Committee advances Old St. Jean industrial rehabilitation district for 521 Old St. Jean

A Detroit City Council committee advanced a request to establish a plant rehabilitation (industrial development) district for 521 Old St. Jean, sending the item to the formal session with a recommendation to approve after a public hearing and presentation by the developer and city staff.

The proposal, presented by Old St. Jean Properties LLC, covers the rehabilitation of a vacant manufacturing facility at 521 Old St. Jean into about 38,820 square feet of manufacturing, office and storage space. The development team said the $2.4 million project would house the developer’s headquarters and lease space to Ecolvia Renewables, a biotechnology company relocating from Ann Arbor. The developer and city staff described the item as a request to establish a district only; a separate application for an Industrial Facilities Exemption certificate would be required before any tax reduction could be approved.

Why it matters: the industrial facilities/plant rehabilitation district is the local step that allows future owners to apply for a tax exemption certificate under Michigan law; if a certificate is later approved, it would reduce the property tax increase attributable to the project’s improvements for a limited term. Committee members pressed developers on floodplain and stormwater management, hiring and community outreach before advancing the district request.

Details presented at the hearing included a financial example showing current taxes on the property of roughly $28,000 per year; the developers’ presentation projected first‑year post‑improvement taxes of about $50,000 with an abated portion of about $21,000 and an eventual non‑abated annual tax liability in the mid‑$50,000 range after the abatement expires. The presenters stressed that establishing a district does not itself create an exemption; property owners would still need to apply to the city for a certificate and obtain any required approval from the Michigan State Tax Commission.

Developers Brian Hertian and Christopher Christian described the project as phased rehabilitation over multiple years, with permits and initial occupancy for manufacturing expected to be sought within roughly six months and the full renovation program carried out over a longer period (they described an overall arc of about 10 years). They said the facility will manufacture panelized home construction components to support small‑scale infill housing and that they plan to hire Detroit‑based workers through Detroit at Work and other local partners. The developers said they will apply universal design standards for accessibility, comply with Detroit Water and Sewer Department requirements for stormwater, and obtain flood insurance for portions of the site in the floodplain.

Council member Leticia Johnson asked how the site’s floodplain designation would affect development. The team said they purchased adjacent city‑owned lots to install an open bioswale to manage runoff and that flood insurance is required by lenders; they said the floodplain had not materially altered the design beyond insurance and documentation requirements. Johnson also asked whether the proposed industrial rehabilitation district would extend beyond the properties owned by Old St. Jean Properties; Housing and Revitalization Department staff said they did not have a definitive answer at the hearing and would follow up with the council member’s office.

Public commenters asked about local hiring, minority contractor inclusion and traffic, hours of operation and solid‑waste handling; the developers said they intend to work with local workforce agencies and trade partners and that, because the site is an existing manufacturing complex, traffic impacts would be minimal compared with prior uses.

Action: a motion to send line item 5 (the Old St. Jean plant rehabilitation district request) to the formal session with a recommendation to approve passed by voice consent; committee minutes record the item as advanced to formal consideration with no objections.

What’s next: establishing the district only allows property owners within the district to later apply for an Industrial Facilities Exemption certificate. Any future certificate application would be subject to separate council approval and, as required by state law, review by the Michigan State Tax Commission. Housing and Revitalization Department staff committed to follow up with the council on district boundary details and other outstanding technical questions raised during the hearing.