by Dyke Hendrickson, Salem News (MA)

A $15 million apartment complex that could be among the most environmentally innovative in the country has received final approval from local planning boards, and early-phase construction could begin this fall.

The Hillside Center for Sustainable Living, to be created by veteran developer David Hall, recently got an OK from the Planning Board to proceed.

It will offer 48 rental units. In addition, it will provide affordable living quarters for 10 women in a program brokered by the YWCA.

The parcel sits on about 4.3 acres off Pond Street, near Route 1. 

“We’re pleased to have the approvals, and now there is a lot of work to do,” said Hall, a major local real estate owner who built the Tannery, among other structures. He is developing the project with business partner Keith Moskow.

...

For the entire article, see

http://www.salemnews.com/news/green-community-to-rise-in-onetime-brownfield/article_f278c9dd-b4b4-56f8-90de-21312736bbba.html

New Partners for Community Revitalization President Val Washington said, "The Brownfield Opportunity Area program has truly matured in the last two years, with dozens of designations, renewed funding and valuable brownfield tax credit assistance to help make community visions a reality. Our own recent study demonstrates that this program - unique among the states - is working as designed, and providing real promise for communities that other economic development programs don't reach."

Read the entire release.

Here are a few shots from BCONE’s successful Keystone Industrial Port Complex Site Tour held on Thursday, 8/11/16 at 3:30pm, in Fairless Hills, PA.

Photo Courtesy of Trevan Houser, Clean Earth, Inc.

Photo Courtesy of Elizabeth Limbrick, NJIT

Photo Courtesy of Elizabeth Limbrick, NJIT

Details about the exciting tour of a world class industrial complex are coming your way.  For now, take a look at the photos, which capture the enthusiasm of the group who were fortunate to attend the event!

Regulation Amendments Take Effect August 12, 2016

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has adopted amendments to the Brownfield Cleanup Program, Commissioner Basil Seggos announced today. The amendments, which take effect August 12, 2016, define the terms "affordable housing project" and "underutilized" as part of the eligibility requirements for tangible property tax credits for brownfields in New York City. The revised regulations also amend the existing definition of a "brownfield site" to comply with the changes enacted to the Brownfield Cleanup Program law in 2015.

"The Brownfield Cleanup Program is an important tool to advance the restoration of blighted areas in communities across the state, and these revisions will encourage redevelopment on many underutilized properties," Commissioner Seggos said. "The amendments, which were driven by recommendations of municipalities and other experts, will ensure a more equitable distribution of these vital property tax credits by incentivizing strategic investments in communities across the state."

To implement key provisions of the 2015 reforms to the Brownfield Cleanup Program, and ensure incentives are targeted to areas most in need, the regulation amendments provide clarification to the eligibility requirements of affordable housing projects and underutilized properties in New York City. In addition, the amended definition of "brownfield site" ensures the implementation of an environmental standards-based approach to Brownfield site eligibility determinations required by law that will ensure tangible property tax credits are prioritized on areas with contamination.

"We commend the new regulations as very much in keeping with the spirit and intent of the 2015 BCP amendments. They will help assure State support for brownfield redevelopment projects that would not happen without assistance, projects that will help revitalize communities debilitated by historic contamination," said Val Washington, president of the board of New Partners for Community Revitalization.

These enhancements to the Brownfields Cleanup Program are the result of several rounds of public comments and hearings, most recently ending on April 8, 2016. The final rule making documents, including the Assessment of Public Comment, are available on DEC's website.

On July 13, 2016, DEC filed a Notice of Adoption with the New York State Department of State to amend Part 375 which defines the terms "affordable housing project" and "underutilized." These definitions are part of the eligibility requirements for tangible property tax credits for brownfields in New York City. It also amends the "brownfield site" definition in accordance with 2015 statutory changes. The amendments to Part 375 are effective August 12, 2016.

The final rule making documents, including the Assessment of Public Comment, are available on DEC’s website at http://www.dec.ny.gov/regulations/101908.html

ecoRI News (RI)

Leaders from a broad coalition of Rhode Island environmental, tourism, recreation and bicycle organizations have voiced support for the $35 million Green Economy Bond referendum included in the budget recently recommended for passage by House Finance Committee.

The committee noted the economic and community benefits the bond would provide for the state with investments in programs ranging from land conservation, outdoor recreation and bike paths to water pollution prevention and brownfield cleanups. If approved by the General Assembly, the Green Economy Bond will be put before voters in the November election.
...
The Green Economy Bond would fund seven initiatives: historic state park development, $4 million; state land acquisition, $4 million; state bikeway development, $10 million; brownfield remediation and economic development, $5 million; stormwater pollution prevention, $3 million; local recreation grants, $5 million; and local open space grants, $4 million.
…
For the entire article, see
http://www.ecori.org/government/2016/6/8/ris-green-economy-bond-draws-wide-support

BY GERALD NEILY, Baltimore Brew (MD)

The adverse impact of the Port Covington plan on poor and disenfranchised neighborhoods – the “Other Baltimore” so starkly highlighted during last year’s civil unrest – is not just conjecture or a conflict of values.

