Dexter Village Council awards tax abatement to MedHub on $1.7M renovation project

The Dexter Village Council approved a tax abatement for a newly created Special Technology District on March 25. The district includes the 22,000-square-foot “old grain mill” purchased by University of Michigan spinoff company MedHub, Inc. in October 2011.

“We understand tax abatements can be controversial, especially in this economic climate,” MedHub CEO Peter Orr said in an email. “However, we feel this particular request truly benefits all concerned in equal parts.”

As part of the abatement, Medhub committed to investing $1.7 million in renovations for the old mill and plans to double its staff in the next year. The health care software company plans to move into the renovated facility in the spring of 2013.

Ann Arbor SPARK worked with MedHub and the village of Dexter to help facilitate the tax abatement. As an economic development corporation, one of SPARK’s primary activities is helping businesses interact with local governing bodies.

“It’s exciting that MedHub chose to renovate such a visible and significant structure in downtown Dexter, and is making that investment part of its efforts to attract talent to the company,” SPARK president and CEO Paul Krutko said in a statement.

“Having a business like MedHub downtown has a ripple effect on the Village economy, and on the surrounding region: Businesses want to locate where they know top talent can be attracted and retained.”

Orr told AnnArbor.com earlier in 2013 that the company has 8 employees and is looking to hire 12 new ones including a number of open source software developers.

He said that renovations to the building were necessary to attract the talent that MedHub needs to continue its growth and re-doing the interior will cost the company three times more than tearing the building down and starting over.

“This collaborative approach has made it possible to restore this unique building back to its original character,” he said in a statement. “This also provides MedHub and Dexter another competitive edge to attract very selective employees to a unique and dynamic community.”

Ben Freed covers business for AnnArbor.com. You can sign up here to receive Business Review updates every week. Reach out to Ben at 734-623-2528 or email him at benfreed@annarbor.com. Follow him on twitter @BFreedinA2