The redevelopment of four, mostly vacant buildings in downtown Kalamazoo could be completed in 2012 if a complicated financing arrangement to get the project moving can be finalized by year’s end.  The Kalamazoo City Commission acted Monday night to push back the closing date for the buildings’ purchase for a fourth time, now giving Portage developer MAVCON Properties LLC until Dec. 31 to obtain title to the property in the 100 block of East Michigan Avenue.

City officials said MAVCON has a buyer for millions of dollars of federal tax credits that will provide the largest, single share of financing for the $10 million project. But they suggested the commitment and sale process for those credits is complicated and could be delayed beyond the scheduled Nov. 5 closing date.

As a contingency, the city’s action Monday night now gives MAVCON until Dec. 31 to close the deal.  The project calls for the redevelopment of four adjacent buildings into street-level retail spaces, with apartments on the second and third floors.

The city approved its first resolutions supporting the project in September 2009 and offered more than $1 million dollars of local and federal loans and grants, brownfield reimbursements for eligible rehabilitation, Downtown Development Authority aid and the relocation of underground infrastructure. (click on link to read full story)