LANSING — One of Lansing's biggest employers is further expanding, planning a demolition of a building on its campus east of the Stadium District and an additional $38 million investment as the campus continues to grow.
Neogen, a food safety and biotech company, employs about 600 people at its Lansing campus and is asking the city and state for more brownfield tax credits in exchange for further investment to expand its current 2.6-acre campus.
The plan would need to get approval by the City of Lansing and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation/Michigan Strategic Fund, the city and the Lansing Economic Development Corporation said in a joint statement Tuesday.
The Lansing Brownfield Redevelopment Authority approved the latest plan on July 12.
“I am excited that Neogen continues to choose Lansing to grow their business, invest, and create jobs right here in our community,” Mayor Andy Schor said in the release. “Neogen has been an incredible corporate partner with the city, and this investment is further proof of their commitment to Lansing. I am proud of the work that my administration and the Lansing Economic Development Corporation have done in partnership with Neogen to ensure this growth, and the new jobs it creates, are beneficial to Lansing’s future.”
Jim Walter, Neogen’s vice president of Global Operations, said the proposed expansion is key for the company.
“Neogen is excited to further our partnership with the Lansing Economic Development Corporation as the expansion of our Lansing-based facility continues,” he said. “With their support, we will be able to not only offer additional support to our mid-Michigan community, but to our customers around the world.”
The neighborhood has seen a lot of changes in the last 20 years, said Barbara Leroy, 95, who for 20 years has lived in a home on Jerome Street almost in sight of the University of Michigan Health-Sparrow hospital, where she was born. It's also near Neogen and on Tuesday afternoon, a large green Neogen truck drove by Leroy's house while she relaxed in the shade of her porch.
Leroy said she hopes the area stabilizes once construction is finished, leaving her neighborhood with good jobs at the company and less construction traffic.
Phase I
The company, founded in Lansing in 1982 with a focus on global animal and food safety, was already getting brownfield tax credits for an ongoing expansion and is building a three-story, 176,000-square-foot manufacturing facility. The company in 2022 received brownfield tax funding for that plan, about $5 million in property taxes generated that were to go back to Neogen for construction costs related to reviving the brownfield area.
That phase has increased in costs, more than doubling Neogen's investment, from $71.5 million to $169.8 million, and upping the brownfield credits the company gets to $6.2 million.
In a recent presentation, the company said it took away more than 38,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil and mitigated against future contamination. The company said the first phase led to about 60 new jobs.
Phase II
That second phase would be an additional $38.2 million investment by Neogen, with the company getting $2.4 million in extra brownfield funding. The second phase is expected to bring 55 new jobs to Lansing.
City council members would need to approve the new brownfield plan, said Scott Bean, a spokesperson for the mayor's office.
The company would demolish a building at 720 E. Shiawassee, build a new 35,000-square foot building and also acquire and renovate a building at 703 E. Michigan Avenue.
The second phase would also expand warehouse space and build an expansion, about 4,700 square feet, to the manufacturing and research building.
If the second phase is approved, the two phases together would mean a $208 million investment with more than $8 million in brownfield credits.
Contact Mike Ellis at mellis@lsj.com or 517-267-0415
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Neogen plans $200M expansion of campus near downtown Lansing
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