At the Madison Heights City Council meeting Feb. 23, officials celebrated the city’s status as a Redevelopment Ready Community, a designation awarded by the state in recognition of the city’s efforts to foster private investment. The status grants access to technical assistance from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, the state’s business marketing arm.
By: Andy Kozlowski | Madison-Park News | Published March 6, 2026
MADISON HEIGHTS — The Michigan Economic Development Corporation has certified Madison Heights as a Redevelopment Ready Community, adding it to a list of nearly 90 cities statewide qualified as “thoroughly prepared” to attract private investment.
Officials with the MEDC presented the award to the Madison Heights City Council at the council meeting Feb. 23. The status recognizes efforts to modernize planning and zoning practices, eliminating barriers to economic growth.
Giles Tucker, the community and economic development director for Madison Heights, said that to achieve RRC status, Madison Heights met several milestones over the last five years, the most significant of which was the 2024 zoning ordinance update.
That rewrite allowed for more concentrated development and housing diversity throughout the city while encouraging eco-friendly “green” infrastructure. It also incorporated user-friendly features such as graphics and tables that make it easier for residents and developers to understand what is and isn’t allowed, streamlining the application and approvals process.
As a certified community, Madison Heights will receive access to ongoing support and technical assistance from the state’s RRC team as it works toward community development goals — a process that includes annual check-ins and updates to ensure the city is still implementing best practices. The certified status lasts for five years, at which point it will need to be renewed.
The MEDC itself is the state’s marketing arm focused on business attraction and retention, job awareness and community development. Its aim is to strengthen Michigan’s economy.
“It’s exciting that Madison Heights is joining 88 other communities statewide in receiving this designation,” said Stephanie Peña, senior community planner at the MEDC.
She noted that the program has existed for about 13 years now.
“It has been a tremendous support system for a lot of communities in building capacity, receiving technical assistance as well as grant dollars to help pursue modernizations to different planning and zoning efforts,” Peña said.
“Success can be measured in a multitude of ways in engaging this program — simple things like process improvement, streamlining documented standardized operating procedures, and trying to be mindful that development resources are clear and upfront for residents and potential investors … to cut the red tape,” she said.
She said the MEDC is also interested in how each city intends to change over time, something reflected in Madison Heights documents such as the updated zoning ordinance and the annual six-year capital improvement plan.
“This is a big deal for the Community Development Department,” Tucker said before receiving a trophy from the MEDC on behalf of the city. “It wouldn’t be possible without the support of City Council, the city manager and the team at (the CDD).
“Now that we’ve attained this status, it opens up a lot of support at the state level for technical assistance dollars … to help market our priority redevelopment sites,” he said. “This has laid the foundation for a lot of exciting new development in the city of Madison Heights.”
After the meeting, Tucker noted that one recent example of the policy update in action is the opening of Detroit 75 Kitchen’s brick-and-mortar site at 32275 Stephenson Highway — the food truck chain’s first dine-in restaurant.
Tucker said the zoning update included new districts and more flexible standards for mobile food units, which attracted Detroit 75 Kitchen to Madison Heights and set the stage for its current reinvestment in the city.
He also noted that the zoning update process itself was made possible by $35,000 in technical assistance funds that were unlocked by simply engaging in the certification process and hitting key milestones.
Emily Rohrbach, a member of the Madison Heights City Council, said she wanted to recognize the “countless hours” put in by citizen boards like the Planning Commission on the zoning update, which helped earn the city its RRC status and all the perks that entails.
“I just want to say thank you to those who participated in that process,” Rohrbach said.