Warner assisted in the development of The Downtown Market which opened in Grand Rapids in 2013. This development 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, the Downtown Market is a $30 million, 25,000-square-foot project that features fresh food and produce vendors, a restaurant, brewery, retail shops, commercial kitchen and a rooftop greenhouse.
This massive undertaking would not have been possible without local, state and federal incentives. Warner 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. In total, Warner helped the client secure $13 million in local, state and federal incentives.
In addition to our work on financing, Warner structured the design and demolition 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 on-site and off-site was also part of the negotiation and agreement process.
Warner attorneys were 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.
