Montcalm County commissioners approve Brownfield plan for Lakeview mobile-home park conversion

Montcalm County commissioners voted to approve a Brownfield redevelopment plan for property at 9640 North Greenville Road in the Village of Lakeview, the board agreed during its May 27 meeting.

The plan, presented by Darren, Village Manager for Lakeview, and developers from Redstone Group, would convert a licensed mobile-home park behind Lubbock's Food Center into site-condominium lots and residential units. "Long term, all of those properties will then be on the tax rolls," Darren said, arguing the conversion would increase property-tax revenue for the village.

Brian Papke of Redstone Group described the proposal as transforming the mobile-home park into a conventional subdivision of detached homes with permanent foundations, attached garages and individual tax lots. Jared Lutz of Michigan Growth Advisors said the plan relies on the state’s Brownfield Redevelopment tools under Public Act 381, amended to include housing, to make the project feasible. "This property isn't a brownfield in the intuitive sense that it's contaminated. It's just the qualifying trigger for this plan," Lutz said.

The developers and advisers said the project aims for a mix of market-rate and income-restricted units. Lutz told commissioners the plan would deliver roughly 104 new housing units (he later referenced other totals during discussion), and the developers discussed building roughly 20–30 units per year as the project ramps up. Lutz and Papke said some initial units would be rented, with long-term intent to have individual tax lots paid and listed separately on the tax rolls. The presenters also said the developers intend to use tax increment capture to reimburse infrastructure costs such as roads and utility upgrades over time.

Lutz explained the local approval authorizes capture of the increment — the increase in taxes after development — to reimburse eligible costs. He said tax capture would exclude debt millages and special assessments and that library and school debt obligations would continue to be paid as normal. Commissioners were told the capture period shown in the plan is 28 years; Lutz said reimbursements only occur for documented, eligible costs and that the actual schedule depends on the developer’s submitted receipts and the pace of construction. He estimated that upon full build-out the annual tax increment available for reimbursement could be about $500,000, but stressed reimbursements cannot exceed documented eligible costs.

Commissioner Alexander moved to approve the Brownfield redevelopment plan and the board supported the motion. After a brief call for discussion, the board voted — "Aye" was recorded and the motion carried.

What the board approved was the county-level step required before the Village of Lakeview’s plan goes to the Michigan State Housing Development Authority for state review and final approval. Commissioners and presenters said state approval is still required and that the local action authorizes only the tax-capture mechanism under the Brownfield plan.

The meeting record shows questions from commissioners about the number of lots and units, the mix of rental vs. for-sale units, expected rents for income-restricted units (presenters cited about $1,600 for a two-bedroom and $1,700 for a three-bedroom for income-restricted units), and projected construction costs (developers cited about $170,000 per unit as a working figure). Lutz and Papke said developers expect to start with a modest number of homes, then scale, and that the financial model relies on capturing incremental tax revenue over time rather than an upfront county subsidy.

The county’s final vote followed the public hearing earlier in the meeting and the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority’s review. Commissioners who asked clarifying questions were referred to the developers and the plan documents for technical financial details.

Officials said state review by MSHDA (the Michigan State Housing Development Authority) will be required for final state-level approval and for the tax-capture mechanism to operate as proposed.

Community members and county staff may receive follow-up materials and the County Clerk’s office will hold the approved documentation. The plan’s next step is state review; no additional county appropriation was authorized at the meeting.