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(From Page 1 of the July 12, 2004, issue of Crain´s Detroit Business. For more news about business in Southeast Michigan, visit the Crain´s Web site, www.crainsdetroit.com.) Philanthropist uses fortune from family business to Reshape Port Huron Amy Lane Crain´s Detroit Business
PORT HURON -- When sailboats in the Port Huron-to-Mackinac race line up this Saturday, it´ll be from an 80-year-old tall ship owned by local businessman and philanthropist James Acheson that they get their official start. As symbols go, it´s a good one. Acheson, 67, is the architect and financier of a $60 million-plus redevelopment on the city´s south side waterfront where he grew up. And he has given millions toward community improvements, from a college technical center to downtown building facades to transforming drug houses and rental dwellings into single-family homes. "Mr. Acheson, both through his development company and his foundation, is playing a major role in reshaping the community and really a leading role in revitalizing the south side of Port Huron," said Doug Alexander, executive director of the Economic Development Alliance of St. Clair County. "The development project, Desmond Landing, ... will have a huge impact on the community for years to come." Acheson is the former chairman of Acheson Industries, a global coatings and lubricants supplier he and his family sold in 1998 for $700 million. He´s also the grandson of inventor Edward Acheson, a protege of Thomas Edison whose work under Edison included a coating used in the incandescent light bulb. Acheson´s plans for the waterfront include transforming a one-mile stretch of industrial St. Clair River property into a new anchor that includes a terminal and deep-water port; park, natural areas and public open space; residential options; and an office complex that will be the new headquarters for Farmington Hills-based Semco Energy Inc. It´s a project driven by Acheson´s desire to give back to the community, but also a hedge against unfettered growth likely to spread northeast from the Detroit area. "Part of our plan is to just be prepared for that, and to help Port Huron be in control of its destiny, so to speak," said Douglas Austin, executive vice president of Acheson Ventures L.L.C. A family history of innovation Acheson, who declined an interview but made available his top executives, formed Acheson Ventures after he and the family of deceased brother Howard Acheson, of Bloomfield Hills, sold the company their grandfather started in 1908 to ICI plc of England. The company was one of many accomplishments for Edward Acheson, who logged more than 70 patents for discoveries including carborundum, an abrasive used in metal finishing. In planning Desmond Landing, James Acheson assembled a team that included CPAs Austin and Donna Niester, management consultant Richard Engle, hospital project manager Michael DeLong, retired Port Huron city planner and harbormaster Raymond Straffon, retired U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Robert Lafean and public-relations veteran Paul Maxwell. To date, the company has spent $60 million to purchase, clean up and begin redeveloping 72 acres, much of it railway yards, in what was a decaying urban area. The total project value likely will rise much higher, but Acheson Ventures officials aren´t placing a dollar amount on their investment or a timetable on the development´s build-out. "We can sit and wait, or not wait. We can wait for the right opportunities," Austin said. The project in 2002 received a Michigan Economic Growth Authority rownfield tax credit of up to about $2.2 million, and infrastructure improvements will be funded by capturing the increased taxes generated by the development. The captured tax revenue will be split between Acheson Ventures and local government. Livonia-based Integrated Environmental Inc. has handled cleanup and environmental consulting on the project, while Desmond Landing´s master architect is Detroit-based Albert Kahn Associates Inc. Semco Energy will consolidate its headquarters and other operations in a new 100,000-square-foot building in Desmond Landing. Semco will lease 60 percent of the building and the remaining space may house other offices, restaurants or retail, Acheson Ventures officials said. The $24 million building and attached parking deck are scheduled to be completed in November. Semco expects to move into the building by the end of the year and also will have an operations center in Port Huron´s industrial park. Construction is scheduled to begin later this year or early next year on a new YMCA building, and Acheson Ventures would like to attract another major employer, such as a regional headquarters or operational center, that would bring perhaps 1,000 professionals interested in living and working in the urban area. Building a ´cool city´ It´s the type of development Gov. Jennifer Granholm hopes to spur with her "cool cities" initiative: a revitalized urban area drawing new businesses and young professionals to live, work and play. Acheson Ventures began laying plans long before Granholm was in office, but the vision of a pedestrian-friendly development of parks, shops, housing and artists -- some of whom have in the last two years moved from metro Detroit to downtown Port Huron -- helped secure a state "cool cities" grant awarded in June by Granholm. The renovation of a waterfront-area building into an incubator for artists is among 20 pilot projects