COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The Coldwater City Council will be asked Monday night to schedule a public hearing for October 14 on the establishment of a Commercial Rehabilitation District.
In a letter to the Council, Economic Development Assistant Audrey Tappenden says the city has explored the possibility of establishing the district along Division and South Clay streets to connect two groups of properties zoned highway commercial. She says it would create a corridor where rehabilitation of commercial property in encouraged and made feasible for local businesses.
Under a state law passed in 2005, Tappenden says Commercial Rehabilitation Districts encourage rehabilitation projects by enabling land and business owners to seek abatements of up to ten years on taxes generated from new investment.
She points out that while tax abatements have been used for such projects as the restoration of the Kerr Building, the attraction of the Clemens Food Group to Coldwater and the expansion of Envirolite, there are fewer incentives offered to commercial properties in general despite the role they play in local economies.
