Trustees authorizes land transfer to Innovation Center
July 21, 2003
KALAMAZOO -- Western Michigan University's Board of Trustees approved a motion July 16 to convey land at its Business Technology and Research Park to the Southwest Michigan Innovation Center.
The center, which is a business incubator, was recently constructed on two lots at the park--Units 15 and 16--and is scheduled to open this summer. The center currently holds a lease on the two parcels, and that lease includes an option for adding a third site--Unit 14. Conveyance of the land will be through a covenant deed to the center, and the land lease will be terminated.
According to Bob Miller, WMU's associate vice president for community outreach, conversion of the lease to a land conveyance will resolve any issues about the taxability of the property.
"Conveyance of the property to the Southwest Michigan Innovation Center will ensure the addition of this property to the city's tax base," Miller says.
Miller said the University has built into the land transfer all of the protections that were part of the lease. Those include a requirement that the property be used as a business incubator and for other purposes central to WMU's core mission.
Media contact: Cheryl Roland, 269 387-8400, cheryl.roland@wmich.edu