PORTAGE (WKZO-AM/FM) — The Portage City Council has begun the process of approving tax breaks and Brownfield development agreements for the transformational Stryker Research and Development Complex.
The $63 million facility is impressive enough, but it uses only part of a 288-acre parcel which will be opened up for future development with new roads and utilities.
Jill Bland at Southwest Michigan First says that’s critical to future job growth in the county.
Project Manager Jill Vandyken said the new facility will provide a building for sales and marketing, and a separate building for research and development. They will be connected by a three-story atrium that will serve as a passage to both buildings for both the employees and customers.
The project will create space to retain about a thousand jobs and create 105 new ones.
City Manager Laurence Shaffer said tax increment financing will be used to capture new tax dollars to pay for the new utilities and public roads to support the current and future development at the site.
The new facility will be located in what is currently wooded acreage and a cornfield between Loverslane and Portage Road southwest of the Air Zoo and the airport.
On Tuesday night, they set a public hearing on the 12-year, 50 percent tax abatement for Feb. 28.
