TECUMSEH — A large infusion of funds will support a project to turn the former Tecumseh Products headquarters into apartments.

The federal funds will come through the Revitalization and Placemaking grant program administered by the state of Michigan. The grant was approved on May 21 by the Michigan Strategic Fund board.

The award will support the Products on Evans project, a brownfield redevelopment project that aims to rehabilitate a vacant, two-story office building near the downtown into a 59-unit apartment community. The brownfield site was previously the headquarters for the Tecumseh Products manufacturing facility. The project is a high priority for adding much-needed housing to the city and will be the first new apartment building in Tecumseh in over 30 years. 

The city has also secured a $500,000 Brownfield Redevelopment Loan and a $500,000 Brownfield Redevelopment Grant from EGLE to assist with the costs of certain environmental assessment and remediation activities for the site. The city is providing a 10-year tax abatement on the development.

“The city of Tecumseh is supportive of the large-scale development project known as The Quarters as it will begin to address the significant housing shortage in Tecumseh and Lenawee County,” Kelly Jo Gilmore, economic development director for the city of Tecumseh, said in a news release. “Located within a few blocks of our historic downtown, the development is set to rehabilitate a current brownfield site that has been vacant for the past decade. The development will serve as a catalyst in transforming the South Evans Street Corridor and re-energize the area as a gateway into Tecumseh’s downtown.”