The Port Huron City Council voted unanimously to establish a plant rehabilitation district for the property at 35100 24th Street and to approve an industrial facilities exemption certificate for six years for improvements to the site.

The actions, taken during the council meeting, apply to an approximately 30-acre parcel that includes roughly 350,000 square feet in the former Crestlight/Presta Lake building in the city’s industrial park. The applicant, Port Huron Industrial Ventures, asked the council to “freeze the taxes currently” on that parcel to make renovation investments viable.

The district-establishment resolution and the separate certificate vote were supported by the administration and moved for council approval. The council approved the district-creation resolution by roll call (Council member Herrenza: yes; Council member Lamb: yes; Council member Moserak: yes; Council member Peyton: yes; Council member Archibald: yes; Mayor Anita Ashford: yes). The industrial facilities exemption certificate was approved by roll call (Council member Lamb: yes; Council member Moserak: yes; Council member Peyton: yes; Council member Archibald: yes; Council member Jeremza: yes; Mayor Anita Ashford: yes).

Tarek Donha, who identified himself as an owner of Port Huron Industrial Ventures, told the council the company bought the site about a year earlier and has since spent about $1,000,000 on initial work, including roofing and sprinkler work. “We purchased the old Crestlight factory… A total of 11 parcels. We’re only asking council for help on this one parcel in particular today,” Donha said. He described the building as “functionally obsolete” with low clear heights and narrow column spacing and said the owners specialize in buying distressed industrial assets and investing capital in upgrades.

Donha said planned work includes roofing replacement, electrical upgrades and four new loading docks with two small additions; the company estimates roughly $400,000 for the additional docks alone. He said the building’s current occupancy is about 50 percent and that an early tenant expansion, Huron House, will create about 15 jobs. “We typically spend more money in capital expenditures improving the assets than what we pay for them when we buy them,” Donha said.

City staff described the request as similar in effect to industrial tax abatements and said the assessor had designated the property as functionally obsolete. City council members and staff framed the requested six-year abatement as a standard economic tool to attract tenants and make ready-to-occupy space available in the industrial park. One council member noted the industrial park currently lacks available buildings suitable for new employers and called additional storage and dock capacity “a critical need.”

No members of the public spoke in opposition during the public hearing on the district; the council then moved and approved the resolution and certificate.

The approvals are limited to the single parcel specified in the application; the owners said they are not seeking abatements on their other parcels at this time. Council discussion and staff comments indicated the aid is intended to encourage rehabilitation and short-term vacancy reduction so the property can be marketed to prospective employers and incubator tenants.

The council did not attach additional conditions beyond the standard requirements for establishing a rehabilitation district and issuing an industrial facilities exemption certificate. The city clerk recorded the resolutions and the roll-call votes at the meeting.