[CPEO-BIF] Outstanding New York Brownfield Opportunity Areas Recognized

(Albany, NY) – Five communities participating in NY’s Brownfield Opportunity Areas (BOA) program are being recognized today at the 8th Annual Brownfields Summit in Albany. Created in 2003 as part of the state’s landmark Brownfields law, BOA provides resources to poor urban and downtown communities to address brownfields and the underlying conditions fueling abandonment and decay. (Brownfields are vacant and under-utilized properties that have a legacy of toxic pollution from previous industrial facilities, illegal dumping and other noxious uses.) BOA has become very important in weak market areas - giving community leaders a new, effective tool to reverse the downward cycle of disinvestment. The five Outstanding BOAs being recognized at this year’s Summit are:

“We are very pleased to honor these Outstanding BOAs,” said Jim Tripp, Board Chair of the nonprofit New Partners for Community Revitalization (NPCR) and Senior Counsel at the Environmental Defense Fund. “There are currently over 125 New York neighborhoods participating in the BOA program. These five leaders were selected because they are carrying out extraordinary economic revitalization initiatives that show that neighborhoods long plagued by contamination can use state resources to create value and attract private investments that build on their neighborhood’s character and strengths. The BOA program has proven to be one of the state’s most effective tools for creating synergy between environmental cleanups, community interests and economic development.” NPCR, New York’s leading nonprofit brownfields policy group, hosts the annual Brownfields Summit.

Since its launch more than a decade ago, some $46 million has been awarded to New York neighborhoods through BOA. “This state funding is leveraging an estimated $25 billion in investment for affordable housing, open space, transportation/transit oriented development, jobs, and other economic regeneration activities,” said NPCR Executive Director Jody Kass. “The BOA program’s area-wide approach -- as opposed to site-by-site investments that have failed to create new economic anchors in our most challenged neighborhoods -- has also become a national model, copied in several states, including Ohio, and by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency.”

On behalf of the NYS Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative Caucus, Assemblyman Karim Camara said: “BOA has been a successful and important part of the state’s Brownfield cleanup toolbox which is of particular value to the communities we represent, often left unheard. BOA is the only program that addresses area-wide contamination in our communities and provides funding for constituent participation in planning for a toxic free future.”

Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh, Chair of New York State Caucus of Environmental Legislators, said: “Brownfields represent the continuing unfortunate legacy of our failure to protect our environment and public health in the past, and are, simply put, a waste of space. They also represent opportunities to right past wrongs and strengthen our communities. With enough resources and dedication, we can replace abandoned toxic sites with community centers, housing, and even nature preserves. I stand with these passionate advocates in calling for a robust response to brownfields across the state.”

“This recognition is much appreciated,” said City of Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown. “There is over $4.3 billion in new economic activity in the City of Buffalo today. The South Buffalo BOA is a critical part of this development momentum. Almost $1.7 billion in public and private investments have been made in the South Buffalo BOA since BOA planning activities began in 2008. We appreciate the recognition from New Partners for Community Revitalization.”

Assemblyman Michael P. Kearns said: "For many years, the South Buffalo BOA was home to many important industries near the shores of Lake Erie and the Buffalo River. Unfortunately, we experienced a reversal of fortune when industry abandoned these areas and left behind contaminated land. Today under the South Buffalo BOA Program we reclaimed this land and we are experiencing growth as well as a revitalization of South Buffalo."

Chair of the Senate Committee on Environmental Conservation, Senator Mark Grisanti, said: "The cleanup of legacy brownfields and the revitalization of New York’s older, urban communities is of critical importance to job creation and the state’s economic future. In my part of the state, especially in Buffalo and the City of Niagara Falls, brownfields are a major drag on our economy. Getting these sites cleaned up and back into productive use is one of my top priorities. I believe that the BOA program is an innovative and critical part of the state’s economic development and job creation strategy."

