Press Release

Incentives Help Downtown Grow its Residential Base

To increase activity in the downtown area after 5 p.m. Alpena, MI, uses federal grants and tax abatements to grow its residential base.

(Boonton, NJ, December 1, 2009) — Downtown Alpena, MI, has long had underutilized, vacant upper floors. The City is attempting to change that, and stimulate residential redevelopment through state and federal government-backed incentive programs.

"The idea, of course, is to become more of a 24-hour downtown, rather than a place where everything shuts down at 5 o'clock," says Greg Sundin, director of planning and development for the City.

Thus far the downtown is reporting very positive results. Ten units have been completed and another eight are in the works in this city of just over 10,000.

Details on the funding sources and strategy are available in the December 1 issue of the Downtown Idea Exchange newsletter.

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About Downtown Idea Exchange

Downtown Idea Exchange newsletter is published by the Downtown Research & Development Center. For more than 50 years, the Downtown Research & Development Center has provided a forum for exchanging news, information and ideas on how to rebuild the hearts of our cities.

Website: http://www.DowntownDevelopment.com