Pennsylvania Gets $8 Million
to Redevelop Brownfields and Create 1,000 Jobs

Four communities in Pennsylvania were awarded grants totaling $8 million along with $18.6 million in loan guarantees to stimulate economic development and job growth in abandoned industrial areas, Housing and Urban Development Deputy Secretary Roy A. Bernardi announced recently. The grant funding is provided through HUD's Brownfields Economic Development Initiative (BEDI) and is expected to create nearly 1,000 jobs in Allentown, Chester County, Harrisburg and Montgomery County. "Today we join local communities in Pennsylvania to make another investment in areas some may have forgotten," said Bernardi. "Together, we will not only breathe new life into these distressed areas, we will restore economic vitality in surrounding neighborhoods and create a thousand jobs for those who live there." This funding and guaranteed loan assistance help local communities to redevelop abandoned, idle or underutilized facilities where redevelopment is complicated by environmental contamination. The following Pennsylvania communities will receive BEDI funding. The City of Allentown will receive $2 million of BEDI funds and $2.5 million in Section 108-guaranteed loan funds to assist in the construction of 150,000 square feet of retail space for the location of a Wal-Mart store on Lehigh Street. An automotive battery manufacturer formerly occupied the site. The city estimates the creation of 155 jobs as a result of the project. The BEDI grant will be used for remediation. The Section 108 loan will be for remediation and demolition. Approximately $12.8 million in other private and public funds have been leveraged for the project. The total project costs are estimated at $21.8 million. Contact: Cyndi Romero (610) 437-7546. Chester County will receive $1 million of BEDI funds and $4 million in Section 108 funds to acquire and clean up a 46-acre vacant parcel adjacent to a former landfill in the city of Coatesville. After the site is remediated, it will be tranferred to the Oliver Tyrone Pulver Corporation which will construct a 125-room hotel, along with a 5,000 square foot restaurant and a 90,000 square foot office building as the first phase of a larger development. The first phase is estimated to create 333 full-time jobs and cost in excess of $36 million. The 108 funds will be used to offset construction costs and all the BEDI funds will be put into a debt reserve account to provide security for the Section 108 loan. Contact: Thomas McIntyre (610) 344-6900. Chester County will also receive $2 million of BEDI funds and $5 million in Section 108-guaranteed loan funds for Phase I of the Whitebrooke Hills Brownfields redevelopment project, entailing the development of 112,000 square feet of retail space and a 250-car parking garage in East Whiteland township. The site is the location of a former Worthington Steel processing and manufacturing facility. The county estimates that the project will create 280 new jobs. The BEDI grant will be used for site clearance and preparation, as well as for construction. The Section 108 loan will be used for demolition and construction. Approximately $24 million in private funds have been leveraged for the project. The total project costs are estimated at $31 million. Contact: Thomas McIntyre (610) 344-6900. The City of Harrisburg will receive $1.5 million in BEDI funds and $6.795 million in Section 108-guaranteed loan funds to assist in the proposed relocation and expansion of the facilities of the Advanced Communications Agency, a private printing company, into a new 500,000 square foot printing facility to include both office and industrial space. The project entails the remediation of a highly contaminated former steel manufacturing plant site, and the construction of site improvements for a new 500,000 square foot building, including 350,000 square feet of manufacturing space for Advanced Communications' printing operations and another 150,000 square feet of office space. Total cost of the project is expected to be nearly $28 million, with the developer, city and state all committing funds toward its completion. Both the BEDI and 108 funds will be used for remediation, site preparation and improvements, as well as construction of the building, and there will be two 108 loans, one from the city and another from Dauphin County, provided as one grant to the developer. A total of 265 new jobs will be created by the expansion and 65 existing jobs will be retained, for a total of 325 jobs in all. Contact: Richard Heaney (717) 255-6590. Montgomery County will receive $1.5 million in BEDI funds and $3.0 million in Section 108-guaranteed loan funds to assist in the cleanup of the heavily contaminated Nicolet industrial site located in the city of Norristown into 120,000 square feet of light industrial and commercial space to be developed by the O'Neill Properties Group, L.P. Total cost of the project at completion is expected to be $6.9 million. Both the BEDI and 108 funds will be used for infrastructure improvements, site preparation and building construction. A total of 120 new jobs will be created as a result of the project. Contact: John F. Nugent, III (610) 275-5300. By combining grants with a low-interest guaranteed-loan program, HUD helps communities to convert abandoned or underutilized sites into useful commercial and industrial developments, thereby increasing the area's tax base and creating new job opportunities where none existed. Often perceived as unproductive eyesores in their communities, these Brownfields hold tremendous potential as sites for community revitalization. Many of these brownfield sites are strategically located in or around key areas and were, in many cases, the economic centers of their communities. Redevelopment of these sites is both a challenge and an opportunity and returning them to productive use can serve as a catalyst for local economic recovery. Complex financial, legal and environmental risks and uncertainties are some of the biggest barriers to owners and developers. Since 1998, HUD has made an investment of more than $177 million in BEDI grants and $845 million in companion Section 108-guaranteed-loans in 137 communities. These funds have leveraged another $1.1 billion in other public and private funds.

Click to enlarge Congressman Jim Gerlach and Assistant Secretary Roy Bernardi award the BEDI grant to local officials in East Whiteland Township, PA.

Content Archived: February 25, 2011