By Jim Bloch
As many as 576 jobs may have been saved thanks to a deal struck between the city of Port Huron and the development firm JB Donaldson Properties, LLC, of Farmington Hills.
At its regular meeting Jan. 12, the city council unanimously signed off on the sale of 19.88 acres to the company for $10,000 per useable acre. In return, the company promised to build a warehouse and manufacturing facility of at least 100,000 square feet – and likely to be 230,000 square feet.
“They’re the real deal,” said City Manager James Freed, as heard on the recording of the meeting posted on YouTube. “They know what they’re doing.”
The nearly 20-acres is comprised of 10 separate parcels of real estate in Port Huron’s industrial park, which the city will combine into a single property on the corner of Dove and 28th streets.
“The reason this is important is that we’ve been competing nationally with sites in Tennessee, Texas and around the country to land this project,” said Freed.
The city, the Economic Development Alliance of St. Clair County, and commercial real estate broker Korissa Kramer, have worked for a decade to land the project, Freed said.
JB Donaldson will construct the building and lease it to a firm that currently employs more than 550 people in the city.
“Our fear was that if we didn’t land this project, and it went to Tennessee or Auburn Hills or someplace, we could potentially have had those jobs at risk,” said Freed.
The EDA obtained a grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to remove the trees and clear the site for development, which will speed the project along. Freed pegged the grant at $100,000 and said the building will be up within 13 months.
“It will be huge, one of the largest buildings in our industrial park,” said Freed.
There will also be room for a 60,000 square foot expansion of the facility.
“People ask what the EDA does, it’s protecting the jobs that are here and securing investment for the future,” said Freed. “Without Dan Casey and without the EDA, I can tell you that this deal would never have happened. There was a lot of conversation about the EDA last year, but I can tell you that if you were one of those 576 workers right now, you’re glad we have Dan Casey.”
Freed was referring to the St. Clair County Board of Commissioners, which voted early last year to pull out of the EDA, saving its $315,000 in annual dues.
Freed sits on the nine-member executive board of the EDA, serving as its secretary.
Donaldson will also build regional detention pond next to the site, paid for by the city’s Land Development Finance Authority, which will be able to be used by other companies in the area.
The city promised to approve a 12-year tax abatement for the project, which may see an overall investment of more than $20,000,000.
“Will any residential properties be lost to this?” asked council member Barbara Payton.
“No,” said Freed. “We have all the land we need.”
The council approved the purchase agreement 7-0.
Jim Bloch is a freelance writer based in St. Clair, Michigan. Contact him at bloch.jim@gmail.com.
