Macomb County officials on Wednesday approved a Brownfield Redevelopment plan that will allow for the construction of a major warehouse at the contaminated old Visteon plant property in Shelby Township.
Officials could not identify the facility’s occupant due to a confidentiality agreement, although Crain’s Detroit magazine reported last month the online retailing giant Amazon is locating on 85 acres at 23 Mile and Mound roads. The operation would employee up to 1,000 people.
A panel of the county Board of Commissioners voted 11-0 to approve the plan, which involves funneling $10 million in estimated property tax revenue increases over 20 years to pay for the clean-up of chemicals found in groundwater. The value of the parcel is expected to increase from less than $1 million now to more than $33 million in 2018 when built.
“This is the greatest chance we will have to develop this property,” said John Paul Rea moments after the board vote. “This is one of the most detailed Brownfield Redevelopment proposals we have ever seen.”
The last remaining hurdles for the project are final approval by the county board Aug. 31 and a variance for a decorative signage on top of the building above the 40-foot limit that will be considered by the Shelby Township Zoning Board of Appeals Sept. 7.
Luke Bonner, a consultant on the project, said the occupant’s identity will be revealed later in September.
The proposed 1-million-square-foot, $115-million facility is defined as a “logistics optimization center,” according to documents submitted to the county.
The tenant is signing a 15-year lease and agrees to contribute $35 million to the facility upgrades, according to Bonner and documents.
The development company, Hillwood Enterprises in Illinois, is purchasing the property for $6.2 million from the current owner, an individual, after the ownership changed hands at least three times over the past decade.
Hillwood also is expected to receive a 12-year property tax break from the township that will affect taxes allocated for the clean-up.
Impacted taxing units include the county, the township, Huron Clinton Metropark Authority, SMART, Macomb Community College, Macomb Intermediate School District and county veterans.
Bonner told commissioners the project “personifies a public-private partnership” that is “solving a contamination issue” at the site.
Environmental activities will include slab demolition, installation of a “sub slab depressurization system,” barriers to contain contamination, storm-water management, soil management and environmental investigation, according to documents.
In response to a question by Commissioner Joe Romano about who would pay for increased expenses for environmental clean-up, Bonner said the TIFA district could be extended up to 30 years.
The site was home to Ford Motor Co.’s trim plant for many years before it spun off to Visteon, which was phased out in 2008 and 2009. Buildings on the property were leveled in 2012.
Since then, the site has been vacant. The health-threatening chemicals TCE and TCA were found in ground water. Following a court battle, Ford agreed to clean up pollution at the site and pay $50,000 to the township for legal costs.
Amazon currently operates facilities in Livonia and Brownstown Township, and plans to build a warehouse in Romulus.
