KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – There may be some controversy about development projects near the Graphics Packaging plant, but none at all about the rest of Kalamazoo’s Northside.
In fact they hope to borrow an idea that has helped the Downtown and the Business Technology and Research Park at Western Michigan University to flourish. It’s called Tax Increment Financing.
The two-year-old Northside Cultural Business District Improvement Authority would capture the taxes created by new growth in a designated area, and instead of going into city coffers, the money would instead pay for improvements in that district.
Maddie Jordan Woods at the Northside Association for Community Development says they want to redevelop their business corridor with locally owned homes and businesses.
The district would include the parcels between the Amtrak Tracks and Frank Street, and extend from Westnedge east to the Roundabout on Harrison. Their proposal should receive City Commission approval this summer and then head to Lansing for consideration by State Officials.
The Northside is the first Kalamazoo neighborhood to employ the tax recovery strategy.
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