New Development and CIAs:
Recently many local elected officials and I listened to a proposal to develop the land North of Saginaw, West of 69, and East of Broadbent. Some of you may remember this as the old location of “Flower Land”.
The proposed development is broken down into 3 phases. Phase 2 and 3 rely on the creation of a tax capture authority called a “Corridor improvement Authority” or a CIA. More on that in a minute.
- Phase 1: Retail development along Saginaw using existing public infrastructure.
- Phase 2: Further retail development and apartments extending Marketplace Dr. and building a new road to connect to Broadbent Rd.
- Phase 3: Adding more housing further North and connecting Marketplace Dr to Willow Hwy.
Back to the CIA. Phase 1 will continue with or without the proposed tax capture district. According to the developer, phase 2 and 3 will need the approval of the CIA to be possible. A CIA captures taxes off of the increased value of property on developed land and existing developments in the region.
For example. If the current tax revenue of the region equaled 100 dollars and increased 10 dollars in a year, the CIA would capture a certain percentage of the 10 dollars and put it in a fund to develop the “corridor” further. Its a similar principle to the more common “Downtown Development Authority” that many towns in Eaton County use now.
The idea would be that the public infrastructure needed to reach the developments made in phase 2 and 3 would be paid for upfront by the developer and then reimbursed over time. Once full reimbursement was met, Eaton and Delta could either dissolve the authority or continue it to spruce up the region.
As of right now I am cautiously optimistic, but the proposal is likely to dramatically change over time. I hope to see affordable housing as an option as well as guarantees on costs to the county and jobs created.