Revitalization Through EPA Grants

The City closes out its FY16 EPA Brownfields Assessment Grant today. It marks the end of another successful brownfield initiative for the community. The Assessment Grants remain a crucial linchpin in the City’s ability to return blighted properties back to productive reuses.

Investigations conducted with the funds cleared 17.07 acres which leveraged nearly $8.7 million in cleanup and redevelopment dollars and created new 14 jobs. More importantly, the work helped protect human health and the environment. Project highlights include the following:

• Construction of a $3 million Teen Center on two former brownfields properties located at 807 and 809-811 East 4^th Street.  The Boys and Girls Club of the Cedar Valley facility features space for tutoring, computer and digital graphics skills development, music creativity, college testing preparation, counseling, direct homework assistance and supervised recreational space. 
• Rehabilitation of the historic former Friedl Bakery building located at 300-304 Commercial Street. The $2.8 million project currently underway will feature commercial space on the 1st floor and residential apartments on the 2nd and 3rd floors.
• Rite Environmental, Inc., a commercial garbage and recycling hauling business, acquired a former concrete landscaping product manufacturer at 110 Dunham Place to expand operations. 
• South Front Networks, a fiber optics company, constructed a new data center unit on the properties located at 1420, 1422, 1426, and 1430 Commercial Street.  A development agreement with the City requires the business to construct three additional units in the future.
• The City acquired the following parcels to facilitate their redevelopment: 1430 Commercial Street, PIN 8913-10-251-009, PIN 8913-13-159-005, PIN 8913-25-181-004, PIN 8913-25-181-005 (105 East 11^th Street), and PIN 8913-25-181-006 (100-114 East 10^th Street).

The City submitted another grant application to the EPA this past funding cycle in hopes of securing a $300,000 Assessment Grant. Officials anticipate awards will be announced in late spring or early summer.