The largest industrial building in Fenton Township is in development on Thompson Road, and it’s nearly impossible to miss when driving by.
Located at 3070 Thompson Rd., this approximately 103,000-square-foot building will be the new Miller Industries headquarters and will house two companies: a Miller Industries company, Performance Fabricating, which manufactures steel, and Flex Air LLC, an air handling manufacturer.
General contractors Rhoades and Johnson Construction are currently working on the building.
The building is adjacent to the Fenton Lanes Bowling Alley, just west of the intersection of Torrey and Thompson roads.
Jennifer Sage, CFO of Miller Industries and one the Miller family members, said the current Performance Fabricating building at 2111 Thompson Road doesn’t accommodate the steel manufacturing business as well as the new building will.
“We wanted our own building that was more suitable to our needs,” she said, adding that the new building will have high bays and more cranes.
The project is expected to generate $9 million in private investment, according to the Michigan Economic Development Corp.
The Fenton Township Board of Trustees approved construction for this development, as well as a 12-year tax exemption, in June 2015.
“It’s a law that allows industries to get a break on their taxes for a certain amount of years. It cuts their tax rate in half for 12 years,” said Tom Broecker, the Fenton Township operations manager and deputy clerk, in a previous Times article. The number of years depends on the business, and 12 years is the maximum. The development was able to get the full 12 years.
The company’s tax exemption form estimates the new building will bring 30 full-time jobs and 55 to 60 for the expansion.
“We’re anxious,” Broecker said previously, adding that the board likes seeing construction on Thompson Road. “It’ll be a good first step in getting some development out there.”
Read more: New industrial facility bringing 30 full-time jobs to area