Revised Corridor Improvement policy aims to spur revitalization beyond downtown Grand Rapids

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Grand Rapids' new Corridor Improvement Authority Policy, which governs Corridor Improvement Districts (CID), is generating a lot of interest. CIDs enable commercial districts to capture some commercial property tax dollars and use them for improvements like new streets and sidewalks, more green space, parking enhancements, or marketing the district.

In 2005, new state legislation allowed local municipalities to establish tax increment financing in the form of CIDs in multiple geographic areas. Grand Rapids' Downtown Development Authority currently has the city's only geographic tax increment district.

The city's CID policy, adopted last November, sets forth the guidelines for designating CIDs and caps the number of new CIDs to four per year.

"The neighborhood business associations have the desire to improve their business districts, but they don't have the money or a mechanism to do it," says Kimberly Van Dyk, executive director of Neighborhood Ventures. The organization was a driving force behind the city's adoption of a CID policy.

Several neighborhood business districts—including Uptown, Madison Square, and Michigan Street—are looking to create CIDs.

To be considered for designation, a commercial district applies to the City Commission with a detailed plan that includes, in part, a map of the intended improvement district and a plan to implement the proposed improvements.

Once the CID is in place, that commercial district can apply for loans, receive grants, and acquire property.

"As 501(c) (6) non-profits, business associations cannot typically access grant funding nor do they have the collateral to receive loans for public improvement projects, " Van Dyk says. "A CID enables the Corridor Improvement Authority, which governs the district, to utilize multiple mechanisms to plan, finance and implement public improvements to the district."

Source: Kimberly Van Dyk, Neighborhood Ventures

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].