Committee backs tax abatement for Michigan Motorsports relocation and expansion

Bill 2545, a declaratory resolution recommending a seven-year real property tax abatement for Michigan Motorsports LLC, received a favorable recommendation from the Community Investment Committee and will go to the full council.

Joe Molnar, assistant director of Growth and Opportunity, presented the project: Michigan Motorsports proposes to purchase a 7-acre parcel at 3315 William Richardson Court from the redevelopment commission for $50,000 and construct a roughly 50,000-square-foot office, warehouse, distribution center and showroom. Molnar said the total project investment exceeds $4.5 million and that the company expects to locate 29 new full-time employees at the site with an estimated annual payroll of about $2,100,000.

Dan Baber and Easter Baber, representing Michigan Motorsports, described the business as a performance automotive parts retailer and e-commerce company that also plans a substantial public-facing showroom at the new site. Molnar explained current tax estimates: the unimproved property would have low assessed taxes; after construction, annual taxes are estimated at about $83,000. Over a seven-year abatement period the city estimates total taxes due of approximately $581,992; of that amount roughly $317,000 would be abated and the new owner would pay the remaining $264,000 during the abatement period.

Committee members asked about workforce diversity, parking and the site's marketing history; staff said the redevelopment commission had owned the parcel for roughly five years and that it had remained vacant and was appropriate for a smaller industrial user. No members of the public spoke in favor or in opposition. The committee recorded a unanimous favorable recommendation to the full council.