More Than $27 Million in Grant Support to Facilitate Reuse of RACER Trust Properties in Michigan

More than $27 million in state and federal grants will help support and facilitate the redevelopment and reuse of three former RACER Trust properties in Michigan.

On January 30, the Michigan Strategic Fund approved a grant of $18.975 million to facilitate the redevelopment of the former General Motors Plant 6 property in Lansing and a grant of $5.9 million to facilitate further redevelopment activities at the Flint Commerce Center, under construction on the former GM Buick City property in Flint. The same day, a $2.9 million grant from the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation was announced by the American Center for Mobility, constructed on the former GM Willow Run plant property in Ypsilanti Township. The grant will fund work on electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

“These public investments are indicative of the highly qualified and capable buyers and prospects RACER, with the support of many others, has been fortunate to attract,” said Elliott P. Laws, of EPLET, LLC, administrative trustee of RACER Trust. “Their demonstrated records of success engender confidence, and we look forward to the tremendous private investment these grants will help to leverage. Our communities will be the ultimate beneficiaries, and we couldn’t be more pleased.”

The grant for the Lansing property was issued to the City of Lansing. The property is under contract to NorthPoint Development, and the city and developer will work together to coordinate grant-eligible activities, such as the removal of underground utilities and infrastructure improvements.

The grant for the Flint Commerce Center was issued to its owner, Ashley Capital, and will be used for similar purposes as the grant in Lansing.

The Joint Office of Energy and Transportation grant will fund the enhancement and expansion of the electric vehicle charger testing environment at the American Center for Mobility.

The redevelopment and reuse of former RACER Trust properties nationally has resulted in the creation of nearly 60,000 permanent full-time jobs, $4.5 billion a year in labor income and $16.4 billion a year in total economic output.

About RACER Trust: The Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response (RACER) Trust was created in March 2011 by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to clean up and position for redevelopment the properties abandoned by General Motors Corp. in its 2009 bankruptcy. At its effective date, RACER Trust’s real property portfolio consisted of 336 tax parcels; 34 million square feet in 167 buildings; and 6,776 acres of land at 83 locations in 14 states. When it was formed, RACER was one of the largest holders of industrial properties in the United States, and the largest environmental response trust in U.S. history. Since then, RACER has completed more than 90 property sales and achieved a no further action status or similar regulatory closure for more than 50 components of cleanups. Investments by RACER Trust’s buyers and end users have generated annual, recurring impacts of more than 59,600 permanent FTEs, $4.5 billion in labor income and $16.4 billion in regional economic output, creating new opportunities and revenue for RACER’s communities. For more information, please visit racertrust.org.