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Commission approves $4.9 million OPRA plan and long-term abatement for 1185 Third Street; developer says tenant will bring 85 engineering jobs
Summary
The commission approved an obsolete-property rehabilitation (OPRA) certificate and a 12-year abatement for 1185 Third Street, where local investors plan a roughly $4.9 million renovation and lease to an international engineering firm expected to bring about 85 jobs and an $8.5 million payroll, developers said.
Muskegon commissioners voted unanimously to approve an obsolete property rehabilitation (OPRA) certificate and associated tax-abatement terms for 1185 Third Street.
Jocelyn Hines, the city development analyst, told the commission the investors — identified in staff materials as Jeff Cowitz, Frank Peterson and John Whitten — plan approximately $4.9 million in renovations to a 21,000-square-foot facility to house an engineering firm for office and research-and-development uses. Staff recommended a 12-year abatement based on the scale of investment, local ownership and job retention projections.
John Whitten of Spark 43 Architects, one of the partners in the purchase and renovation team, said the investors signed a long-term lease with an international engineering company that expects to place about 85 engineers at the site when operations begin. "At that time, there would be 85 new jobs coming into downtown Muskegon," Whitten said; he added the tenant’s payroll would be roughly $8.5 million annually.
Commissioners asked whether the tenant would perform animal testing and about potential environmental contamination from the building's history as a car dealership. Whitten said the tenant is not an animal-testing facility and described limited remediation and asbestos removal work the developers plan to undertake.
The motion to approve the OPRA certificate was made and supported by commissioners and carried by unanimous roll call. The developers said they expect the project to open in September, pending completion of remediation, final design and financing steps.
