech Enterprise Corp., Lenawee Now, and Lakeshore Advantage; $120,000 in Business Incubator Gateway Grants to the Oakland University Incubator and the Economic Development Alliance of St. Clair County; and $40,000 to Lake Superior State University.
The Joe Louis demolition will be financed by a $10 million, 20-year loan to the city, which will be reimbursed by the Detroit Brownfield Redevelopment Authority, which was given authority to recapture $13.2 million in future property tax revenues from redevelopment of the nine-acre site. State officials said estimates are that up to $150 million worth of redevelopment could take place on the prime waterfront land.
Other economic development projects funded by the MSF board Tuesday included:
* Waupaca Foundry Inc., a Waupaca, Wis.-based subsidiary of Tokyo, Japan-based Hitachi Metals Group, received a $1.2 million Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant to support a $4.3 million new metal castings processing center in Ironwood. The 50,000-square-foot plant will create 61 jobs. State officials said Michigan was chosen over competing sites in Arkansas and Wisconsin. The city of Ironwood is considering a 12-year property tax abatement valued at $375,000 in support of the project. Individuals interested in careers with Waupaca should visit https://www.waupacafoundry.com/en/careers.
* Cooper-Standard Automotive Inc. received a $1.3 million Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant to support a $15.2 million relocation and expansion of its headquarters to Northville Township, which will create 130 jobs. The headquarters is now in Novi. The company manufactures rubber and plastic sealing, fuel and brake lines, fluid transfer hoses and anti-vibration systems. Northville Township plans to provide expedited reviews and permitting in support of the project. For information on careers with Cooper-Standard, visit https://www.cooperstandard.com/careers.
* MyLocker LLC received a $2.5 million Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant to support an $18 million three-story production plant at 1641 Porter St. in Detroit that will create 452 jobs. State officials said Michigan was chosen over sites in Nevada and Ohio. MyLocker is an online market of custom apparel and home goods that has developed proprietary software that provides automation from start to finish of the product customization process. The company’s first product was a blanket with polar fleece on one side and water-resistant fabric on the other. Eventually personalization options were added for this product, and in 2005 MyLocker began building online stores with an integrated design-production-delivery system. The company offers custom integration for online merchants.The Detroit Economic Growth Corporation anticipates approval of a property tax abatement in support of the project. For information on careers with MyLocker, visit this link. In addition, MSF approved a construction loan in the amount of $4.2 million through its SSBCI Loan Participation Program in support of the project. The loan is necessary to make the demolition of an existing building and construction of the new plant possible. Invest Detroit is working with MyLocker Properties, LLC to provide new financing to both the holding and operating companies.
* 600 E Michigan-Lansing LLC received a $1.5 million Michigan Community Revitalization Program performance-based grant to support a $41.5 million project to redevelop 4.2 acres of contaminated property across from the Cooley Law School Stadium on the 600 block of East Michigan Avenue in downtown Lansing into the Capital City Market. The project will include the demolition of the existing structures and construction of a four-story, mixed-use building that will include an urban grocery market, 36 market-rate residential units and a hotel. The urban market will be leased to Meijer and will be designed with an open-air atmosphere with fresh and frozen food options, a coffee shop, and healthy grab-and-go items. The hotel space will consist of 120 units, a lobby bar and a restaurant. The project is expected to create 25 full-time equivalent jobs, and will provide much-needed, affordable, healthy food options to the residents, increase daytime and evening foot traffic, and bring increased economic activity to the nearby businesses. In addition, the Lansing Brownfield Redevelopment Authority received MSF approval of $5,908,518 in local and school tax capture to be used to alleviate brownfield conditions at the site and prepare it for redevelopment. The project is expected to be completed in fall 2021. View a video on the Capital City Market project here.
* The Grand Rapids Brownfield Redevelopment Authority received MSF approval of $2,131,741 in local and school tax capture for the 10 Ionia NW redevelopment project in downtown Grand Rapids. The project includes the construction of a new 13-story mixed-use building on a small surface parking lot that when completed, will include a 146-room Marriott Residence Inn and office and retail space on the ground floor. The project will also improve the publicly owned and maintained sidewalk around the property. The project is expected to generate a total capital investment of $37 million and create 51 full-time equivalent jobs and will bring much-needed hotel space to the city and increased economic activity in the area. The tax capture will be used to alleviate brownfield conditions at the site, making it suitable for redevelopment.
* Quality Roasting LLC received an inducement resolution for the issuance of $10 million in private activity bonds to acquire land, build a manufacturing plant, and acquire and install machinery and equipment in the village of Reese in Tuscola County. Quality Roasting, a processor of soybeans into soybean meal and oil, expects to create eight jobs as a result of the project.
For more information on the MEDC and its initiatives, visit www.MichiganBusiness.org.
This story was published by ESD’s Technology Century.
