Pavilions of Troy project

In April, the Troy City Council approved a resolution to reimburse the venture, through a TIF, up to $13.2 million for approved activities to remediate the property, including demolition of the current complex. The eligible activities under the city's brownfield plan include the "demolition of structures and lead and asbestos abatement, on eligible properties that are functionally obsolete," according to the resolution.

Kmart moved its 5,000 employees out after the company was acquired by Sears in 2005. Troy officials have approved of the redevelopment project because it will help make a downtown for the large Detroit suburb, which has two large enclosed malls, Oakland and Somerset, but no walkable lifestyle retail center. City officials have sought for years to achieve a downtown, after several failed attempts to bring retail and a theater to the city's public campus at Interstate 75 and Big Beaver Road. Troy officials could not be reached for this story, and Hunter Richardson, president of his self-named firm, did not return calls for comment. His Web site for the project has not been updated since last year.

Some of the funding for Pavilions' tax incentives will come through state coffers, using the Lansing, MI-based Michigan Economic Development Corp. The corporation, as well as the Michigan State Housing Development Authority and the Michigan Economic Growth Authority, announced funds for 10 projects recently that are scheduled to generate $417 million for the state. "We will continue to go anywhere and do anything to bring new jobs here," said Gov. Jennifer Granholm in an MEDC statement.