The Costco will be built on the former Four Winds Golf Course, land that East Lansing annexed from Meridian Township in 2001. Because of the annexation, Meridian Township and the City of East Lansing must both agree to plans for the site.

Meridian Township Manager Frank Walsh confirmed that East Lansing and Meridian Township reached a deal. 

“It’s done,” he said.

A TIF allows a city or municipality to reinvest the tax revenues of a group of businesses and other taxable entities in an economic development project in the district.

Furthermore, TIF can help communities redevelop previously-used sites for a lower cost, according to the city of East Lansing’s website.

For the Costco TIF deal, a number of local tax entities, including East Lansing, Meridian Township, Ingham County and East Lansing Public Schools, share in the cost, Walsh said. 

They will receive less tax revenue from the new Costco until that tax revenue is equal to $1.5 million that would have come in.

Under Tuesday’s agreement, the plan will go forward with the $1.5 million cap, but Meridian Township will only share in the first $1 million.

“(When Meridian Township began discussions) with Costco, we didn’t have a full picture of what the costs would be,” Walsh said. “The cost is closer to ($1.5 million), but we felt more comfortable sticking to the $1 million that we negotiated earlier.”

Representatives from both municipalities believe that Costco will be a benefit to the region.

In a previous State News article, East Lansing City Manager George Lahanas said that Costco could add about 150 new jobs to the community.

Now that East Lansing and Meridian Township have agreed on the terms of the TIF deal, the project is ready to move forward.

“We’d all be very disappointed if it didn’t,” Walsh said. “We’ve put a lot of time and energy into it, and I know Costco is excited to come here.”