Pontiac movie studio receives $28M in bond funding

The local film industry got a big boost from Oakland County recently when the county's Economic Development Corp authorized $28 million in bonds for construction of a film studio in Pontiac.

The tax exempt bonds will finance the conversion of an old General Motors plant into the Michigan Motion Pictures Studios, also known as Raleigh Michigan Studios. The facility was formerly GM's Centerpoint East Campus, but it's been vacant for several years.

The project will build a 185,000-square-foot addition onto the 425,000-square-foot facility, which will also be renovated. The $60 million project should be done by the end of this year.

This project was made possible by Oakland County's access to federal Recovery Zone Bonds. This financing tool is usually used to woo manufacturing facilities; however the definition of eligible projects expanded after the financial crisis.

"This broadens the scope of what we can do," says Mary Langhauser, supervisor of financial services for the Oakland County Planning and Economic Development Dept. "This is for a movie studio. It could be for a stadium or a hotel."

Source: Mary Langhauser, supervisor of financial services for the Oakland County Planning and Economic Development Dept
Writer: Jon Zemke

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Pontiac movie studio receives $28M in bond funding

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