Cornerstone Alliance is hoping the selection of its Lake Michigan Industrial Park for Indiana Michigan Power’s Future Ready Sites Accelerator program will provide a boost to the property’s industrial development prospects.
I&M announced this month that Site North B of the park is one of two Michigan sites selected for the accelerator, which will provide technical assistance to help prepare it for the market. Cornerstone Alliance Strategic Projects Manager Jillian Nadolski tells us the site off Napier Avenue and near Lake Michigan College is prime for investment. Cornerstone reached agreements with its multiple owners so it could be marketed to developers.
“The Lake Michigan Industrial Park formerly started out with just the 285 acres at the crossroads of Meadowbrook and Yore,” Nadolski said. “Through a grant provided to us by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation Strategic Site Readiness Program, we were able to start looking at the available acreage available nearby for development and start amassing a larger campus style layout. And so that’s where the LMIP North B site comes from. There’s also a further north portion that’s North A. And then on the other side of US 31, there’s East East A and East B. They were able to amass about 827 acres total, and most of it is currently used for agricultural purposes. So no active developments on any of these sites and all are targeted for potential future industrial development.”
Nadolski says she can’t comment on any specific potential uses, but Cornerstone Alliance is pursuing all kinds of developments.
Now that it’s part of the I&M accelerator, she says a national firm specializing in industrial site evaluations will take a deep dive into the property’s potential.
“They are using InSite Consulting, and at the stage right now through the program, we have submitted all of the site information that we have currently and they are assessing that to determine where we might need to focus our efforts. We’ve already highlighted the utility needs but they may see something else, in their awareness of what’s out there and anything needed to make the site more competitive. So, it’s pretty open-ended. We’re really looking forward to seeing what, what comes from that and gearing the site up for something for the future.”
Nadolski says the partnership with I&M could lead to more improvements at Site North B, making it even more attractive.
“Advancing the site readiness strengthens our region’s ability to be competitive for major employers and capital investment, and our focus with Cornerstone Alliance is to support long-term economic resilience and doing so by preparing development ready land and attracting job creating industries and expanding the tax base. Just making Berrien County as a whole more economically competitive will help our community as well as the greater region of Southwest Michigan. And so we’re excited about what’s to come and we’re wanting to get our sites prepared for opportunities as they to come.”
Meanwhile, the other Michigan site selected for the I&M accelerator is the Mattawan Life Sciences Park in Van Buren County.
