by Jeff Mill, Middletown Press (CT)

Residents later this month will be asked to approve the purchase of a 5.28-acre parcel of land along the Connecticut River.

The Board of Selectman voted Wednesday to send the proposal to a Feb. 28 town meeting.

The property, comprising three contiguous parcels - 222, 232 and 248 Brownstone Ave. - is the site of the former Connecticut Tar & Asphalt Co. It has been vacant for the past decade.

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For the entire article, see

https://www.middletownpress.com/news/article/Portland-voters-to-decide-purchase-of-riverfront-12567833.php

by Brian Nearing, Albany Times-Union (NY)

Cohoes - A not-for-profit Boston developer is eyeing a $10 million apartment project off New York 787 in Cohoes.

Plans by Community Builders, which five years ago redeveloped former mill worker housing on North Mohawk Street in Cohoes, call for 39 apartment units on a vacant former industrial property on Saratoga Street just north of the offices of Mohawk Paper.

The developer also expects to spend about $1.5 million to investigate and clean pollution from the 1.7-acre parcel, including toxic heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury and barium.

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For the entire article, see

http://www.timesunion.com/business/article/Apartments-planned-for-Cohoes-brownfield-12544015.php

MassHousing commits $17.1 million to assist Trinity Financial in creating 102 homes.

by Donna Kimura, AFFORDABLE HOUSING FINANCE

MassHousing has committed $17.1 million in financing to assist an affiliate of Trinity Financial create an affordable housing community in Lawrence, Mass.

Trinity Financial is transforming the former Van Brodie Mill into 102 units of mixed-income housing within a smart growth district. The adaptive-reuse project will preserve the historic mill, while remediating a brownfield site. 

“Van Brodie Mill will be an important new housing resource for working families in Lawrence,” said Tom Lyons, MassHousing’s active executive director. “This transformational project will put a former brownfield back into productive use, while advancing regional economic development and enabling families to live affordably and prosper in greater Lawrence.”

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For the entire article, see

http://www.housingfinance.com/news/developer-to-turn-massachusetts-mill-into-affordable-housing_o

Editorial - Washington Observer-Reporter (PA)

For years, it was essentially a 150-acre brownfield that included a mine refuse dump, sediment ponds and memories of a grimy but prosperous vocation. This was a tract of West Bethlehem Township that was forlorn and, seemingly, forgotten by time.

Not anymore. The land has been reclaimed and impressively repurposed in an area where coal mining predominated more than a quarter-century ago. That waste dump and those sediment ponds are gone, replaced by a pond with clean water and a bounty of fish, encircled by a large, healthy wetlands with cattails galore. All of this is complemented by the creation of a mile-long grass hiking trail with a steep ascent that tests one’s stamina and yields scenic views.

The beast has become a beauty. “It’s gorgeous,” Lisa Scherer, a volunteer at the property, recently told the Observer-Reporter’s Scott Beveridge.

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For the entire editorial, see

https://observer-reporter.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-west-beth-trail-a-much-needed-asset/article_58e422d8-e017-11e7-89e1-1b8b955cd46a.html

by Joseph Cress, Carlisle Sentinel (PA)

Years of preparation will begin to bear fruit in 2018 at two of the three former industrial sites included in the Carlisle Urban Redevelopment Plan.

By the end of the year, buildings will be completed or well underway at the IAC/Masland and Carlisle Tire & Wheel brownfields with little or no activity expected at the Tyco Electronics site.

Carlisle Borough will spend much of 2018 completing the final design and permitting work leading up to major street improvement projects tied to this redevelopment.

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For the entire article, see

http://cumberlink.com/news/local/communities/carlisle/looking-ahead-buildings-will-be-up-or-underway-at-two/article_4a03355d-c467-55b8-8465-c33a5ae7e700.html

by Aleesia Forni, West fair Online (NY)

Plans for a $31 million hotel and restaurant on a former brownfield site in Tuckahoe continue to move forward.

Bill Weinberg, principal of Bilwin Development Associates LLC in Eastchester, said that the $7 million environmental cleanup of the former quarry and landfill at 109-125 Marbledale Road is substantially complete. “We’re close to 100 percent capped,” he said of the contamination on the 3.5-acre property.

