Michigan Community Capital invests New Markets Tax Credits into thermoforming company expansion.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 6, 2023
LANSING, Mich. – Vantage Plastics, a family-owned and operated custom thermoforming company, received $6.5 million in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation from Michigan Community Capital (MCC) yesterday. This allocation will be utilized for the purchase and installation of equipment in the newly purchased and renovated building in Bay City, Michigan. The 325,000-square-foot manufacturing and warehouse facility will house equipment for injection molding, extrusion, and thermoforming machines needed to expand production capacity and meet demand.
Specifically, this nearly $27-million project will include 215,000 square feet of space for Vantage’s plastic thermoforming and injection molding operations; 100,000 square feet of space to produce custom thermoplastic polyolefin sheet stock by Vantage subsidiary Airpark Plastics; and 10,000-square feet of office space for staff.
Located in an economically distressed census tract with an unemployment rate of 7.6% (1.4 times the national average). The project site is also within a brownfield redevelopment area.
Since starting in 1996 with the purchase of a small thermoforming facility in Standish, Vantage Plastics has grown into a family of six companies that employs over 250 Michigan residents. This expansion project is expected to support 113 full-time equivalent positions, 108 of which are newly created. Positions include production managers, engineers, electrical and machine repairmen, machine and forklift operators, and general laborers – all positions accessible with less than a four-year degree. These positions will also earn an above average living wage and will receive comprehensive benefits, including health insurance, performance-based variable pay, and paid time off. Vantage Plastics will continue to partner with Bay Future, Michigan Works!, Bay Arenac ISD Career Center, and Arenac Opportunities to recruit and hire local residents, especially those with significant barriers to employment.
“Vantage Plastics and its affiliate family of companies have always improved the communities in which we reside,” said Don Hale, Mergers, Acquisitions, and Emerging Technologies at Vantage Plastics. “This project allows us to continue that focus through new employment and refurbishment of a facility that badly needed it. We appreciate the help and support from all the people and companies that are and have been helping to bring this together.”
MCC is supporting this project with a $6.5-million New Markets Tax Credit allocation.
“Creating jobs that offer living wages and benefits enables individuals not only to survive but also to thrive,” said President and CEO of Michigan Community Capital, Eric Hanna. “We are pleased to partner with Michigan companies that prioritize local investment, local employment, and the bolstering of the Michigan economy.”
The senior lender in this project is West Michigan Community Bank in partnership with Northstar Bank.
“We are very excited for Vantage Plastics and the Bay City community,” said Michael Skinner, SVP, Grand Rapids Market Manager, Commercial Banking at West Michigan Community Bank. “The new investment will help revitalize this facility, provide them room for further growth and create new jobs here in Michigan. MCC did a great job bringing a team together quickly to help Vantage Plastics navigate the NMTC process. We appreciate the opportunity to partner with Vantage Plastics and MCC on this project.”
Dudley Ventures is serving as the NMTC investor on the project.
“We are thrilled to have participated as the NMTC investor in Vantage Plastics’ transformative project. The $6.5 million allocation from Michigan Community Capital has been instrumental in facilitating the purchase and installation of cutting-edge equipment in their newly acquired facility. We are grateful for the incredible teamwork that made this transaction possible, and we look forward to witnessing Vantage Plastics expand its production capacity and meet the growing demand. This project is a testament to the power of collaboration and innovation in driving economic growth,” said Kyle Koupal, Vice President of Investments at Dudley Ventures/Valley Bank.
About Michigan Community Capital
Michigan Community Capital (MCC) is a non-profit diversified public-private partnership that supports the missions of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) by aggregating capital and facilitating the financing and development of low-income and attainable housing, and the redevelopment of complex brownfield sites within the State of Michigan. MCC is a U.S. Treasury certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and the only Community Development Entity (CDE) that deploys this resource solely throughout the entire State of Michigan. Since 2005, MCC has supported over $1.3 billion in project financing, successfully attracted $445 million in federal New Markets Tax Credits, and helped to create over 1,500 housing units, 4.3 million square feet of commercial, retail and industrial space to facilitate job creation and expansion, and has insured over 22,000 affordable multifamily doors. MCC drives community development impacts in four key areas: Real Estate Development, CDFI lending, New Markets Tax Credits, and affordable Property Insurance. michigancommunitycapital.org
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Groundbreaking of The Watershed in Sturgis, Michigan
Allocation will support projects in low-income census tracts within the State of Michigan
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 25, 2023
LANSING, Mich. – Michigan Community Capital (MCC) is pleased to announce their award of $65 million in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) on Friday, September 22, 2023. For the third annual funding round in a row, MCC has been awarded the highest allocation amount available which is reflective of MCC’s track record for deploying New Markets Tax Credits into impactful and transformative projects in rural and urban communities throughout Michigan.