“The BOA program is producing real, tangible results for communities where there is a weak real estate market, said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. “There are now five BOA study areas in The Bronx. These sites are in economically struggling communities of color. For example, the Lower Concourse BOA is in the least affluent Congressional District in the United States, with a median income of $20,451. Nevertheless, BOA dollars have been used to advance dozens of sites through feasibility studies, market analyses, site assessments and other pre-development activities.”

"By bringing together a multiplicity of stakeholders to address community priorities through development, the BOA creates local resilience, strengthens relationships, and generates creativity," said Elizabeth Yeampierre, Executive Director of the United Puerto Rican Organization of Sunset Park (UPROSE), Brooklyn’s oldest Latino community-based organization, which is managing the Sunset Park Brooklyn BOA. “There is no question that the BOA program has helped to strengthen neighborhoods statewide. I urge full support of this program,” said Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez.

Senator Velmanette Montgomery said: “I have long been impressed with the efforts and results of the New York State Brownfield Opportunity Areas programs, and have taken great comfort knowing that in my District (NYS 25) we would be guided by the visionary Elizabeth Yeampierre, founder and director of UPROSE. The subject of brownfield remediation could easily be reduced to a simple set of goals and procedures, but Elizabeth has taught us all the importance of understanding the social and personal ramifications of both the problem and any possible solutions. Problems caused by humans, to humans, require a profoundly human sensibility, which she has tirelessly made available to our community and the social/ecology movement globally. She has my most profound admiration and I thank you for recognizing her ongoing efforts.”

Assemblyman Felix Ortiz said: “I congratulate Sunset Park/UPROSE BOA for being selected to receive NPCR’s Outstanding BOA award for 2014. UPROSE has led the fight to help clean-up the Sunset Park neighborhood that is addressing the long-term consequences of multiple brownfield sites. We must continue to do all we can to eliminate the toxic waste sites as Sunset Park leads the way in economic development and job growth.”

Senator Ken LaValle said: “I am pleased that the Town of Riverhead has been recognized for a Community Revitalization BOA award. This good news is another success that will go hand-in-hand with the Town’s downtown revitalization efforts, the enactment of our EPCAL (Enterprise Park at Calverton Reuse and Revitalization) legislation and the awarding of $6.3 million in State funding for the upgrade of the sewage treatment facilities at EPCAL.”

Town of Riverhead Supervisor Sean Walter said: “The Town of Riverhead is so thankful to be recognized by the New Partners for Community Revitalization 2014 Outstanding BOA award. The award is perfectly timed as Downtown Riverhead is seeing a wave of new development through both public and private investment of over $50 million dollars in just the last 4 years including the opening this month of the newly renovated formerly vacant 36,000 square foot Woolworth building that was vacant for over 10 years, several new businesses, and a new shared office concept building that will be the first of its kind on Eastern Long Island. The Town’s ongoing beautification of Grangebel Park, including a nationally recognized migratory fish passage, and renovation of the East End Arts Council Green Space with improved access to the Peconic River and Great Peconic Bay as well as $1.5 million dollars in new sidewalks is turning Riverhead into the new hot spot for investment in Suffolk.”

Mark Gregor, Manager of Environmental Quality, City of Rochester, said: “The legacy of the former Standard Oil Company of New York Vacuum Oil refinery facility, which discontinued operations in the 1930’s, still echoes throughout the Plymouth-Exchange neighborhood in southwest Rochester. Vacant and underutilized brownfield properties, once part of the Vacuum Oil operation, have prevented meaningful development and separated an entire neighborhood from the Genesee River for three generations. The NYSDOS BOA program has provided the resources and visibility needed for the City of Rochester and the community to begin transforming the former refinery site and improving the surrounding neighborhood.”

Since 2004, the nonprofit South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation (SoBRO) has worked on the Port Morris-Lower Concourse BOA, an area with a long history of heavy industrial use in the south-westernmost section of the Bronx. Located in New York City’s lowest-income community district and the nation’s lowest-income Congressional District, the 30-block area was successfully rezoned from manufacturing to mixed-use as a Special Waterfront District, with significant commercial, residential, community facility and open space development potential. SoBRO has since received two subsequent BOA grants to carry out its implementation strategy. This will include waterfront development and access, green infrastructure, and multi-modal transportation improvements along the Harlem River from 149th Street to Lincoln Avenue.

