Metro Detroit is about to get a big economic shot in the arm, according to Allen Park Mayor Gary Burtka.
His city is in "heavy discussions with a Hollywood studio executive with ties to Michigan who intends to build a $100 million film production studio in Allen Park," according to a city press release. It didn't elaborate on the studio's identity, but says it could mean 3,500 new full-time jobs.
Many of those jobs will be in the skilled trades. Former factory workers who have been laid off would be given the inside track to those jobs.
"This project is a real possibility," Burtka says. "It may not happen, but we want to make sure people understand that the person who came to us with the proposal is serious, and we are working with many parties to try to close the deal."
The studio complex would be built on about 60 acres, part of which is where the new City Hall is being built. This development would also spur more commercial, retail and residential development.
Officials from Allen Park, Wayne County and the state have been working on the deal for the last five months. At the crux of the deal is Michigan's generous film-making tax incentives that have spurred a flurry of movie and TV shoots in Michigan since they passed last year.
Source: City of Allen Park
Writer: Jon Zemke
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