“We are proud to continue to partner with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and S. B. Friedman & Associates to attract valuable federal resources to support Michigan,” said President and CEO of Michigan Community Capital, Eric Hanna. “We look forward to working together to deploy these valuable federal resources to support underserved communities in Michigan.”
With this latest award, MCC will provide much need financing to projects located in historically disinvested communities throughout the state of Michigan. Allocation will be directed to projects prioritizing:
Creating or expanding healthy food access
Developing mixed-use, mixed-income housing in low-income areas of opportunity
Supporting skilled training programs and/or expanding services for low-income families
Generating living-wage jobs through manufacturing or community-based projects
Since 2005, Michigan Community Capital has received $445 million in New Markets Tax Credit allocations and has remained the only Community Development Entity deploying efforts solely in Michigan at a state-wide level. To date, MCC has invested NMTC allocations into 39 projects across the state resulting in over 5,000 full-time jobs created or retained, more than 800 housing units established, and the development of 4.2 million square feet of commercial, retail, and industrial space.
To learn more about Michigan Community Capital’s impact or would like to explore leveraging New Markets Tax Credit for your project, click here.
Michigan Community Capital (MCC) is a non-profit diversified public-private partnership that supports the missions of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) by aggregating capital and facilitating the financing and development of low-income and attainable housing, and the redevelopment of complex brownfield sites within the State of Michigan. MCC is a U.S. Treasury certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and the only Community Development Entity (CDE) that deploys this resource solely throughout the entire State of Michigan. Since 2005, MCC has supported over $1.3 billion in project financing, successfully attracted $445 million in federal New Markets Tax Credits, and helped to create over 1,500 housing units, 4.3 million square feet of commercial, retail and industrial space to facilitate job creation and expansion, and has insured over 22,000 affordable multifamily doors. MCC drives community development impacts in four key areas: Real Estate Development, CDFI lending, New Markets Tax Credits, and affordable Property Insurance. michigancommunitycapital.org
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Two national awards and one statewide award name Michigan Community Capital as recipient in May 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, June 1, 2023
LANSING, MICH. – May was a monumental month for Michigan Community Capital (MCC) who accepted three awards from two industry organizations. Two (2) New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) investments led to receiving the Real Estate QLICI of the Year and Small Business QLICI of the Year designation from the 2023 Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits Community Development QLICIs of the Year. Additionally, MCC’s Lofts on Rowe development received the 2023 Tax Credit Award from the Michigan Historic Preservation Network (MHPN).
For 18 years, Michigan Community Capital (formally Michigan Magnet Fund) has invested in transformational community development projects across the state of Michigan that create housing, jobs and access to fresh food through NMTC allocations. Since the organization’s inception, MCC has worked to advance these projects using the best tools possible, even if it means creating new tools or wearing new hats.
Starting in 2018, MCC has taken its lending and investment know-how and began development of projects starting with Cadillac Lofts. As of today, nine (9) properties developed and/or co-developed by MCC has led to investing more than $89 million in Michigan communities, creating 421 new residential units and 68 new permanent jobs, and activating almost 350,000 square feet of indoor real estate.
Being a community development lender has helped Michigan Community Capital become a diligent and lean developer, and their development experience has also influenced their lending and investment approach.
“We are honored to be recognized by our partners and friends at MHPN, and proud to be recognized nationally by Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits,” said Eric Hanna, president and CEO of Michigan Community Capital. “The MCC team works very hard to deliver projects that communities need, whether as a lender, developer, investor, or insurer. We are grateful to both organizations for recognizing our work and the impact it has on the communities we serve.”
