Developers outline 63-unit Folker (Orin) building plan; consultants explain housing TIF process
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Summary
Garden City — Consultants and the owner outlined plans to combine five parcels at the Orin (Folker) site for a four‑story, 63‑unit apartment building with an estimated $22 million private investment.
Garden City — Consultants and the property owner provided an information presentation Monday on a proposed brownfield redevelopment at the Orin (referred to in materials as the Folker) building, outlining a planned four‑story apartment project that would combine five parcels, replace three existing structures and add an estimated 63 dwelling units.
Kirk Perschbacher, a senior brownfield specialist with Fishbeck, told the council the developer is planning a four‑story mixed building that would include a mix of studios and one‑ and two‑bedroom apartments. “The total investment right now that the developer is looking at is kind of in the $22,000,000 range,” Perschbacher said during his presentation.
Perschbacher described how Michigan brownfield incentives and a housing-focused Tax Increment Financing (TIF) program could fill financing gaps by reimbursing eligible costs from the increment in property tax revenue the project generates. He explained the statutory eligibility categories—blight, functional obsolescence, contamination, historic resource and, under more recent legislation, certain housing activity—and said the 80–120% Area Median Income (AMI) affordable‑housing threshold created additional reimbursement eligibility normally limited to “core” communities.
Perschbacher said Garden City is not a labeled “core community,” but the 80–120% AMI affordability option, under state housing legislation, can allow non-core communities to access site-preparation and public-infrastructure reimbursements typically available only to core communities. He said that feature has enabled projects elsewhere to proceed by covering costly public infrastructure upgrades and site preparation.
Perschbacher walked through the expected approval path: a brownfield plan prepared by the developer and consultant, review and recommendation by the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) and then consideration by the Wayne County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority (the area doesn’t have its own BRA). The Wayne County body would hold a public hearing and, if it recommends approval, the plan would go to the Wayne County Board of Commissioners; after county approval, the plan would be submitted to the state regulatory agency (MSHDA was cited as the relevant state agency in this case). Perschbacher said the developer and consultant are working with the DDA and the county on pro‑forma assumptions and AMI targets and expected to have a plan available for local review by the end of the year.
Council members asked how long a housing TIF typically lasts. Perschbacher said typical plans discussed for projects of this type tend to land in the 13–15 year range depending on the developer’s pro forma; while a brownfield plan can technically last up to 30 years he said that long duration is uncommon and most projects stabilize well before that period.
No formal action was taken at Monday’s meeting; Perschbacher described the session as an early information step intended to inform council, DDA members and the public about the brownfield-TIF mechanism and the planned project. He emphasized that affordability commitments tied to the incentive are included in developer reimbursement agreements and that the Wayne County Brownfield Authority and Wayne County Board of Commissioners will have further opportunities for public hearings and review if the council and DDA move forward with approval.
