NEWS RELEASE: Grand Rapids awarded Brownfield Grant to redevelop former dry cleaner property

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 20, 2017

Contacts:
Roman Wilson, MDEQ Brownfield Coordinator, wilsonr30@michigan.gov, 616-888-1034
Tiffany Brown, DEQ Public Information Officer, brownt22@michigan.gov, 517-284-6716

Grand Rapids awarded Brownfield Grant to redevelop former dry cleaner property

LANSING, Mich. A vacant, abandoned, contaminated dry cleaner in Grand Rapids will be revitalized with help from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ). A $249,000 grant was awarded to the Grand Rapids Brownfield Redevelopment Authority to return the dry cleaner and other vacant properties on Eastern Avenue to productive new uses.

The Inner City Christian Federation (ICCF) will construct 65 affordable housing units, including six live/work spaces, in two new four-story buildings. A live/work unit has both office or commercial space and living area. ICCF anticipates that the development will qualify for LEED Silver certification, a designation of the project’s environmental sustainability.

The brownfield grant will be used to address environmental contamination and demolish vacant and blighted buildings .  

The MDEQ partners with communities to protect public health and the environment and revitalize contaminated property. MDEQ grants and loans pay for environmental investigation and cleanup on brownfields which are vacant or abandoned properties with known or suspected environmental contamination.

Partnerships between MDEQ and communities have resulted in $4 billion in private investment and 29,000 new jobs over the life of the Brownfield Redevelopment Program. For each grant or loan dollar invested by the MDEQ in protecting residents and the environment, an average of $23 is invested in the state’s economy. When brownfields are redeveloped, property values increase both on the revitalized site and on other nearby properties. Learn more at www.michigan.gov/deqbrownfields.

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