Nate Heffron, city manager, city of Negaunee

NEGAUNEE — Summer is fast approaching, that means the hustle and bustle of construction is about to be in full swing. An array of sounds from power tools, heavy equipment, and hammers pounding are signs of progress.

This week I wanted to give a little update on what downtown Negaunee has in store.

The Downtown Development Authority approved two grants totaling $50,0000 for both Love and Bicycles and Casa della Nonnina. Both these façade projects are moving steadily along and should be completed by this summer.

Most recently, the DDA approved two more Downtown Economic Development grants for downtown businesses. These grants too, will be used to improve facades or other qualifying projects. Smarty’s Saloon and The Negaunee Depot were award $25,000 each for improvements to their properties.

Smarty’s will be creating a new ADA complaint entrance and an outdoor stage and service area. The Depot will be replacing all of their windows, helping to seal out outdoor elements and creating more energy efficient facility.

All four of these projects total $100,000 in public investment, an additional $341,066 of private investment will also be injected. This goes to show that if you have the right tools in place, you can motivate economic growth and historic preservation.

In other downtown news, Casa della Nonnina, the new Italian restaurant Rachel Grossman is working on has just received a Commercial Rehabilitation District tax abatement.

According to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation website, a CRD “Encourages the rehabilitation of commercial property by abating the property taxes generated from new investment for a period up to 10-years.”

For example, if a property owner increases their tax bill by $5,000, the city could allow for a tax abatement (on that amount only), for up to a period of time that would not exceed 10-years. Of course, this break wasn’t just given to Grossman, she earned it!

In Grossman’s case, she demonstrated under the state law and requirement of the program that she qualifies for a 7-year abatement that is estimated to save her $36,5000 property in taxes. This is only an estimate. The construction plans that are estimated to costs $476,442 without the building purchase price.

Tools like the CRD stimulate private investment and allows the business owner recoup initial upfront costs. This kind of economic assistance helps to place a business on firm footing and increases its overall ability to survive.

Speaking of growing businesses, we have one downtown business literally growing her business with her own locally grown flowers, well soon anyway! As you know, Shailah Pelto opened Samara Flower Co. a few months ago in February.

Pelto’s plans are expanding to another property she purchased in downtown Negaunee. This property is located on Rail Street across the street the Upper Peninsula Brewery. Her plans include building a greenhouse and prepping some garden space that could be in production by this fall. This approach helps her to control part of her supply, is greener, and a more sustainable business plan.

This buzz of excitement is not just in the downtown, but I will leave that for another day, in another update. However, all of this progress is not by accident or as some say happenstance. It’s a consorted effort with the right tools, energized entrepreneurs, and a new age of excitement that is breathing life back into Negaunee.

If you are looking for something that is new, exciting, and on verge of taking off, maybe Negaunee is for you. Do you want to Move Forward with us?