MEDC board approves additional $5M in incentives for United Artists Building rehab

The governing body of the quasi-government Michigan Economic Development Corp. on Tuesday approved another $5.3 million in incentives for the rehabilitation of the historic United Artists Building in downtown Detroit.

In 2020, the Michigan Strategic Fund board approved a Michigan Community Revitalization Program loan of $7 million for the $73.4 million project to turn the nearly century-old, 18-story building shuttered for almost 50 years on Bagley Street into a mixed-use building with 148 mixed-income residential units and commercial space on the first floor. The project is from the Bagley Development Group LLC, which has also been behind the DoubleTree Suites Fort Shelby and Kirby Center Lofts.

Tuesday's approval from the MEDC provides the additional $5.3 million as brownfield tax increment financing. It also defers payments of the original loan during the remainder of the 28-month interest-only period.

The project addresses the "last iconic underutilized prioperty in the Grand Circus Park area of downtown," according to a briefing memo from Brittney Hoszkiw, the MEDC"s senior community development manager, to the board.

The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was designed by C. Howard Crane and opened in 1928.

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