Flint, MI — The sale of Flint’s largest brownfield site is final.
In a Nov. 30, 2023 press release, RACER Trust and Ashley Capital announced the completion of the sale of the second phase of development on the site, a former General Motors property known as Buick City.
Ashley Capital closed on its first phase of development earlier this year, and broke ground on the first of the site’s multiple planned facilities, the Flint Commerce Center, in April.
The center is scheduled to be completed “at the end of the first quarter in 2024,” according to the release, which also notes that the second phase of development is “expected to begin shortly.”
That phase will expand on Ashley Capital’s plans for a multi-tenant industrial park, which the developer has estimated could result in 2,500 permanent, full-time jobs. In all, the park is expected to include 10 buildings totaling roughly 3.5 million square feet.
“We are very pleased to complete this transaction and very much looking forward to further reinvigorating this property and creating new opportunities for the community,” Ashley Capital Senior Vice President Susan Harvey said. “The location on and infrastructure make this a very desirable property for logistics and light manufacturing companies, and we are confident that the market will respond very favorably.”
Buick City was formerly a bustling General Motors worksite hosting thousands of jobs but shut down gradually between 1999 to 2010 after GM filed for bankruptcy. It then came under the ownership of Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response Trust (RACER) which was formed to manage the site’s environmental remediation and sale. It has sat largely vacant since as RACER Trust continues its clean-up efforts.
In a prepared statement, Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley said that Ashley Capital’s redevelopment promise for the site is a “game-changer for our community.”
Local philanthropies, alongside the city, county, and state of Michigan invested millions in order to finalize the deal with Ashley Capital since the developer’s interest in Buick City became public in 2022.
Flint City Council also awarded Ashley Capital a brownfield plan to support the site’s development earlier this year. The plan, though approved, was considered contentious to some residents and councilmembers due to contributions the developer had made to councilmember-affiliated nonprofits and campaigns.
Despite the hurdles to get to the final sale announcement, project funders, and city officials said they were elated with the outcome for Flint and its residents.
Ridgway White, President and CEO of the Mott Foundation, which contributed $2 million to the project ahead of sale, said the project was “a great example of what can happen and happen in a community when various interests come together in pursuit of a worthy goal.”
Tyler Rossmaessler, Executive Director of the Flint & Genesee Economic Alliance, echoed the sentiment of collaboration, noting that “opportunities like this don’t come along every day, and when they do, we must devote our full resources to ensuring that the prospective investor has a clear picture of the range of benefits our community has to offer, from a well-trained and abundant workforce to quality-of-life amenities.”
Oliver/Hatcher Construction of Detroit is the lead general contractor for the project, which is set to be built in phased construction — a building per every two years — over the next 16 years, according to Ashley Capital’s brownfield plan presentation.
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