by Sarah Schneider, WESA Public Radio (Pittsburgh, PA)

Hazelwood's Almono site has its first a street - well, kind of.

Developers of the environmentally contaminated site, which is planned to become a hub for new housing, young workers and tech businesses, just got the money needed to finish its first infrastructure project. The three foundations that own the site, the Heinz Endowment, Richard King Mellon Foundation and Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation received a $9.5 million loan needed to finish the site's first completed street.

Part of the road is finished, but isn't completed. It's expected to be finished by March.

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Though some have expressed fears that the Almono development will disenfranchise Hazelwood's existing population, Sonya Tilghman, executive director of the Hazelwood Initiative, said community groups are prioritizing a connection to the existing neighborhood. 

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For the entire article, see

http://wesa.fm/post/almono-gets-street-and-its-first-major-pathway-development#stream/0

Take the time to learn more about BCONE Board members Wanda Monahan and Skelly Holmbeck, Advisory Council member Elizabeth Limbrick,  and Executive Director Sue Boyle by reading their profiles and checking out BCONE’s ad in the October 28, 2016 issue of the Mid Atlantic Real Estate (MARE) Journal, pages 19-22.  Congratulations to BCONE’s Executive Women in Business.

https://online.flippingbook.com/view/757847/

by Akiko Matsuda, Lower Hudson Journal News (NY)

The village Planning Board has approved a controversial plan to build a hotel and a restaurant on a contaminated former landfill site on Marbledale Road, but opponents pledged they would keep fighting.

"This is a travesty," said Rachel Zolottev, the head of Marbledale Road Environmental Coalition, after the board's 3-2 approval of the plan this week.  "We have over 2,700 members of the community who have asked for an environmental impact statement. How they could ignore all those people is an absolute shame."

Zolottev was referring to a petition that urged the board to conduct a full environmental assessment for the project, rescinding its "conditional negative declaration" under the state Environmental Quality Review Act.

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Soil and groundwater samples from the site were found to be contaminated with a variety of hazardous chemicals, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

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For the entire article, see

http://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/2016/10/20/tuckahoe-hotel-approved/92421310/

The Kroger Company and its wholly owned company, the Turkey Hill Dairy, are deeply committed to preserving Lancaster County’s farmland and open spaces. As such, rather than constructing a brand new building, the company chose to undertake an adaptive reuse project and rehabilitate a vacated building in Lancaster County’s Borough of Columbia for the new Turkey Hill Experience.

The site is the former Ashley & Bailey Silk Mill, which had been vacant for more than 25 years. With the assistance of Lancaster County’s US EPA Target Assessment Brownfield Grant monies administered by the Lancaster County Planning Commission, the property was methodically moved through the State’s Voluntary Cleanup Program (Act 2).

With Environmental Standards’ help, the property was evaluated and environmental conditions managed to demonstrate attainment of Act 2 remediation standards.

The Site is a former industrial property, which for nearly 100 years operated as a silk mill and a stove manufacturing facility - until 1989. Currently, the property is owned by Museum Partners, a limited partnership that managed the property redevelopment. On April 28, 2010, a Consent Order and Agreement (COA) was executed by and between the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; Department of Environmental Protection; Borough of Columbia; Columbia Economic Development Corporation; and Museum Partners, L.P. for the Site. Congruent to the 2010 COA, as the “Seller,” Columbia Borough was responsible for the demonstration of attainment of an Act 2 cleanup standard based on non-residential use assumptions. The Kroger Company, parent company of Turkey Hill, and the redevelopment group Museum Partners opened an agri-tourism museum, a convenience store, and a retail fuel dispensing station at the Site on June 10, 2011.

The Turkey Hill Experience includes 26,000 square feet of exhibits, dining areas, and retail space. The facility also features nine interactive exhibit areas that allow visitors to learn more about the dairy culture, the story of the Turkey Hill Dairy, and how the company’s top-selling ice cream and iced tea flavors are selected and created.

Exhibits also feature Lancaster County cultural highlights, including some history of the lower Susquehanna River Valley and the rural farming area surrounding Turkey Hill Dairy. Visitors can truly experience what it is like to be a Turkey Hill Dairy ice cream maker for a day, including the opportunity to develop his or her own ice cream flavor. There is an entrance fee to visit the main interactive exhibit area, but a portion of the exhibits are open to the public at no charge. The first floor of the Turkey Hill Experience features a large creamery, which serves the general community.

Turkey Hill Dairy expects 250,000 visitors to Lancaster County’s newest destination each year. The Turkey Hill Experience is designed by Boston Productions, the company that also designed The Hershey Story, Connecticut Science Center, and other top attractions throughout the United States.