statewide to receive grants of up to $100,000 and access to additional state community-improvement resources. "Cool cities," said Paul Maxwell, Acheson Ventures´ director of public affairs, "brings forth an idea that we believe in, the creative class. And from a business perspective, we hope to tap into other tools." Acheson is among backers of the arts incubator, through his James C. Acheson Foundation. Over the past six years, through the foundation or individually, Acheson has given more than $24 million to community organizations or projects that span housing, maritime, educational and business purposes. And usually, it´s as a partner who seeks more impact than attention. "He´s very low-key; he doesn´t look for credit," said Rose Bellanca, president of St. Clair County Community College. "Plus, he´s helped the community learn that they can achieve goals." A $1 million gift went toward construction of a $6.5 million Michigan Technical Education Center on the college´s riverfront campus, as did a $1.25 million challenge grant to raise money for auditoriums and gym improvements at the city´s two high schools. In Port Huron´s historical downtown, building owners can spiff up their facades with the help of an Acheson-supported matching grant program through MainStreet Port Huron, a downtown revitalization organization. MainStreet started the façade grant program in 1993 with the help of local banks, but the $100,000 Acheson gave the program in 2000 and $50,000 given since has helped substantially increase grant size and quantity, said Janice Dubay, MainStreet program manager. She said the nearly $54,000 in grants that MainStreet gave out before 2000 has mushroomed by nearly $144,000 since then, leveraging about $811,000 in new building investment. "It´s given us a much bigger impact within the community, as far as getting people motivated to fix up the exteriors of the facades of the buildings," Dubay said. Drawing from Detroit One beneficiary from the Detroit area will be House of Denmark, which has purchased the former Sperry´s department store building downtown and is remodeling it to be the Holly-based company´s seventh furniture store. Harper Woods attorney Donald Cook, who represents House of Denmark, said the location has central downtown exposure, desirable proximity to other furniture stores, and access to customers from the St. Clair County area and Canada. Cook said House of Denmark also saw the revitalization of the waterfront as positive, and he said Port Huron´s city administration, including the city manager, makes a big difference in bringing businesses to the city. "I have never had a municipality so cooperative and so anxious to help," Cook said. He said House of Denmark hopes to open this summer. Because of efforts by Acheson and others in the community, more Detroit area businesses likely will take a look at their waterfront neighbor to the north, said Randy Maiers, president of the Community Foundation of St. Clair County. Maiers, who came to Port Huron in 2002 from his post as executive director of the Dearborn-based Education Foundation for the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, said the area is poised to become a major destination for tourists, new residents and economic growth. "I think we will be competing with the metro Detroit market for startups and for businesses looking to relocate," Maiers said. "The next biggest opportunity is going to be the Port Huron area, the Blue Water area." Maiers said Acheson has catalyzed partnerships, such as a community renaissance zone project to improve housing and other elements of a 10-block neighborhood by Desmond Landing. Government and local partners have committed $2 million, including $1.2 million from Acheson. It is through such partnerships that Desmond Landing drew community support. "If they had started from the beginning saying, ´We´re a wealthy developer and we´re going to do what we see fit,´ the public would have fought back," Maiers said. Acheson Ventures held 52 meetings with various groups to seek input from the community on what they saw as important. One strong message: commitment to public use of the waterfront, said Richard Engle, Acheson Ventures vice president. The plan includes a continuous park and open-space system along the St. Clair River, with created parks and wetlands, fishing pier, boat docks and a promenade. Desmond Landing includes a deep-water port for cruise ships and berths for the Highlander Sea tall ship and the decommissioned U.S. Coast Guard cutter Bramble, a longtime accompaniment to Port Huron-to-Mackinac sailors. Financial guarantees from Acheson and legislative help from U.S. Rep. Candice Miller, R-Harrison Township, helped secure the Bramble. Miller, who sails in her 28th Port Huron-to-Mackinac race this weekend, said that shortly after she was elected, Acheson associates approached her about the need for the Bramble to stay in the area. Her first bill in Congress paved the way for the boat to remain a local part of maritime history. "Years ago, Detroit had Henry Ford," Miller said. "Every town needs something like that, and Port Huron´s got Jim Acheson." Amy Lane: (517) 371-5355, alane@crain.com. Acheson´s gifts James Acheson´s mark on Port Huron includes more than $84 million in individual, foundation or business contributions since 1998. Among them:
Detroit- Port Huron ties A sampling of Detroit area companies that have operations in or near Port Huron :
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