$23.8M to prepare large West Michigan properties for development

$23.8M to prepare large West Michigan properties for development
Developers plan to convert a 237-acre property in Lowell Township into a commercial and industrial business park. Credit: Courtesy of The Right Place

Five sites across West Michigan have received nearly $24 million in state funding to prepare the sprawling properties for industrial and commercial redevelopment.

That includes $17.5 million to help make a 237-acre property east of Grand Rapids shovel-ready for private investment.

Covenant Business Park in Lowell Charter Township received the funding through the Michigan Economic Development Corp.’s Strategic Site Readiness Program (SSRP), which was created to prepare industrial and commercial sites across Michigan for development. The Michigan Strategic Fund Board on Tuesday morning approved the funding for the Lowell Township project, which was among 18 projects across the state that received a total of $87.5 million in grants.

The Right Place Inc., Oak Brook, Ill.-based developer Franklin Partners and Lowell Charter Township applied for the funding to further develop the parcel. The funds awarded are half of the $35 million needed to get the site shovel-ready for development. 

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“To put it simply, there are very few sites throughout Michigan with the desirability of this one,” Travis Alden, senior director of community development at The Right Place, said in a statement. “This project’s potential is only realized by MEDC’s SSRP funding, and we will see a significant return on investment for the Lowell area and the region.”

Other SSRP award recipients include sites in Muskegon Heights, Kalamazoo, Benton Harbor and Van Buren County. The 18 total sites that received grants average 200 acres in size, with the largest site being nearly 800 acres. 

The 240-acre Benton Harbor Data and Tech Park in Benton Charter Township received $3.6 million, which will help fund improvements such as extending utilities, improving transportation infrastructure and studying a drain relocation on the site. 

“Our local community and our private partners have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in this site already, and quite frankly, it hasn’t been enough,” Rob Cleveland, president and CEO of Cornerstone Alliance, said during the public comment portion of the MSF Board meeting. “It really will be transformational for our community. It’s the closest large site to the Chicago metro area.”

An 800-acre site in Hartford Township in Van Buren County will receive $467,250 from the SSRP program to assist with studying threatened endangered species in the area, wetlands and site topography, said Zach Morris, executive director for Market Van Buren, the economic development organization for Cass and Van Buren counties. 

Morris said the sprawling Hartford Township property would be ripe as the next location for a large electric vehicle-related manufacturing plant once it is development-ready.

“This site should be the next one developed,” Morris said at the meeting. “(We need the funding) to market the next large facility coming to the state of Michigan.”

The MSF Board also approved $2.1 million for the 265-acre Southwest Michigan Commerce Park that would involve extending sewer lines deeper into Comstock and Pavilion townships near Kalamazoo.

In Muskegon County, the MSF Board approved $121,200 for a 27-acre site in Muskegon Heights that could host an industrial park and “assist in reducing the poverty level in an underserved community,” according to a project description in an MEDC memo.

Crucial funding

Terri Fitzpatrick, executive vice president, chief real estate and global attraction officer for the MEDC, said the SSRP is important because site location and talent continue to be the top priorities in the site selection process. 

“It’s more important now than ever because of contracted timelines in the development process and competitive offerings,” Fitzpatrick said. 

The MEDC received 72 applications totaling requests for more than $420.6 million for SSRP funding. After MEDC staff reviewed applications for eligibility, they evaluated the submissions based on several priorities. This criteria included whether the site was a brownfield, a site’s marketability, whether it had already received interest from companies in the past, speed to market, and how much a project is expected to have an effect on the state and regional economy. 

Strategic Fund Board Member Cindy Warner said during the Tuesday meeting that she was surprised that a number of the award recipients had no local site funding support, and noted she expected more of the sites to be brownfields. Ten of the 18 sites qualify as brownfields. 

“We looked at the total amount of the development cost that was presented by the applicant and we did look at if there was public or private support but our focus was really on what sites are the best site for attraction opportunities,” Fitzpatrick said. 

The SSRP was formed in December 2021 by Public Act 134, which was meant to increase Michigan’s chance of competing for transformational projects. Funding was then directed to the SSRP with Public Act 194 of 2022, including $100 million for strategic sites that have not identified an end user. 

The MSF Board held back some of the available $100 million in funding to support applicants that require more time for evaluation, as well as future applications it might receive later this year, Fitzpatrick said.

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