KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Three buildings in downtown Kalamazoo are about to be repurposed, including the historic Kalamazoo County Courthouse next to Bronson Park, thanks to a new state incentive program to restore old structures.
The courthouse, known as the MAC, will become a hotel operated by major chain, according to Trisha Kidd with the developer, PlazaCorp.
She says work on the courthouse will meet historical preservation guidelines.
The two other structures, the Spearflex office building on Kalamazoo Avenue next to Shakespeare’s Pub, will become 57 living units. A dilapidated factory at 619 Porter will be converted into 58 residential units, some of them affordable, and some set aside for commercial uses.
Consultant Joe Agostinelli says this three-building project was one of just 13 proposals that made it under a state mandated cap for how much could be spent on the state’s enhanced transformational brownfield initiative.
Kalamazoo city commissioners were briefed Monday on the six-year plan to secure financing and reconstruct the buildings.
Currently, brownfield plans allow developers to capture future property taxes to offset the cost of contamination cleanups and other improvements.
This enhanced state program includes the capture of income tax withholding for workers, sales taxes on buildings materials and other expenses as well, which could mean millions more in savings for developers. who might not be able to proceed with construction otherwise.
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