EGLE grants to turn contaminated sites into housing

EGLE grants to help turn contaminated sites
into new housing

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) is awarding two $1 million Brownfield Redevelopment Grants to help build new housing in Oakland County.

Riverfront Place, 211 First Street, Rochester This property has a long industrial history going back to the 1890s. It’s been used for bulk fuel storage, coal storage, machine shop, and railroad operations, and has been vacant since 1990. Soil and groundwater are contaminated with petroleum compounds, chlorinated solvents, and metals. The EGLE grant will be used to pay for further site assessments, demolition work, asbestos abatement, transportation and disposal of contaminated soil, management of contaminated groundwater, special gaskets for utility piping, a physical barrier to keep contamination from moving off-site through utility trenches, and a vapor mitigation system to keep vapors out of the new buildings. Plans for the $28 million Riverfront Place call for a five-story building with 129 apartments along with five separate buildings with three townhomes each. The developer is including things like a rain garden, amphitheater, and picnic area because the redevelopment is in the Clinton River Watertowns Project, an initiative to help communities improve their riverfront and water quality while alleviating the impact of climate change. Construction is expected to be finished in the summer of 2028.

Hillside Townes, 33000 & 33107 Thomas Street, 33104 Grand River Avenue, Farmington Three vacant sites will be turned into new downtown housing. 33000 Thomas was a former school and is contaminated with petroleum compounds. The other properties had homes on them and are contaminated with chlorinated solvents. The EGLE grant will be used to transport and dispose of approximately 5,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil, site investigations, and demolition of the former school and the houses. Plans for the $19.5 million redevelopment call for 53 owner-occupied townhomes that are a crucial part of the city’s effort to revitalize its downtown corridor. The developer will build a promenade on two city-owned lots starting at Grand River Avenue. $2.1 million in federal funding will be used for a public pathway through the development that connects Grand River Avenue to Shiawassee Park. A $1 million grant from the Michigan Department of Transportation and $500,000 from the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments will help make the area even more pedestrian friendly. The developer expects to finish construction in 2027.

More than half of EGLE’s annual budget supports local projects, protects public health and the environment, and helps create economic growth and jobs for Michigan workers. Redevelopment increases the value of brownfield sites and other nearby properties. In 2023 EGLE awarded $31.3 million in brownfield incentives to 88 projects around Michigan.