Brownfields Showcase Community Fact Sheet

Community Profile

Mystic Valley Development Commission, Massachusetts

The Cities of Everett, Malden, and Medford seek to reclaim 200 acres of blighted industrial land as part of a regional redevelopment project referred to as TeleCom City. The redevelopment project is expected to create 1.8 million square feet of office, research and development, and manufacturing space, as well as to expand open space and recreational opportunities for residents in these three lower-income cities. Approximately 7,500 jobs are expected to be created, with a corresponding payroll of $450 million.

Background

The Brownfields National Partnership has selected the Mystic Valley Development Commission-comprised of the Cities of Everett, Malden, and Medford-Massachusetts as a Brownfields Showcase Community. The three cities are situated in a heavily urbanized area five miles north of Boston. The Malden River, which is located in the heart of the project area, at one time served as a thriving industrial corridor for numerous chemical production, coal gasification, and manufacturing firms. In recent years, however, manufacturing employment in Everett, Malden, and Medford has declined by 61 percent, 13 percent, and 79 percent, respectively. In addition, the average poverty rate in the project area is 36 percent higher than the state average.

After years of economic decline, the area now is largely underused. More than 70 percent of the land is either vacant or used primarily as parking or open storage areas for debris, supplies, or shipping containers. Seventy percent of the buildings located in the project area are out of repair or obsolete. With assistance from EPA Brownfield Assessment Demonstration Pilot funding, environmental contamination from historical industrial practices has been identified in soils covering more than two-thirds of the 200-acre project area. In addition, environmental contamination in the Malden River has been identified. In addition to being an EPA Brownfield Assessment Demonstration Pilot (who also received supplemental assistance), the TeleCom City project is an EPA Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund Pilot.

Current Activities and Achievements

TeleCom City represents a unique collaboration among three once-rival cities to revitalize an area and ensure that its residents benefit from advances in the telecommunications industry. In the 1990s, the cities initiated the TeleCom City project as a means of overhauling the area economy and redeveloping environmentally contaminated and underused properties along the Malden River. In 1996, the Massachusetts legislature created the Mystic Valley Development Commission (MVDC) to spearhead the TeleCom City project. In 1999, a developer embraced the TeleCom City project and committed $500-700 million in building development costs. In addition, approximately $100 million has been pledged for site preparation costs from a number of private, local, and state sources, as well as numerous federal sources, including $1.2 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to support the creation of an Advanced Manufacturing Center.

The TeleCom City project is based on partnerships. MVDC has orchestrated a strategic alliance of local governments, public school systems, regional public and private universities, environmental organizations, community groups, industry representatives, state agencies, and federal government entities. Federal agencies include EPA, HUD, Labor, Education, Commerce, Interior, Defense, Transportation, National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Showcase Community Objectives and Planned Activities

With the assistance of the Showcase Community designation, the TeleCom City project will provide regional economic development, improved transportation infrastructure, job training opportunities, and expanded greenspace. The Lifelong Skills Center, which is one of the project's five anchor institutions, will train the communities' youth and incumbent workers, as well as scientists and technicians already in the industry and serve as a model for other communities. A riverfront setback will allow the creation of the Malden River Park to serve workers and residents of the communities.

For more information on the Brownfields Showcase Communities,
visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/showcase.htm