The absence of development in one of them, Westport, is proof.

Kevin Plank, the CEO of Under Armour, owns the Westport waterfront as a private investment, and he’s already doing to Westport what his Port Covington plan will do to Baltimore as a whole – suck the air out of citywide redevelopment and growth for the benefit of a small isolated area.

Plank is banking the 43 acres of Westport land, with no development plan in sight, so that it won’t compete with his gargantuan dream for Port Covington that will require $660 million in TIF (Tax Increment Financing) bonds from the city and nearly $600 million more from state and federal sources.
...
For the entire commentary, see
https://baltimorebrew.com/2016/06/07/a-victim-of-port-covington-the-other-baltimore-in-westport/

An old, deserted former factory site may soon have life again.

The Delanco Township Joint Land Use Board granted final major site plan approval June 1 to Delanco Family Apartments Urban Renewal LLC.

In addition to 64 affordable apartment units, there will be one site manager's unit and other improvements to the property, referred to as the Rhawn Factory site.

The site, at 200 Rhawn St., is near the intersection of Rhawn and Coopertown roads, adjacent to the New Jersey Transit Delanco Rail station and bordering Rancocas Creek.

All existing buildings at the site have been demolished and industrial uses removed. 

According to the builder, the Walters Group, construction could begin by October and will take 12 to 15 months to complete, with the first occupants moving in nine or 10 months after work first starts.

The eight, two-story buildings will feature eight units each, with a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom rental units leased exclusively to tenants whose incomes are at or below 60 percent of the area median income, qualifying it as a "low- and moderate-income housing development."

New York State and local governments spend billions to generate economic development.

But economic development is a complex process that has no simple formula or roadmap. Given the size of the financial assistance being granted, it is essential that citizens understand what their community is gaining in return.

Accordingly, my office regularly monitors the performance of the state's Industrial Development Agencies (IDAs) in an effort to assess how these entities work to attract, retain and expand businesses within their communities.

Our annual IDA report, which was released today, found the state's 109 active IDAs provided $1.1 billion in total tax exemptions in 2014. These IDA-sponsored projects reported a total of 645,010 full-time jobs, which reflects an increase of 235,888 jobs over the life of these projects. 

As you can see, IDAs are an important catalyst for economic development in our state. But as the value of tax exemptions to private businesses continues to increase, taxpayers must be reassured that their community is receiving promised benefits. 

Thankfully, my legislative proposal to increase transparency and scrutiny of IDAs was signed into law last year and will result in better evaluation of the economic impact they are having in New York. 

This legislation (S.5867/A.7915) will improve the process by which IDAs approve new projects, the quality of the information they gather about the projects, and policies for recapturing financial assistance if project goals are not met. The new law, developed with support from the New York Economic Development Council, becomes effective on June 15. 

I hope you find this report informative. If you have questions, contact our Division of Local Government and School Accountability.

Together with the NJ Business Action Center (BAC), BCONE hosted the SRAG quarterly meeting held at the NJDEP building. This was a specially formatted meeting that dealt predominately with funding incentives and other programs offered by the state for remediation and redevelopment projects.

BCONE President Steve Jaffe served as host and moderator for the three hour meeting and was joined on the dais by Nancy Belonzi of the BAC, who is a member of BCONE’s Advisory Council. BCONE Regional Council member Alan Miller of NJDEP, BCONE Executive Director Sue Boyle of GEI, and BCONE Advisory Council member Sharon McSwieney of Langan attended the session along with 75 others from consulting firms, law firms, 5 other state agencies, members of the state’s Site Remediation Professionals Licensing Board (SRPLB), and municipal officials.

As is always an agenda item at SRAG meetings, the session started with an update on the activities of the SRPLB  and a summary of the metrics from the Site Remediation Program (SRP; click here for those metrics).  Presentations then followed from the BAC, the Environmental Infrastructure Trust (EIT), the Economic Development Authority, the NJ Redevelopment Authority and the NJ Department of Transportation.  The PowerPoints from these agencies will be available in about a week on the NJDEP SRP website or you can contact BCONE for the weblink.

A panel discussion on the Somerville, NJ Green Seam Brownfield Development Area project followed.  The PowerPoint presented by Colin Driver, Somerville’s Economic Development Director will be available on the NJDEP SRP website.  President Jaffe kept the panel discussion moving by asking Mr. Driver; Michael Deely  and Ron Wienckoski of NJDEP’s Office of Brownfield Reuse; and  Frank Scangarella of the EIT and Gene Chebra on NJDEP’s Infrastructure Financing about requirements for each incentive program used, timeframes, loophole, and other words of wisdom.