The global headquarters building for JR Automation’s $72.8 million project at 800 E. Riley St. is under construction. The city of Zeeland is considering adding the site to its brownfield redevelopment plan, and will hold a public hearing to address that project at its May 18 City Council meeting.
By Greg Chandler
Zeeland Record
The city of Zeeland is moving toward adding the site of the JR Automation world headquarters project to its brownfield redevelopment plan.
The City Council has scheduled a public hearing for Monday, May 18, on adding the 45.5-acre parcel at 800 E. Riley St. to the city’s brownfield plan. If approved, adding the site would allow JR Automation and the city to capture tax revenues that would be generated by growth of the site’s property value to reimburse them for eligible costs of developing the site.
The city’s Brownfield Development Authority on March 31 recommended the city add the JR Automation site to the brownfield plan, and the council on April 6 voted to schedule the public hearing.
JR Automation is building a 286,000-square-foot manufacturing and global headquarters, a $72.8 million project, on what was the last remaining industrial parcel in the city capable of accommodating such a large-scale project. About 350 current JR Automation employees will locate to the new facility, and another 150 jobs are expected to be created, city officials said.
The site became eligible as a brownfield site through the Ottawa County Land Bank, Community Development Director Tim Maday said at the March 31 Brownfield Development Authority meeting. Maday serves on the county land bank authority as a city/village representative.
The land bank authority voted in late January to recommend approval of a development agreement between the land bank and JR Automation, according to county minutes.
“While the site isn’t a brownfield in
the traditional sense of contamination
or blight, Michigan’s Brownfield Redevelopment Financing Act allows properties to be eligible when they are owned or controlled by a land bank authority,” Maday wrote in an email to the Zeeland Record.
“In this case, the Ottawa County Land Bank took temporary control of the property, which made it eligible for a brownfield work plan and the use of tax increment financing for eligible activities, including public infrastructure.”
It’s the first time the land bank has been used for an industrial project, Maday wrote.
To prepare the site for development, extensive infrastructure improvements are necessary, including the extension of water lines to the site. In addition, the project will include walkable and bikeable paths integrated into an ecologically-
restored native prairie landscape.
JR Automation will incur costs to prepare the site for redevelopment that include clearing, grubbing, land balancing, grading, geotechnical engineering, staking, cut and fill operations, temporary construction access, erosion control and temporary facilities.
Meanwhile, the city plans to complete public infrastructure improvements that include upsizing of the water main and relocation of electrical infrastructure underground. Also included are a $3 million reconstruction of 84th along the project’s eastern property boundary, expansion of the community bike path system along Riley and 84th Avenue, and construction of a railroad crossing on 84th, project consultant Samantha Mariuz of Fleis & VandenBrink said.
JR Automation will seek reimbursement of $4,101,975 that it is investing into its site development, while the city will seek to be paid back $4,531,000 in its infrastructure improvements. No school or state taxes will be captured in the tax-increment financing process, City Manager Tim Klunder said.
In addition, the city is also considering construction of a roundabout at the intersection of Riley and Fairview Avenue, which is being looked at as a way of addressing the expected growth of traffic to be generated by JR Automation. Should the city proceed with the roundabout, it could seek reimbursement of $4 million of the expected project cost.
“We do have the option not to pursue that (project),” Maday said at the March 31 brownfield authority meeting. “We have found through a traffic study related to the JR Automation project that intersection of Main and Fairview is under considerable pressure, and we will need to do something with that intersection to ensure traffic flows adequately.”
The current total taxable value of the JR Automation property is $574,942, and the estimated post-development taxable value after all phases of construction are complete is expected to reach $31 million in 2027, Mariuz said.
It’s expected that JR Automation will be fully reimbursed for its eligible costs by 2038, while the city would be fully paid back for the first phase of its investment by 2043, Mariuz said.
Zeeland Record
The city of Zeeland is moving toward adding the site of the JR Automation world headquarters project to its brownfield redevelopment plan.
The City Council has scheduled a public hearing for Monday, May 18, on adding the 45.5-acre parcel at 800 E. Riley St. to the city’s brownfield plan. If approved, adding the site would allow JR Automation and the city to capture tax revenues that would be generated by growth of the site’s property value to reimburse them for eligible costs of developing the site.
The city’s Brownfield Development Authority on March 31 recommended the city add the JR Automation site to the brownfield plan, and the council on April 6 voted to schedule the public hearing.
JR Automation is building a 286,000-square-foot manufacturing and global headquarters, a $72.8 million project, on what was the last remaining industrial parcel in the city capable of accommodating such a large-scale project. About 350 current JR Automation employees will locate to the new facility, and another 150 jobs are expected to be created, city officials said.
The site became eligible as a brownfield site through the Ottawa County Land Bank, Community Development Director Tim Maday said at the March 31 Brownfield Development Authority meeting. Maday serves on the county land bank authority as a city/village representative.
The land bank authority voted in late January to recommend approval of a development agreement between the land bank and JR Automation, according to county minutes.
“While the site isn’t a brownfield in
the traditional sense of contamination
or blight, Michigan’s Brownfield Redevelopment Financing Act allows properties to be eligible when they are owned or controlled by a land bank authority,” Maday wrote in an email to the Zeeland Record.
“In this case, the Ottawa County Land Bank took temporary control of the property, which made it eligible for a brownfield work plan and the use of tax increment financing for eligible activities, including public infrastructure.”
It’s the first time the land bank has been used for an industrial project, Maday wrote.
To prepare the site for development, extensive infrastructure improvements are necessary, including the extension of water lines to the site. In addition, the project will include walkable and bikeable paths integrated into an ecologically-
restored native prairie landscape.
JR Automation will incur costs to prepare the site for redevelopment that include clearing, grubbing, land balancing, grading, geotechnical engineering, staking, cut and fill operations, temporary construction access, erosion control and temporary facilities.
Meanwhile, the city plans to complete public infrastructure improvements that include upsizing of the water main and relocation of electrical infrastructure underground. Also included are a $3 million reconstruction of 84th along the project’s eastern property boundary, expansion of the community bike path system along Riley and 84th Avenue, and construction of a railroad crossing on 84th, project consultant Samantha Mariuz of Fleis & VandenBrink said.
JR Automation will seek reimbursement of $4,101,975 that it is investing into its site development, while the city will seek to be paid back $4,531,000 in its infrastructure improvements. No school or state taxes will be captured in the tax-increment financing process, City Manager Tim Klunder said.
In addition, the city is also considering construction of a roundabout at the intersection of Riley and Fairview Avenue, which is being looked at as a way of addressing the expected growth of traffic to be generated by JR Automation. Should the city proceed with the roundabout, it could seek reimbursement of $4 million of the expected project cost.
“We do have the option not to pursue that (project),” Maday said at the March 31 brownfield authority meeting. “We have found through a traffic study related to the JR Automation project that intersection of Main and Fairview is under considerable pressure, and we will need to do something with that intersection to ensure traffic flows adequately.”
The current total taxable value of the JR Automation property is $574,942, and the estimated post-development taxable value after all phases of construction are complete is expected to reach $31 million in 2027, Mariuz said.
It’s expected that JR Automation will be fully reimbursed for its eligible costs by 2038, while the city would be fully paid back for the first phase of its investment by 2043, Mariuz said.
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