Metropolitan Council awards $2.9 million in brownfield cleanup grants

Communities awarded funding include Blaine, Chaska, Columbia Heights, Minneapolis, New Brighton, South St. Paul and St. Paul

Contact: Bonnie Kollodge
651.602.1357

ST. PAUL — Jan. 17, 2007 — The Metropolitan Council today approved nearly $3 million in Livable Communities grants for 11 polluted site cleanup projects in seven metro area communities, including Blaine, Chaska, Columbia Heights, Minneapolis, New Brighton, South St. Paul and St. Paul.

To be eligible and compete for funding, cities must participate in the Livable Communities program. More than 100 metro-area communities participate in the program, which also provides funding for affordable housing and models of development that promote connected land use patterns that link housing, jobs and services.

“This is simply one of the best programs or tools we have at the Council,” said Council Chair Peter Bell. “The ability to help communities address properties that a developer might not otherwise be attracted to, and turn it into a productive use, creating jobs and improving livability.”

Grants awarded include:

Blaine—Medical Center, $64,000 to help with additional soil remediation at an eight-acre site formerly used as an automobile scrap yard. Plans call for development of a medical office building.

Chaska—Block 6 Redevelopment, $66,400 to assist with soil remediation at a two-acre site where a filling station and auto repair garage currently reside. The site will be developed as a mixed-use residential and commercial building, including 54 rental units.

Columbia Heights—Industrial Park, $19,100 to help pay costs of additional soil remediation at a nine-acre site formerly used for various purposes, including a foundry, machine shops, automotive repair and chemical manufacturing. Development plans include construction of 124 townhomes.

Minneapolis—1209 Tyler Street NE, $211,500 to help with asbestos and lead paint abatement at a three-acre site formerly used for paint and linseed oil manufacturing. Redevelopment at the site calls for renovation of a 40,000 square-foot commercial/industrial space.

Minneapolis—Aloft Hotel, $44,400 to help remediate soil at a one-acre site formerly used as an industrial chemical warehouse and freight facility. Redevelopment includes a 155-room hotel and 4,000 square feet of retail/commercial space.

Minneapolis--Crown Iron/Electric Machine, $690,000 to assist with asbestos remediation at a 5.6-acre site formerly used for machining and foundry purposes. Redevelopment includes 75,000 square feet of commercial/industrial space and 32 rental residential units.

Minneapolis—Pacific Flats, $415,000 to assist with asbestos remediation at a two-acre site that was used for various purposes, including warehousing and milling operations, manufacturing, machining, auto repair and filling station, to name a few. The former Northwestern Glass building will be renovated for use as a 128,000-square foot boutique hotel and additional commercial and retail space.

Minneapolis—SoHo 718 Washington Avenue N., $47,600 to help pay the costs of additional asbestos and hazardous material remediation at a half-acre site formerly used as office and warehouse space. The warehouse will be renovated into 31 commercial spaces and 24 housing units.

New Brighton—Western Northwest Quadrant, $700,000 to help remediate soil at an 18-acre site, where former uses included a stockyard, oil refinery, propane storage, and chemical manufacturing. An asphalt plant currently resides at the site. The site will be redeveloped into 207 housing units.

South St. Paul—Bridge Point Business Center, $88,900 to help with additional soil remediation at a nine-acre site that was used for a variety of purposes, including a repair shop, fuel oil storage, factory, railcar repair and washing, coal storage and animal processing. The site will be redeveloped to accommodate 120,000 square feet of new commercial/light industrial offices, warehousing and production facilities.

St. Paul—Commerce Building, $563,100 to help pay costs of asbestos and lead paint abatement at a site that housed a commercial office building. The building will be renovated for rental housing.

The projects, together, would help to clean up 58 acres of polluted land, add nearly $5.3 million to the tax base and create and retain 1,136 jobs.

The Council received 18 applications for polluted site cleanup awards this funding round, totaling over $6 million.

The Metropolitan Council is the regional planning organization in the seven-county Twin Cities metropolitan area. The Council runs the regional bus and light rail system, collects and treats wastewater, coordinates regional water resources, plans regional parks and administers funds that provide housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income families. The Council board is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the Governor.

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