Brownfields Showcase Community Fact Sheet

Community Profile

Stamford, Connecticut

Stamford plans to reclaim the harbor area as an economic and recreational resource, and revitalize the city's two poorest neighborhoods. Redevelopment of three brownfields will leverage $370 million in private investment, and create 600 construction and 1,300 permanent jobs.

Background

The Brownfields National Partnership has selected the City of Stamford as a Brownfields Showcase Community. The Stamford Harbor Redevelopment Project seeks to restore the 250-acre harbor area to a major economic and recreational resource. Restoration of the harbor will also provide a much-needed economic boost to Stamford's two lowest-income neighborhoods, Waterside and South End, which are located within a state Enterprise Zone. Waterside's population is 71% minority, with 25% of families living below the poverty level, while South End's residents are 80% minority with a 16% poverty rate.

The city is targeting three of the harbor's largest brownfields sites for redevelopment, as these sites will catalyze the restoration of adjacent brownfields and deteriorated neighborhoods. All of these targeted sites have been idle or underused for the past 30 years. They include the 40-acre Northeast Utilities property, a former manufactured gas plant contaminated by coal tar, PCB's, cyanide, lead, asbestos, and other by-products of the gas manufacturing process; the 17-acre site of a former fuel oil depot, for which a new residential complex is now planned; and the 22-acre Yale & Towne site, a former manufacturing complex and foundry property now slated for housing and industrial space. The city expects that none of these three sites will require public investment in environmental cleanup, as current owners and new developers will likely absorb cleanup costs.

Current Activities and Achievements

Stamford already has a strong track record for brownfields restoration, having recently completed cleanup of a 12-acre site with extensive petrochemical contamination. The ensuing $250 million construction project created a new facility for 2,300 traders and other financial services professionals. Highlights of the Stamford Harbor Redevelopment Project include:

• Cleaning up and removing of contamination at the Northeast Utilities property, which was financed by the current owner at a cost of $700,000. The city has agreed to purchase one acre of this site for construction of a $1.7 million fire station, and is negotiating with the owner to acquire an additional three acres for a $3 million, high-speed ferry terminal;

• Completing environmental studies on the fuel oil depot site, and the outlining of a cleanup program with costs estimated between $1.5 and $2 million. The property was recently sold to an investment management firm. Cleanup costs will be absorbed by the seller, an energy company, as part of the sales agreement;

• Receiving Planning Board approval for a mixed-use development at the Yale & Towne site, which consist of approximately 500 units of market-rate housing, 100,000 square feet of retail space, and 200,000 square feet of state-of-the-art industrial space. Total investment is estimated at approximately $150 million; and

• Receiving a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) HOPE VI grant of $26.4 million, in addition to a $6.5 million HUD demolition grant, which will leverage $35 million in private and municipal funds to convert a low-income housing project to a mixed-income community. This project will stabilize the harbor's western edge and vastly improve the entire area's image.

Showcase Community Objectives and Planned Activities

Stamford plans to use the Showcase Communities project to form new federal partnerships, leverage additional public funding to stimulate private demand, and ensure that low-income residents of the harbor area share in the benefits of harbor restoration. The Showcase Communities project will ensure completion of the city's ongoing brownfields restoration efforts as well as sparking new ones. Redevelopment of the Northeast Utilities site will include an $80 million sports and entertainment facility with 13,000 seats, which will house an American Hockey League expansion team scheduled for October 2000. It is anticipated that construction of the facility will be financed through a 50/50 mix of private investment and tax increment financing. This project is expected to create 150 full-time construction jobs, 25 permanent full-time jobs, and 200 permanent part-time jobs. A 150,000 square-foot office building, 250 housing units, and a 500-car parking facility are also planned for the Northeast Utilities property. The housing and office building will be developed at a total cost of $90 million, and will create 150 full-time construction jobs and 475 permanent jobs. On the former fuel oil depot site, developers plan a $50 million, 390,000 square-foot mixed-use (primarily residential) development project that will create 75 full-time construction jobs and 200 permanent jobs. The mixed-use development planned for the Yale & Towne site will create 225 full-time construction jobs and 600 permanent jobs.

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