Council OKs plan for Main Street building

The developers of a five-floor residential, office and retail building on Main Street will find out this week if the state will approve its brownfield redevelopment plan.

The Midland City Council added its support Monday for Midland DTH LLCs brownfield plan, which calls for the construction of a $15.3 million building and $5.8 million in environmental cleanup on land at 102, 110, 114, 124 and 128 Main St. and 108 Ashman.

Midland DTH was formed by Saginaw-based SSP Associates to complete the project. It sought approval of a brownfield tax increment financing plan that would pay the company back for the costs of cleaning up heavy metals, petroleum compounds, dry cleaning compounds, asbestos and more at the site. The payback would come by capturing any increase in property taxes paid on the property and redirecting them to the developer for a term of 26 years.

Total costs to be reimbursed are about $8.4 million, which includes about $5.8 million in actual costs and about $2.6 million in interest. The city would reimburse about $5.9 million over 21 years, with the state reimbursing about $2.5 million over 26 years.

Brian Eggers, AKT Peerless principal who represented Midland DTH on Monday, said the project would make the best use of the downtown lots by going vertical and mixing uses. It would eliminate blight, remove contamination, improve city infrastructure, add underground parking for tenants, leverage state investment, invigorate downtown and add a landmark structure on Main Street, Eggers said.

Two properties on the site were previously eyed by Artful Dodger Brewing Co. and later by Better Grounds LLC, but plans stalled for both of those projects.

This project will succeed where other projects have failed, Eggers said.

The first floor would include retail and restaurant space. The upper floors would include 15 condominium units with two or three bedrooms. Eggers said the building would add 46 new full-time equivalent jobs to downtown and support 400 construction jobs.

The brownfield cleanup poses economic challenges for the developer, so assistance would help put the land to use, said Dave Keenan, Midland assistant city manager.

Keenan said the developer expects to start work in first quarter of 2014, with 2015 being the first year of tax capture.

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Council OKs plan for Main Street building