MCBA gets $82K grant to prepare south county property for development
Posted By: The Monroe News on February 6, 2024. For more information, please click here to read the source article.
The Monroe County Business Alliance will receive $82,310 in grant funding to help prepare a 143.25-acre piece of property for future development. The property is southwest of Sterns Road and Dixie Highway in Erie and Bedford townships.
Monroe County’s grant was one of 18 awarded last week by the Michigan Economic Development Corp.’s Strategic Site Readiness Program. A total of 72 entities applied for grants. In all, Michigan is spending $100 million to create investment-ready sites that will draw companies to Michigan and create new jobs. Ten of the sites are brownfields that will receive 49% of the award funding. The Monroe County site is considered a greenfield because it’s undeveloped.
“We applied for the grant around six month ago,” said Sean Strube, vice president of economic development for the Monroe County Business Alliance. “Our ask was the amount we receive.”
MCBA will use the funds to survey and evaluate the property.
“The funds will be used for a range of reports and surveys to be conducted on the site,” Strube said. “The work should be completed within the current year. The grant continues to improve the attractiveness of the site for potential businesses that may not choose Monroe County otherwise. These types of opportunities allow the Monroe County Business Alliance, partnered with local developers and communities, to proactively prepare and market properties for the best use and greatest benefit to the community.”
The Monroe County property has municipal water and sewer services, a natural gas line and direct access to the CSX railroad. It’s less than three miles from I-75. Within a 30-minute drive of the site are 19,887 businesses and a workforce of 320,593 people.
In 2022, the site had a due diligence review through Verified Industrial Properties, according to documents from LAC Real Estate, the firm listing the property. The site is listed at $4,212,000, which is $30,000 an acre. The property is zoned industrial.
“The final plans for the site will be determined by the two municipalities that the land is within, Bedford and Erie Townships,” Strube said. “Through strong partnerships with the local municipalities, regional partners and state organizations, this grant funds important work that will create jobs and positive economic impact.”
Sen. Joseph Bellino Jr., R-Monroe, applauded the Michigan Economic Development Corp.’s Strategic Site Readiness Program for awarding the grant for the Erie and Bedford townships site.
“It is great to see a Monroe County site earn one of these highly competitive grants — designed to help position our state for economic development and job creation,” Bellino said. “This program is about making Michigan competitive for large-scale projects, such as attracting businesses to come here and build new manufacturing and energy facilities. These are the types of long-term investments that we should be doing — those that can help improve our communities for generations to come.”
According to Bellino’s office, the MEDC received 72 applications totaling more than $420 million in requests.
“The state prioritized projects that included repurposing brownfield or former manufacturing sites, those that are highly marketable due to location, those that can be developed quickly and those most likely to have a significant impact on the state and regional economy,” Bellino’s office said.
The Monroe County Business Alliance is the merger of the former Monroe County Business Development Corporation and the former Monroe County Chamber of Commerce. MCBA focuses on the economic development for both new and existing businesses in Monroe County. It is governed by a 20+ person board of directors who represent multiple business, educational and governmental sectors and geographic perspectives of the county.
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