Weinberg’s company is developing a five-story, 153-room Marriott Springhill Suites hotel on the property, along with a 6,000-square-foot standalone restaurant. The 91,000-square-foot hotel is expected to open its doors later this year.

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For the entire article, see

https://westfaironline.com/97719/brownfield-site-cleared-marriott-springhill-suites-hotel-in-tuckahoe/

by Ryan Brady, Queens Chronicle (NY)

To the outrage of some area leaders, Waterpointe brownfield cleanup in Whitestone has been given a certificate of completion by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

The agency issued it last Friday, on the last business day of the year, after having previously said that it had expected to issue it by the end of 2017.

Community Board 7 and state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) have been highly critical of how the cleanup was conducted. In September, the DEC complied with a request from the Edgestone Group — the owner of the site who conducted the remediation — to change the cleanup track from Track 2 residential to Track 4 restricted-residential, which allows for a higher level of contamination to remain.

The Edgestone Group, which could not be reached for comment, plans on building 52 single-family homes at the site.

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For the entire article, see

http://www.qchron.com/editions/north/waterpointe-gets-completion-certificate/article_172690ab-ecfb-58d6-b319-e234ebfedc17.html

Legislation Included in Executive Budget Would Bolster Efficiency for Brownfield Opportunity Area Program; Maintain Funding at $2 Million.

LONGISLAND.com

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced legislation that would streamline the application process of and maintain state funding at $2 million for the Brownfield Opportunity Area Program in New York State. The Brownfield Opportunity Area Program provides grants to local governments and community-based organizations to address the complex changes related to concentrations of brownfields and vacant and underutilized properties in downtowns and in neighborhoods. The grants support realistic, community-driven plans for redevelopment, providing a roadmap to transform blighted properties into vital community assets. In the FY 2019 Executive Budget, the Governor has outlined proposed changes to streamline the process and continue funding for the program.

"This program has helped communities in every corner of New York transform blighted and neglected properties into economic engines," Governor Cuomo said. "By reforming and streamlining this process, we will help ensure more local governments have access to tools and resources they need to help New York continue to thrive."

The Governor's FY 2019 Executive Budget includes reforms to the Brownfield Opportunity Area Program that would:

• Streamline planning by eliminating the existing pre-nomination step and creating a single-step community-based process to achieve Brownfield Opportunity Area designation;
• Allow for existing plans or plans developed outside the Brownfield Opportunity Area process that meet general criteria to qualify for the program; and
• Allow existing Brownfield Opportunity Areas to apply for financial assistance for pre-development grants.

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For the entire article, see

https://www.longisland.com/news/01-22-18/governor-cuomo-announces-reforms-to-brownfield-opportunity-area-program-in-fy-2019-executive-budget.html

$2.5 Billion "Riverton" Plan a Joint Venture of PGIM and North American Properties

by Dave Schatz, Charlie Kratovil - New Brunswick Today (NJ)

Along the Raritan River waterfront sits 418 acres of land that a national developer plans to transform into “Riverton,” a $2.5 billion mixed-use development.

The land, near one of the busiest sections of the Garden State Parkway, was once home to a paint factory owned by NL Industries.

Previously known as National Lead, the company was responsible for manufacturing lead-based paints until such products were banned by the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

Their contaminated land has “sat dormant for decades and in recent years has been remediated,” said North American Properties (NAP), the developer hoping turn it into the largest mixed-use project in the state.

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For the entire article, see

http://newbrunswicktoday.com/article/sayreville-waterfront-eyed-states-largest-mixed-use-project

by Brian Nearing, Albany Times-Union (NY)

Albany - Developers behind a proposed multimillion-dollar rebirth of the decaying former Tobin First Prize meatpacking plant are seeking a state tax break under a program meant to encourage pollution clean-ups on industrial property.

First Prize Development Partners LLC filed an application last fall for the project to be added to the Brownfield Cleanup Program, according to an announcement Thursday from the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

The state program makes developers who clean up and redevelop polluted properties eligible for state tax credits based on the expenses for a cleanup and what is spent to redevelop and build once the cleanup is done.

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For the entire article, see

http://www.timesunion.com/business/article/First-Prize-developers-seeking-state-pollution-12507735.php