Ann Arbor OKs industrial development district for Sartorius ‘flex-tech’ project
An area in Ann Arbor’s Research Park has been designated an industrial development district after it was approved by Ann Arbor City Council earlier this week.
The resolution to turn 3874 Research Park Drive and four adjacent lots into an industrial development district was passed by City Council on March 7. The land is currently owned by Sartorius BioAnalytical Instruments, Inc., which has plans to create a $57-million facility at 3874 Research Park Drive.
The Sartorius project would consolidate four existing locations of the company and is slated to open in 2023.
The district, also called an industrial facilities exemption, allows Sartorius to take a 50% tax abatement for up to 12 years. Ann Arbor last approved an industrial development district in 2013 at 1901 East Ellsworth Road for Mahindra GenZe, an electric bike company.
“It’s a common economic development tool,” Phil Santer, the senior vice president of SPARK Ann Arbor, previously told MLive. “It has been underutilized in the city of Ann Arbor over the past decade or so. But it’s not uncommon in many communities in Michigan to utilize it.”
SPARK has also supported creating a business improvement zone in the Briarwood Mall area, which is near the Research Park, as part of a push to create a more walkable and livable area in the south side of Ann Arbor.
City Council recently gave initial approval to rezone 68 properties in the State Street and Eisenhower Parkway area to a TC1 transit-corridor zoning, which would make way for a downtown-style development. The rezoning will come before the council next month for final approval.
Having both the industrial development district and the business improvement zone would take the area past feeling like “Anywheresville, USA,” Santer previously told MLive.
“We’ve always looked at the south side entrance way as ripe for opportunity for both companies, for business that are there overall,” Santer said previously. “We wanted to really focus on letting people know that they’re coming into a place when they enter town.”
Posted By: mlive on March 10, 2022. For more information, please click here to read the source article.
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