St. Joseph City Commission Approves Brownfield TIF and Special Use Permit for First Downtown Development in Four Decades

St. Joseph, Michigan, October 27, 2025—What could be the first development in the City of St. Joseph’s downtown since the 1980s has taken its next steps toward realization during Monday night’s City Commission meeting.

The meeting agenda included both approval of a Special Use Permit for a height increase to 80 feet in the Downtown Height Overlay District as well as a public hearing and approval of a Brownfield TIF for the developers. Both actions are important steps forward outlined in the “Resolution of Conditional Support” passed by the Commission back in June as well as August’s Purchase Agreement for the City parking lot at the corner of Broad Street and Lake Boulevard.

“The approval of a Special Use Permit as recommended by the Planning Commission for height increase is an important step in allowing the development of a building that will make a meaningful impact on our area’s significant housing need,” said Kristen Gundersen, Community Development Director for the City of St. Joseph. “The Special Use Permit will allow the building to accommodate 100 of the 900 housing units needed in the city while being only the fourth-tallest building in our downtown.”

The approval of the Brownfield TIF is another critical component to meeting the housing need—ensuring that a portion of the rental units are attainable for the average year-round resident of St. Joseph. While Brownfield has historically been used for remediation of contaminated sites, the Michigan Legislature recently expanded the law to incentivize housing development.

“When people hear ‘Brownfield,’ they think contaminated land,” said Kelly Ewalt, Development Director. “But that isn’t necessarily the case anymore. Now, developers can be reimbursed for certain expenses through the Brownfield program in order to build housing with rent that is affordable for up to 120% of area median income (AMI)—current area median income for a family of four is about $78,500, 120% is $94,200.”

With the approvals, the Marquette project is on its way to completing its final pre-development steps. Up next, the City and the Rienks Group will need to align on a Development Agreement, which will then be considered and voted on by the City Commission. According to the Terms of Sale for the City parking lot, the Development Agreement must include:

  • assurance that TRG will construct, operate and maintain the project in compliance with all zoning and land use approvals;
  • specific timelines;
  • reasonable financial assurances that TRG can complete the project;
  • repurchase rights for the City if the Development Agreement is breached;
  • Right of First Refusal to the City;
  • a public parking easement for at least 57 public parking spaces; and
  • the use of the property to provide market rate apartments at no more than 120% of AMI

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The City of St. Joseph is a historic town located off of I-94 between Chicago and Detroit, nestled beside the mouth of the St. Joseph River and Lake Michigan. With a population of about 7,800, the small town features a quaint downtown with local shops, historic buildings and brick streets overlooking a clear view of Lake Michigan sunsets and the iconic inner and outer lighthouses. St. Joseph is the Berrien County seat and home to the popular county-owned Silver Beach.

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