This Connected Mayor Got $270.7 Million From Michigan Taxpayers

The redevelopment of Sterling Heights' former Lakeside Mall is a textbook example of what Michigan officials call “economic development,” which primarily benefits those already in power.

The Sterling Heights Lakeside Mall is being transformed into Lakeside City Center, a 110-acre mixed-use development site backed by one of Michigan’s largest incentive packages in recent history.

Last week, the project received massive assistance through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), including approval of a $270.7 million Transformational Brownfield incentive package, allowing future tax revenues generated by the site to reimburse eligible development costs over the next three decades.

Sterling Heights Mayor Michael Taylor has been one of Lakeside's strongest public advocates and described that the project would bring “hundreds of new jobs, hundreds of permanent new jobs for our community and thousands of construction jobs” and a “walkable community that would serve as a model.”

But what’s rarely mentioned is that, in 2025, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer appointed Taylor to the MEDC Executive Committee, the leadership body of the state's primary economic development agency.

What message does it send to the rest of Michigan when the very people tasked with choosing winners and losers on a statewide level can benefit from the projects they approve?

The Lakeside project illustrates how MEDC has increasingly come to resemble an exclusive club for Lansing’s elite.

Lakeside isn't an isolated project—it's part of a broader MEDC strategy that relies on targeted subsidies for a small number of high-profile developments.

As we've seen before, Michigan has committed billions of dollars to incentive packages in pursuit of promised economic gains, raising recurring questions about an economic development strategy that picks winners and losers.

Just how Michigan is the project? The developer—Lionheart Capital—is based in Miami. When did Michigan Economic Development mean Michigan taxpayers help finance a Florida investment firm's portfolio growth?

Lakeside may ultimately become a successful redevelopment. Everyone should hope it does. But the project illustrates a bigger policy question—should a government agency, largely appointed and directed by the current governor—be deciding which developers receive hundreds of millions of dollars in public support?

Michigan's small businesses, farmers, and local entrepreneurs don't have teams of consultants negotiating nine-figure incentive packages. How are they supposed to compete without decades of tax incentives, specialized financing, or state-backed redevelopment tools?

Michigan taxpayers don’t have connections to Lansing politicians or lobbyists but are directly funding projects that benefit other communities. Regular Michiganders do not get a seat at the table, but they're still expected to pick up the tab.

Michigan should focus on creating a business environment where every business—not just those with the largest redevelopment proposals or politically connected mayors —has an opportunity to succeed.