A state program that underwrites the development of industrial sites in the region is making a comeback in the new state budget. The Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary Dennis Davin recently announced to recapitalize the Business in Our Sites (BOS) program announcing that the Wolf Administration was successful in securing critical funding to support business development efforts.

Governor Wolf was successful in securing critical revenue for an important business development program with the completion of the 2016-17 budget.  The budget transfers unused funds from two other development programs to reactivate the grant portion of the business sites program that will give Pennsylvania a competitive edge through this action and the creation of an arsenal of ready-to-go sites for development opportunities.

The 2016-17 budget package includes $75 million to recapitalize the Business in Our Sites program to allow Pennsylvania to compete for business expansions and relocations by providing patient capital to create shovel-ready sites for business development. BOS will be recapitalized through underutilized Commonwealth Financing Authority (CFA) programs.

It is projected that the recapitalization will create 6,519 jobs and spur $487.2 million in private investment in the commonwealth. Since 2004, projects funded through this initiative have created more than 22,000 jobs and secured $2.2 billion in private investment.

The Business in Our Sites program was initially funded through the issuance of bonds in 2004 with $100 million devoted for grants and $200 million for loans. To date, all grant money for the Business in Our Sites program has been exhausted. All loans issued after the initial disbursement of the $200 million are funded through a revolving loan fund program and are capitalized through loan and interest repayments. The new allocation provides the opportunity to utilize up to one-third for grant funding.

For more information on the Business in Our Sites program and additional business assistance programs, visit www.newPA.com.

For more information about the Governor’s Action Team or DCED visit www.newPA.com

by Kevin Zimmerman, Westfair Online (CT)

Municipalities across the state are increasing their rehabilitation of brown!eld sites, including several notable examples within Fair!eld County.

The assessment, remediation and redevelopment of such long-vacant properties - some abandoned for dec - into usable and taxable commercial and residential parcels has the potential to revitalize previously ignore estate as never before.

On the state level, the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) is taking a leading role, doling out grants and loans to qualifying towns and cities "to develop speci!c, actionable plans that will clean multiple brown!elds, leverage private investment, and bring jobs and new economic activity to long-dormant corridors throughout the state," said DECD Deputy Commissioner Tim Sullivan.

"These sites are everywhere," he said. "We have a process of determining what towns and what projects in tho towns qualify" for !nancial aid. "Generally they apply to us, but if we hear of something that we think we could address, we'll get in contact with them."

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For the entire article, see

http://westfaironline.com/82441/brownfields-fewer-as-fairfield-cleans-up-for-redevelopment/

by Nick Roth, Cape Gazette (DE) The public is invited to comment on a proposed brownfield development agreement for a 1.04-acre parcel near Kings Highway and Beach Plum Drive in Lewes. Comments will be accepted through Monday, Oct. 17.

A coal gasification plant operated on the adjacent property from 1924 to 1932, and coal may have been stored on the site. The property was also home to the Queen Anne Railroad at one time.

According to Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control documents, the property owner intends to sell to prospective developer Hotel California LLC, which intends to build a bakery/restaurant with second-floor apartments.
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For the entire article, see
http://www.capegazette.com/article/public-invited-comment-lewes-brownfield/118020

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced an $820,000 brownfields grant to support the assessment and cleanup of abandoned industrial and commercial properties in Philadelphia.

The brownfields revolving loan fund grant goes to the Philadelphia Authority of Industrial Development (PAID). Philadelphia is one of 131 communities nationwide to receive $55.2 million in EPA brownfields grants this year.

“Brownfields funding helps communities remove critical barriers to redevelopment and reuse,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin. “This funding supports Philadelphia’s plans for improving the quality of life of residents by reclaiming areas for housing, commercial development and open space and at the same time protecting public health and the environment.”

Brownfields are properties where real or suspected environmental contamination has prevented productive reuse of those properties.

Regional Administrator Garvin made the announcement today during a celebration at the Pennovation Works site in Philadelphia where $600,000 in previous EPA brownfields funding was used to help assess and clean up abandoned property.

Today, Pennovation Works – located adjacent to the University of Pennsylvania – is a unique blend of offices, labs and production space being developed by the university.

EPA’s Brownfields Program strives to expand the ability of communities to recycle vacant and abandoned properties for new, productive reuses. Investments provide communities with the funding necessary to assess, clean up and redevelop contaminated properties, boost local economies and leverage jobs while protecting public health and the environment.

Brownfields grants provide resources early on, which is critical for the success of communities’ abilities to leverage additional partnerships and resources. Partnerships between neighborhoods, local developers and governments are essential for impacted communities to acquire the resources needed to meet their revitalization goals.

More on brownfields grants: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/types-brownfields-grant-funding

More on EPA’s Brownfields Program: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields

More on successful Brownfields stories: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/brownfields-success-stories