The SmartZones will bring business, research activities, and training and support services together in one location, allowing for easy collaboration, Posthumus says. The SmartZone program was created through amendments to the Local Development Financing Act.
Oakland County's Automation Alley will be the only zone not able to use the Tax Increment Financing recapture capabilities offered under the act. Wayne State University President Irvin D. Reid says the announcement of a SmartZone designation for the Woodward Technology Corridor means a university project can move forward in attracting businesses and creating jobs in Downtown Detroit.
"This long-awaited designation now allows us to move forward with the creation of the Wayne State University Research and Technology Park in thecity of Detroit, a place where people will live, work, play and participate fully inthe research and academic programs of the university," Reid tells GlobeSt.com.
The Woodward SmartZone makes WSU's Research and Technology Park eligible for more than $12 million in tax increment financing over the next 12 years. The park is the first proposed development slated for the corridor. The park will be located on 75 acres just north of WSU's campus, It is bordered on the south by the Ford Freeway (Interstate 94), on the north by Amsterdam Street in the New Center area, on the west by Third Avenue, and in the east by Woodward Avenue, The park will contribute to the diversification of Michigan's economy by attracting businesses that want access to theuniversity's intellectual and research resources, Reid added.
Current park plans include 500,000 sf to 700,000-sf of multi-tenant space, anon-site business incubator and conference facilities.
Bill McMaster, state chairman of Taxpayers United of Birmingham, criticized the new SmartZone designation. He says the governor's office is illegally using tax dollars for business use.
"Governor John Engler envisions 2% of zoned commericial/property in Michigan becoming SmartZones," McMaster says, adding a taxing body will be assembled to oversee the zones. "However, he and the legislature cannot create a new layer of government with taxing power without violating our Michigan constitution."
McMaster says the MEDC, the Renaissance Zones, brownfield redevelopment, tax increment financing or any other of Engler's tax funding concepts have resulted in a net gain of jobs after five years.
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