INTRODUCTION Missaukee County, owner of the former Merritt Elementary School, seeks a developer for the school building and grounds. The school is located at 115 South Street in Butterfield Township, in eastern Missaukee County. The parcel ID numbers are 003-005-023-00, 003-100-007-00 and 003-100-018-50. The property is in Missaukee County’s Land Bank and is eligible for brownfield and related infrastructure incentives. DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY / VISION Merritt Elementary School is in Butterfield Township in rural Missaukee County, where a rolling green landscape of dairy and Christmas tree farms is dotted with bright white wind turbines. A church, a general store, a post office, and scattered homes are nearby. The communities of Lake City (14 miles west), Cadillac (28 miles west) and Houghton Lake (14 miles east) are easily accessed by state highway M-55, and offer nearby shopping, restaurants, recreation, professional services, and medical facilities. REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS (RFQ) Merritt Elementary School Redevelopment 115 South Street, Merritt (Butterfield Township) Missaukee County, Michigan 2 Merritt Elementary School was built in 1940 and served residents in the eastern part of the county until it closed in 2007. It has been vacant since then. Missaukee County acquired the property in 2019, when a private owner stopped paying taxes. The county placed the property into the Missaukee County Land Bank Authority (MCLBA). The Missaukee County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority (MCBRA) and the MCLBA will offer state and local brownfield incentives to help a developer reuse the sturdy 11,000-square foot brick and concrete block school building. The MCBRA has developed a county-wide Brownfield Redevelopment Plan to facilitate redevelopment. Environmental, lead, asbestos, and mold assessments have been completed. The developer will be responsible for other environmental due diligence costs, though the county will support the project with available redevelopment incentives to the fullest extent possible. The developer may also be eligible for rural development incentives from the US Department of Agriculture. Any feasible reuse may be proposed (links to township and county ordinances are at the end of this document) and will be considered by the county. Housing, especially workforce and accessible senior housing, has been identified as a development need in Missaukee County. Light manufacturing or assembly is also a potential reuse. A Butterfield Township ordinance prohibits recreational marijuana establishments in the township. FAST FACTS • The property includes three parcels totaling approximately 7.4703 acres. • The school building structure is approximately 11,015 square feet. In this photo, Merritt Elementary School is the white building near the bottom center. State highway M-55 / E. Houghton Lake Road, which provides access to nearby Lake City, Cadillac, and Houghton Lake, is shown crossing the photo near the top. 3 • The original brick structure was constructed in 1940. A concrete block gym / auditorium and library were added in 1963. The building is on a slab foundation. It appears sound but functionally obsolete. • Replacement windows are in good to fair condition. • The site is served by electricity, a private water well, and a private septic system. • A 1995 well log (attached) indicates the well is 5” in diameter with a PVC casing and a total depth of 109 feet. • In 2019, the taxable value of all three parcels was $149,301. • In 2019, the assessed value of all three parcels was $162,400. DEVELOPMENT PLANNING AND INCENTIVES The MCBRA will work with the selected developer to maximize applicable incentives. Developer incentives may include: • A reduced purchase price. The minimum bid for the property is one dollar. • Brownfield incentives. The developer may submit a proposed amendment to the County’s brownfield plan to request brownfield incentives for the Merritt Elementary School property. Under a brownfield plan, a developer can be reimbursed for eligible costs from captured taxes paid on the property. Eligible costs may include environmental due diligence, environmental due care, demolition, lead and asbestos abatement, infrastructure improvements, site preparation, and other costs associated with acquisition and redevelopment of the property. Incentives may be limited by the amount of capturable property taxes generated by the redevelopment. • Grants may be available to offset some of these costs.
Statewide