The City Commission sold Parcel 12 of the Heartwood Forestland in late 2018 to Veridea Group as part of a land sale process intended to sell surplus property and foster economic development.
In the interest of developing middle income housing in Marquette, Veridea has consulted with InnovaLaB Development Group and created a venture (MDM Hemlock, L.L.C.) to develop such housing on the site.
In order to facilitate the cost structure needed to provide a middle income project, they initially had discussed the option of utilizing an Act 381 Brownfield Plan to provide reimbursement for the eligible costs. The Community Development Director presented the idea of a Local Development Agreement, similar to the previous one done for the Harbor Vista development, as a means to direct the tax capture to the City to cover what would be eligible costs in a Brownfield Plan, thus reducing the loss of tax capture.
The result is the draft Local Development Agreement being presented here, wherein the City would be responsible for the up-front costs of the mutually agreeable infrastructure items found in Exhibit B of the Agreement, at a cost to the City of an estimated $1.8 million. In return, MDM Hemlock, L.L.C. agrees to a three-phase development of middle income housing with an initial investment of $5 million. The City return on investment for supporting the infrastructure up front is approximately 10 years.
In addition, the completion of this project will permit the City to complete the infrastructure preparation needed to facilitate the future extension of utilities needed at the Marquette Ski Hill.