Ann Arbor fights to keep its business attraction advantage amid falling building prices

A skilled workforce and high quality of life aren’t the only things Ann Arbor needs to compete when it comes to business attraction.Excerpt:When Mercedes announced in March that it would open a 60,000-square-foot R&D facility in Ann Arbor, the company accelerated its search for local real estate – and everyone involved believed this region could reasonably accommodate the need.The search, I’m told, started to focus on vacant land in the South State corridor.But then Mercedes pulled out of talks, and now appears bound for Redford Township, near Detroit.The obvious question is: Why Redford?The company told local officials it couldn’t ignore the economic benefits of using excess capacity that it already has in another building. That building, in this case, is the Detroit Diesel facility.But the situation also raises questions about the drivers of corporate siting decisions in 2009 – and how Ann Arbor could be further impacted.Ann Arbor, it appears, is now competing on a much larger regional playing field, with price taking the lead.Read the rest of the story here.