The $182 million the Accident Fund is planning to pour into the now-defunct Ottawa Power Station in Downtown Lansing is being supplemented by $33 million in state and local incentives.
“The tax credits and the tax increment financing are two things that are a really important part of the package,” says Anthony Pecchio with the Chirstman Group. Pecchio is the development manager for the Ottawa project. “This made the redevelopment of the Ottawa Station comparable enough to a greenfield development or other urban development that it wasn’t irresponsible to do it.”
The project, announced in October 2007, includes demolition and site clean-up for the seven-acre site that includes a river-edge park, transformation of the power station into 10 stories of office space, a building addition of five stories and a five-to-six-story parking deck.
Without the tax incentives, it would have made more sense for the Accident Fund to build its new headquarters on another site, Pecchio says.
“This community is lucky to have the Accident Fund,” Pecchio says. “The Accident Fund is someone who is committed to doing this kind of urban development in a community.”
Source: Anthony Pecchio, Christman Group
Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.
All Photographs © Dave Trumpie
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