Lofts on Rowe in Ludington, Michigan
2023 Michigan Historic Preservation Network Tax Credit Award
Lofts on Rowe
Michigan Community Capital’s development, Lofts on Rowe, was named the winner of a 2023 Tax Credit Award from the Michigan Historic Preservation Network (MHPN), and the award was presented in-person on Friday, May 12 at the 2023 MHPN Annual Conference on Mackinac Island.
After sitting vacant for nearly 30 years, the 1892-brick building fronting a full city block on the edge of a residential neighborhood just north of Ludington’s downtown was rehabilitated into 67 residential units. The building housed a series of manufacturing businesses, including Carrom wooden games and Haskell Canoe Company, and served as the headquarters for the Civilian Conservation Corps Camp Ludington in the 1930s.
The building’s industrial character is featured in the exposed interior brickwork and original wood beams. Amenities available to residents include a fitness room, bike storage, and on-site parking, and the ground level offers a commercial suite for local small businesses.
Utilizing historic tax credits, the $14-million project revitalized a long abandoned and neglected historic building in the heart of the neighborhood, giving the city and region a historic asset that will serve residents and community members for decades to come.
Michigan Community Capital served as the developer on the Lofts on Rowe project, and additional partners included Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Pennies from Heaven Foundation, PNC Bank, West Shore Bank, the City of Ludington and Mason County.
Two awards from the 2023 Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits Community Development QLICIs of the Year Awards named Michigan Community Capital.
Real Estate QLICI of the Year
The Freelon at Sugar Hill
The Freelon at Sugar Hill is an inclusive community for all Detroiters, reinforcing urban vitality in Midtown Detroit’s Sugar Hill Arts District. The $35-million project co-developed by the Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) and Develop Detroit, replaced a vacant lot across the street from the John D. Dingell VA Medical Center with 68 apartments, 11,900 square feet of retail space, and a 160-space parking garage. Of the 20 affordable housing units, 14 were created for veterans served by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HUD-VASH program through the Dingell VA Center. Another six apartments are set aside for those earning up to 80 percent of area median income. The mixed-use building supports inclusive growth within the historic district as a cultural, commercial, and residential destination.
MCC provided $6 million in NMTC allocation in partnership with PNC Bank, Building America CDE, and Cinnaire.
Small Business QLICI of the Year
Detroit Food Commons
The Detroit Food Commons is a new-construction development on the southeast corner of Woodward Avenue and Euclid Street in Detroit’s North End neighborhood. The two-story, 31,000-square-foot building will house the Detroit People’s Food Co-op – a community-owned grocery selling healthy, locally sourced food, a deli and bakery, and a neighborhood café – on the first floor. The second floor will house four teaching kitchens, a banquet hall/community meeting space and office spaces for nonprofit organizational use.
Located within a CDFI-qualified severely distressed census tract, the ground-level grocery will provide healthy, affordable options to more than 31,000 low–income community members and over 19,000 food desert residents within a 1.5-mile trade radius.
The nearly $20-million project spearheaded by non-profits Detroit Black Community Food Security Network (DBCFSN) and Develop Detroit (DDI) received $7 million in New Markets Tax Credits allocation from Michigan Community Capital in partnership with New Markets Support Company, and U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance.
The Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits Community Development QLICIs of the Year Awards recognize community development entities (CDEs) that made exceptional qualified low-income community investments (QLICIs) in the past year. The in-person award ceremony will be held at 9 am Eastern, Thursday, June 8, at the Fairmont Washington, D.C. Georgetown, during the Novogradac 2023 Spring New Markets Tax Credit Conference.
About Michigan Community Capital
Michigan Community Capital (MCC) is a non-profit diversified public-private partnership that supports the missions of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) by aggregating capital and facilitating the financing and development of low-income and attainable housing, and the redevelopment of complex brownfield sites within the State of Michigan. MCC is a U.S. Treasury certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and the only Community Development Entity (CDE) that deploys this resource solely throughout the entire State of Michigan. Over its 18-year history, MCC has supported over $1.2 billion in project financing, successfully attracted $380 million in federal New Markets Tax Credits, and helped to create over 1,350 housing units, 1.3 million square feet of commercial, retail and industrial space to facilitate job creation and expansion and insures over 22,000 affordable multifamily doors. MCC provides products in four key pillars: housing equity, bridge and gap lending, New Markets Tax Credits, and property insurance for Low-Income Housing Tax Credit projects.
