FeedsLivernois eyes move to more city investments
A request for a 12-year tax abatement will not likely affect construction a prototype maker is conducting at a long-vacant building, but it could affect other investments the company would like to make in the city.
Livernois Vehicle Development – which is renovating the former Carron and Co. facility in the city – is also looking at developing the Rosenau Honda building on Michigan Avenue near John Daly Road.
Norma Wallis, of Livernois, said the building is on a prime piece of property, and that her company has been in negotiations with the owner for several weeks.
“We do a lot of things that may be suitable for the facility,” she said. We are involved in motorsports. A lot is going to depend on the city’s willingness to work with us.”
She added that the company and the city have worked amicably in the past.
Livernois Vehicle Development submitted paperwork to the city on April 6, and the city council scheduled a public hearing for June 18 to hear questions from the public concerning the requested 12-year tax break.
The company is currently planning $3 million in improvements to the former Carron & Co. facility, which is located at 27600 Princeton Road, near the city public works yard. The company estimates at $2.4 million in improvements are being made to the building and surrounding land. Another $694,000 in machinery, equipment, furniture and fixture installation is under way, according to the abatement application.
Renovations would be needed at the Rosenau site as well, given that the facility has been vacant for so many years and is outdated, said Wallis.
“We would likely have to make some improvements,” she said.
Tax abatements were created several years ago to assist industrial businesses with efforts to expand and grow amid intense foreign competition. Under law, the company can ask for a 50 percent reduction on taxes that would be paid on the cost of the improvements.
The city has no written policy regarding who gets a tax break and what constitutes the length of the abatement. A determination will likely be made after the public hearing, said City Manger Joyce Parker.
Rosenau Honda has been closed for several years, and though potential developers with interest in the site have in the past emerged, the city has never been able to capitalize on the location of the property.
The public hearing will take place shortly after 7:30 p.m. at the regular city council meeting on Monday, June 18. The meeting will take place at city hall on Trowbridge.
