[CPEO-BIF] Subsidy debate derails Michigan BF project

["Robert Hersh" <b_hersh@verizon.net>]

Township rejects Brownfield proposal

The Journal Newspaper
Wayne County, Michigan

March 28, 2007
By Scott Spielman

Another door closed Monday night for the developers of the former Northville
Psychiatric Hospital site.

The Northville Township Brownfield Redevelopment Authority board members
voted unanimously to reject a Brownfield request for the 414-acre parcel
along Seven Mile Road.

The developers, Real Estate Interests, Inc and Schostak Construction (REIS),
had requested $15 million in assistance to put in the infrastructure, tear
down the buildings and clean up the environmental hazards on the site.

Christopher Roosen, chair of the Brownfield Authority, said the board acted
with the best interests of the community at heart.

"There was a resounding lack of community support-for a whole lot of
reasons," he said.

The developers had requested the assistance because of the great expense
involved in getting the project off the ground. In previous meetings-and
there have been several-they said the project represented a more than $500
million investment in the community at a time when Michigan was in the midst
of a major recession.

Representatives from REI could not be reached for comment on this story.

A Brownfield Redevelopment plan essentially sets up an avenue for the
developer to be reimbursed for the costs of cleaning up hazardous sites and
putting them on the tax rolls. The Seven Mile Road site is the first such
request in Northville Township.

Roosen said the board tried to work with the developer several different
ways. They proposed an alteration of the tax capture rate so that the
township wouldn't be overly burdened financially with the services they had
to provide until the project was fully built out. A 68 percent capture was
proposed, leaving 32 percent to be distributed to the various taxing
authorities in Wayne County.

"It was a very creative idea, but in the end it wasn't enough for the
citizens on the board to vote for it," Roosen said.

For the entire article, see:

http://www.journalgroup.com/Northville/3702/township-rejects-brownfield-prop


Bob Hersh
CPEO


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