Michigan's Transformational Brownfield Program has delivered the eighth-lowest job growth among all states since its 2017 launch, despite promises to create employment across the state, according to a June 11, 2026 analysis from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. The report finds that as lawmakers weigh expanding funding for the developer subsidy initiative, the original program has failed to achieve its stated economic goals. Median household income growth ranked 15th-lowest nationally during the same period.
The program approved just two deals under its original framework: one to replace buildings in Detroit and another to redevelop a paper mill in Vicksburg. The Vicksburg project, in a town of 4,000 residents, remains incomplete and hasn't transformed the community. Detroit, meanwhile, continues as the poorest major city in America with an unemployment rate slightly below 10%, while most large cities sit under 5%. Workers in subsidized buildings pay income taxes, but 50% of that revenue goes to developers instead of state coffers. None of the four counties mentioned by name when a bill sponsor promised the program would "grow good jobs for Michigan, grow wages for Michigan families, and grow our economies everywhere in the state" actually received subsidized projects.
The report documents how the program shifted economic activity rather than generating new growth. Businesses relocated to new Detroit buildings from existing city locations, leaving vacant properties behind, so the state lost tax revenue it would have otherwise collected instead of capturing fresh economic activity. According to the analysis, supporters during the program's passage pledged a Muskegon paper mill redevelopment that never materialized, though the site appears to be under redevelopment without program funding. The Mackinac Center is currently representing a reporter in court after the Michigan Department of Treasury denied a public records request for payment amounts to program recipients, information explicitly required by statute.
The report explains that lawmakers pitched the initiative as essentially cost-free, claiming companies would receive only a portion of new tax revenue their projects generated—money that wouldn't exist without the subsidy. But that promise hasn't held up in practice. The Renaissance Center towers, now slated for partial demolition, emptied partly because tenants moved to buildings developed with transformational brownfield dollars, illustrating how the program cannibalized existing tax bases. Very few projects that supporters pledged would receive deals if legislators approved the program actually got funding after its adoption, showing a gap between legislative promises and implementation.
The report recommends that lawmakers pause and evaluate whether the program works before committing additional taxpayer funds. It concludes that the public deserves transparency when the state gives select developers tens or hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars for economic development. With promised growth nowhere in sight and costs exceeding initial projections, the Transformational Brownfield Program stands as a case study in unfulfilled expectations.