Who:	Downtown Market, Grand Rapids
Industry:	Retail, Restaurant and Agricultural
Area of Law:	Economic Incentives, Real Estate, Construction, Corporate Finance
Results:	More han $13 million in local, state and federal incentives

The Downtown Market opened in July of 2013 and provides significant and far-reaching economic benefits to the area, making it one of the state’s best examples of public/private partnerships. As the first LEED-certified market in the country, Downtown Market is a $30 million, 25,000-squre-foot project that features fresh food and produce vendors, a restaurant, brewery, retail shops, commercial kitchen and a rooftop greenhouse.

Constructed in an area filled with abandoned buildings, it is expected to create up to 1,300 jobs in the first 10 years. The market brings fresh food, much of it grown in Michigan, to an area that has been a food desert for decades.
 
How We Helped

Economic Incentives: $13 Million in Local, State and Federal Incentives
This massive undertaking would not have been possible without local, state and federal incentives. We helped secure a $5.2 million brownfield Michigan Business Tax Credit, a $3 million community revitalization loan from the Michigan Strategic Fund, brownfield tax increment financing of approximately $3.5 million, Downtown Development Authority tax increment financing and other grants and loans from the Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. EPA for environmental cleanup.

Real Estate and Construction: $30 Million Design, Construction and Real Estate Project
In addition to financing, we structured design and demo construction contracts for the project. We prepared and negotiated the documentation to establish the public private partnership of the Downtown Market and created documentation for ground leases, market hall vendor leases, retail tenant leases, restaurant leases, office users and a myriad of other tenancies. Parking onsite and offsite was also part of the negotiation and agreement process.

Warner Norcross attorneys have been devoted to this project from inception and continue to support the public private partnership, and its nonprofit status, by also donating time and expertise as community members through committees, including the leasing sub-committee.