FLINT, MI -- Can

spark the redevelopment of more than 400-acres of scarred brownfield in one of the country's most troubled cities?

Those who promote the potential resue of the old Buick City complex said the announcement Wednesday, Nov. 13, of a planned new American Cast Iron Pipe Co. plant here could make the job much easier.

"You got the first company here," said Elliott P. Laws, administrative trustee for the

Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response Trust. "We are really excited (because other prospects may now say), 'If they can do it, we can do it too.' "

It's RACER that's charged with cleaning up and marketing properties that General Motors abandoned during its 2009 bankruptcy, including Buick City, and Laws said there are other deals here that could materialize soon.

"Getting American in will make it a lot easier to market (at Buick City)," Laws said. "We're going to make this part of our marketing, and we now have someone to refer potential (buyers) to."

RACER is marketing Buick City's easy access to I-475, nearby rail lines and proximity to the Flint River; electric and water access and "robust local workforce" as it looks to sell off the remaining 395 acres in addition to the 18 American has an agreement to purchase.

Renaissance zone tax credits, which make a business virtually free from state and local taxes for up to 15 years, may also be available because the property is within the I-69 International Trade Corridor.

Genesee County Drain Commissioner Jeff Wright said he believes water-related businesses could continue to be a part of the future at Buick City, because the site will have access to raw and treated water.

The site could be ideal for businesses ranging from water meters and other supplies to food processing.

"We're working with the chamber and Michigna Agri-business Association" Wright said. "Our hope is that American's first step will encourage other national and international businesses" to locate here.

University of Michigan-Flint economics professor Chris Douglas said it's not unreasonable to think that American's initial step to build at Buick City will encourage others to consider the same thing.

"One factory itself does not do a lot," he said. "The biggest thing is the symbolism (of positive activity) at a place that look like a scene from a 'Mad Max' movie."

In its heyday, GM employed upwards of 20,000 at the Buick City site but Douglas said the approach is different now.

"The future of manufacturing is not tens of thousands of people operating under one roof," it a collection of businesses, Douglas said.

While not identifying them by name, Laws said there a "a couple of people we are actively working with" about locating at Buick City.

"We're really excited," he said. "We're hopefully going to have other commitments here" to announce in 2014.

Laws said he gets the same feeling in Flint that he gets around other former GM plants, scattered in 14 states, when RACER announces an investor ready to take a chance on a property that was left on the scrapheap .

"We see this level of support (because) these communities have suffered for so long," he said. "Everybody wants jobs and investment."

Flint Mayor Dayne Walling said the redevelopment of Buick City is an important part of the city's new master plan.

"This is the first step in implementing the strategy in the master plan," Walling said.

"That corridor ... over time will be followed with new companies that can take advantage of the infrastructure and available (land)."