Governor Announces Assistance to Transform Brownfield Sites in Detroit and Pleasant Ridge

Tax Credits Pave Way for Housing and Retail Opportunities, 150 New Jobs

August 5, 2004

Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today announced that three brownfield sites in Detroit and Pleasant Ridge will be transformed into a low income housing community, brownstone condominiums and a revitalized open air shopping center thanks to Single Business Tax credits approved by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). Granholm noted the tax credits will spur more than $14.4 million in private investment and create as many as 150 jobs for Michigan workers.

“The brownfield redevelopment program has been instrumental in creating new opportunities across Southeast Michigan,” Granholm said. “These are the latest in a long line of successful projects that have created great economic opportunity.”

In her 2004 State of the State address, Governor Granholm announced her plan to make Michigan a global economic powerhouse in the 21st century. So far this year, the Governor and the MEDC have announced the creation or retention of approximately 24,000 jobs as a result of targeted assistance provided by the MEDC. Assistance includes support for turning contaminated, blighted and functionally obsolete sites into new opportunities for economic development.

“Brownfield sites have traditionally been burdensome and expensive to redevelop,” said MEDC President and CEO Don Jakeway. “Michigan has overcome this stigma by partnering with communities statewide to help transform hundreds of unused properties into engines of growth.”

Brownfield SBT credits valued at a total of more than $1.4 million were awarded to the following three projects:

• Detroit: Brainard Street Apartments LDHA, LLC will use a $505,000 credit to help redevelop five acres of blighted property located on Brainard Street between Second and Third Avenues into a 120-unit low-income apartment community. The project is expected to spur more than $5 million in private investment.
• Detroit: Thor Gallery Warren Conner, LLC will use a $738,600 credit to rehabilitate a 146,000-square-foot, blighted open-air shopping center located at the intersection of Warren and Conner Avenues.  The project is expected to spur more than $7.3 million in private investment and create 150 new jobs.
• Pleasant Ridge: Talon Homes-Pleasant Ridge, LLC will use a $200,000 credit to develop contaminated property located at 24000 Woodward Avenue into brownstone condominium units. The project is expected to spur more than $2 million in private investment.

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation, a partnership between the state and local communities, promotes smart economic growth by developing strategies and providing services to create and retain good jobs and a high quality of life.  For more information on the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s initiatives and programs, visit the Web site at www.michigan.org.

# # #