Davison Index

Council OK’s price reduction for Garden Building properties




GRAND BLANC — The Grand Blanc City Council has approved another request to lower the purchase price for four downtown parcels slated to be redeveloped as The Garden Building.

Developer Erik Perkins of Garden Building of Grand Blanc LLC has proposed to invest $11 million in the mixed-use project adjacent to Physicians Park on Reid Road.

In September, Perkins received a $4.95 million Real Estate Rehabilitation grant from the Michigan Strategic Fund administered by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

However, according to William Delzer, Perkins’ attorney, interest rates, labor costs and other expenses have increased “dramatically” since Perkins first proposed the development.

Delzer said Perkins has revised the plan and investors have agreed to reduced returns in order to offset some of those cost increases.

Delzer appeared before the city council Wednesday, Dec. 14, to ask that the purchase price for 206, 210, 216 and 138 Reid Road be reduced to $24,950.

The reduction is the fourth revision of the original cost of $150,000 for three parcels approved in 2020. A fourth parcel was later added at a cost of $95,000.

“It really was a situation where the project needed extra help and we needed to provide that,” said City Manager Wendy Jean-Buhrer.

Tax revenues from the development will more than make up for the reduction, she said.

“For the first 10 years, the (Downtown Development Authority) will receive about $101,000,” Jean-Buhrer said. “Then, the next 12 years, the DDA will receive about $879,000. So, that is what we looked at.”

“Even with the tax abatement in the first 10 years, we’re still capturing quite a bit of money over 20 years,” said Mayor Susan Soderstrom. “This land has sat vacant for a very long time.”

The property has been vacant and off the tax rolls since the city purchased the land and demolished the homes in 2000. The city paid about $567,000 for the parcels which are assessed at $337,250, indicating a true cash value of $674,500, View records show.

For 20 years, there was little development interest, city officials have said.

Jean-Buhrer said city leaders also considered that, without the price reduction, the property could sit vacant for another 20 years.

Perkins has proposed a 30,000-square-foot building designed to resemble three adjoining buildings. The property would accommodate retail space, a full-service restaurant, entertainment and events, second-floor office space, meeting rooms and residential units.

A focal point will be the all-season, European-style biergarten with indoor seating of about 25 tabletops, as well as open-air seating.

Perkins hopes to break ground this spring and has said the development could take up to 24 months to complete. The Garden Building is expected to create about 75 jobs.

The property is considered a brownfield but “it’s not technically what you’d think of as a brownfield,” Jean-Buhrer said. The developer will have to spend about $55,000 for some site cleanup to remove trace contaminants.

“But it’s not the typical gas station cleanup,” she said.