Supporting East Village

A host of incentives for completing the East Village housing development on tap tonight

Posted
Monday, Feb. 28 — The Lansing City Council is scheduled to vote tonight on five different incentives that will give the developer of East Village a boost to complete the project.

The Council is scheduled to vote first on an amended brownfield redevelopment plan for the residential development on Saginaw Street between Marshall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue on Lansing’s east side.

The 14-year brownfield plan reimburses the developer, Allen Edwin Homes, the costs of cleaning up contamination on the property by capturing increases in property tax revenues. Those costs are estimated at $513,365.

The Council will also vote on granting Allen Edwin Homes Neighborhood Enterprise Zone property tax abatements on four addresses in the development: 1440 Wickham Drive, 670 Worthington Drive and 500 and 506 Nantucket Drive.

Each of these properties is in a “Neighborhood Enterprise Zone,” which would receive a 50 percent property tax abatement for 12 years. These abatements are meant to encourage home ownership in the city and are a selling point for Allen Edwin Homes.

The original developer, Burton-Katzman, foreclosed on the property a few years ago, completing less than 50 percent of the planned project. Since then, Allen Edwin Homes hopes to finish the project by investing $10 million into the property.

The city purchased the property in the late 1990s. Burton-Katzman and the city entered into a purchase agreement in 2002. However, after the property went into foreclosure, the city is now forced to pay back the Lansing Brownfield Redevelopment Authority for cleanup activities.

While about 180 units were originally planned for East Village, Allen Edwin Homes plans to complete 125 residential units. The 25-acre site was used for nearly 100 years as a juvenile detention center and training school.


Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here




Connect with us