The Berrien County Board of Commissioners has approved an amended brownfield plan for a mixed use development being planned by Harbor Shores in the city of St. Joseph.
To be located on the north side of the St. Joseph River in the area bounded by Upton Drive and Whitwam Drive, Laurentide, as Harbor Shores has named it, will eventually include townhomes, courtyard homes, condos, and apartments.
The county board heard this week from Community Development Director Dan Fette, who said commissioners previously approved a brownfield tax increment financing plan for the site, but it was later rejected by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. MSHDA wanted more of the apartments to be income restricted, reserved for those who earn no more than 120% of the area median income.
“Harbor Shores, MSHDA, and the brownfield authority met to discuss alterations to the plan,” Fette said. “Harbor Shores concluded that they could make these changes within the general financing package of the project. So now it’s moving from 20 restricted units to 40 restricted units, getting us up to that 20% threshold that MSHDA is now asking for.”
Fette says for a family of four, that income would be about $105,000 a year.
“We’re talking about solidly middle-class families. In some cases, we’ll see retirees moving into these units, but these are young families that are starting out their career with a kid or two.”
The other issue identified by the state, and contributing to the brownfield plan’s rejection, was the development’s inclusion of its marina. Fette said Harbor Shores also agreed to remove it from the TIF.
With those issues resolved, commissioners were asked to approve this newly amended TIF plan. They voted to do so without comment. The St. Joseph City Commission previously did the same.
Laurentide, by the way, is the name for the glacier that formed the Great Lakes.
