Venture seeks more time on Owosso's former middle school housing deal

The developer that wants to turn Owosso's former middle school into 53 affordable apartments has told the Owosso Public Schools board it needs more time — its purchase agreement with the district was set to expire Aug. 1, 2026, and the financing that would let construction start has not closed.

Brad Michaud of Venture, Inc. laid out where the project stands at the board's June 24 meeting, according to minutes included in the district's July 22 board packet. Venture has been under contract with the district for the building since Aug. 10, 2022, Superintendent Steve Brooks told the board.

Michaud said Venture's plan is to rehabilitate the former school into 53 affordable housing apartments, paid for with a mix of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, Historic Tax Credits and other financing. The years of delay, he said, came from the competition for those tax credits and then the difficulty of finding a syndicator willing to buy them and put up the project's equity.

He told the board Venture has secured a letter of intent from a tax credit syndicator — a document setting out the terms under which the syndicator would buy the credits — which moves the project into due diligence and toward a financial closing. Treasurer Olga Quick asked whether the letter guaranteed the financing. Michaud said nothing is guaranteed until closing, but that Venture is confident in the partnership. Asked by Trustee John Pappas for a realistic timeline, he said Venture anticipates closing "within the coming months," and told the board elsewhere in the discussion that it expects to close by the end of the calendar year, with rehabilitation starting immediately after.

Secretary Nick Henne asked whether Venture would extend the purchase agreement past Aug. 1. Michaud said Venture would need the extension and is willing to grant one in order to finish the financing and keep its tax credit commitments with the state. Brooks reminded the board that any extension would require board consideration. Trustee Marlene Webster clarified that the board's action that night went no further than adding discussion of a contract extension to the agenda, with formal action to come later.

The July 22 regular meeting agenda, the front page of the same packet, does not list a Venture item under either "For Action" or "For Future Action." Its action list ran to Thrun policy updates, 2026-27 course offerings, science textbook adoption, student handbooks, obsolete band materials, new hires and a superintendent contract correction. The Current reported Sunday that the board's Aug. 26 agenda pairs a bond authorization resolution with first looks at a tax levy, a Wilkinson Road property proposal and FFA travel — also with no Venture item listed.

Board President Shelly Ochodnicky invited Justin Horvath of the Shiawassee Economic Development Partnership to speak. Horvath said SEDP has worked with Venture on the project for several years, that rising construction costs make tax credit financing essential for this kind of development, and that the letter of intent is a meaningful step. He pointed to Venture's Washington Park development in Owosso, saying the 16-unit project is fully occupied with a substantial waiting list, and said he expects the 53-unit building would be well used as well.

What happens next: the board meets in regular session at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 26, at the Performing Arts Center, 765 E. North St. Any extension of Venture's purchase agreement requires a board vote. Michaud told the board Venture expects to close on financing by the end of the calendar year and to begin rehabilitating the building at that point.