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The City of East Lansing’s Parking Lot #4 is at the northwest corner of Abbot Road and Albert Avenue. It is adjacent to the Dublin Square restaurant. The parcel also includes an additional piece of land that will be made available by the re-alignment of Albert Avenue, which is expected to occur in spring 2020.
If voters were to approve the ballot proposal, it would authorize the East Lansing City Council to sell the land to MSUFCU for $810,000 for the purposes of developing a commercial office building that would be a minimum of five stories and a maximum of eight stories high. Approved uses are required to be commercial and cannot be residential.
The City hired a professional appraiser to perform an appraisal in November 2019, which determined a market value of $810,000. If voters approve this ballot question, the purchase price must be no more or less than $810,000.
No. This would authorize the City to sell the land to MSUFCU for $810,000. An actual sale would be subject to conditions, which would be negotiated as part of a Purchase & Sale Agreement (PSA). This agreement would need to be approved by both the East Lansing City Council and MSUFCU prior to a sale being executed. The City Council has requested that a draft of the PSA be created for their discussion and input at their discussion-only meeting on February 18, 2020.
No. Although MSUFCU has shared some conceptual renderings, a full set of plans must be developed and an application for the project must be submitted to the City. At that point, a public approval process would begin, which would include review by the appropriate City boards and commissions and, ultimately, the East Lansing City Council.
The East Lansing City Council has requested that MSUFCU provide any additional information about the project at their discussion-only meeting on February 18, 2020. MSUFCU has indicated that they will likely be prepared to present some updated project renderings and provide additional information regarding their conceptual proposal for discussion and feedback from the Council. It is not likely that they will be ready to formally apply for a project until spring 2020.
The parcel is currently tax exempt. A sale to MSUFCU would make the parcel taxable and obligate them to pay future property taxes, both real and personal. A building on the site would increase the taxable value and, therefore, the taxes that they would be responsible for. MSUFCU employees in East Lansing are currently subject to the City income tax. If employment increases in East Lansing due to a new project at this site, new employees would also be subject to the income tax.
Yes. The money for the sale of the property will be used for general fund purposes through appropriations by the East Lansing City Council. With regard to future taxes, although the East Lansing Downtown Development Authority captures the increase in property taxes and directs those dollars to improvements in the downtown, if the voters approve the sale and the project moves forward, the City’s general fund would benefit from any increase in personal property taxes and income taxes generated by the project.
At this time, MSUFCU officials have not requested Tax Increment Financing (TIF), However, if environmental contamination is found on the site during MSUFCU’s due diligence, it would need to be remediated as part of any development project. Depending on what might be found, if the voters approve the sale and if MSUFCU decides to move forward, the possibility exists that MSUFCU may request brownfield TIF at a later date. Any request for TIF in East Lansing is ultimately at the discretion of the East Lansing City Council. The City policy on the use of TIF clearly places an emphasis on environmental remediation and public infrastructure.