The Lower Concourse BOA team includes SoBRO, along with their consultants, Magnusson Architecture and Planning, AKRF, Urban Matrix, and Ewell W. Finley. SoBRO’s Senior Vice President, Lourdes Zapata, said, “it is an honor to accept this award from NPCR on behalf of the Lower Concourse BOA and it is a testament to the hard work, advocacy, and innovative planning efforts that have defined the South Bronx community for decades.”

Since the commencement of BOA revitalization activities in 2008, when under the direction of Mayor Byron W. Brown the city purchased 185 acres of brownfield land for over $4.6 million for future development, almost $1.7 billion in public and private investments have been made in the South Buffalo BOA. This 2,000-acre waterfront site is strategically located in the bi-national region. Building on the natural geography as well as key transportation and environmental assets, BOA resources were used to create a vision that linked and united those assets, resulting in the reclamation of hundreds of acres of industrial lands and leading to the rebirth of this district. As a result, the South Buffalo BOA has emerged as an invaluable community asset and it will continue to flourish as the balance of the implementation strategies are completed.

The South Buffalo BOA planning effort was the result of a broad coalition of partners and stakeholders, including Mayor Byron W. Brown; Bonnie Kane-Lockwood, Office of U.S. Congressman Brian Higgins; NYS Senator Timothy Kennedy; NYS Assemblyman Michael Kearns; South District Councilmember Christopher Scanlon; City of Buffalo Office of Strategic Planning: Brendan Mehaffy, Executive Director, John Fell, Dennis Sutton & Keith Lucas; City of Buffalo Dept of Public Works, Parks & Streets: Andrew Rabb, Deputy Commissioner-Parks; Peter Cammarata, President and David Stebbins, Vice President, Buffalo Urban Development Corporation; Martin Doster, NYSDEC; Chris Bauer, NYSDOS; Jill Jedlicka, Executive Director, Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper; Mark Mortenson & Karen Wallace, Buffalo Museum of Science; and Thomas Herrera-Mishler, Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy. Key consultant team members include Peter Murad & Michael DeLuca, Architectural Resources; Mark Mistretta, Wendel; Alan Ward, Sasaki Associates; Steve Wilson, CHA; and Frank Armento and Anne Redmond, Fisher Associates.

Sunset Park, Brooklyn is one of New York City’s last remaining working waterfronts. The neighborhood is historically known for its maritime commerce, port facilities, and dynamic industrial sectors. The industrial and manufacturing composition of the Sunset Park waterfront has traditionally served as an economic hub for NYC, and produced one of its largest walk-to-work communities. At the same time, the clustering of heavy industrial facilities has burdened local residents with pollution, concentrated truck traffic, and noise, and has deprived the community of any waterfront access. In 2006, UPROSE was awarded funds to commence Step 1 of the Sunset Park BOA. This initiative arose through a process of deep public engagement aimed at envisioning the neighborhood’s industrial waterfront to reflect the economic, environmental, and social priorities of the community. Central to this vision was the revitalization of a just and sustainable working waterfront that preserves the unique walk-to-work nature of the neighborhood, multimodal transportation to serve both residents and businesses, and the creation of open recreational space to reconnect residents to their waterfront. To facilitate this vision the community articulated a series of priorities, including: the remediation and redevelopment of key brownfield sites; the encouragement of green industrial growth; the preservation of existing affordable housing; and an upgrading of area-wide infrastructure. The BOA Step 1 study was completed in late 2009.

From the inception of the Sunset Park BOA, UPROSE has ensured that the process be driven by a diverse intergenerational group of stakeholders, from neighborhood residents, elected officials, local businesses, and City agencies. Beginning with Step 1, the process has sought to incorporate and strengthen a variety of community-based plans and visions already articulated by local stakeholders. These include the Sunset Park Greenway and the community board’s 197-a plan. In early 2011, UPROSE was awarded a Step 2 BOA grant for $214,600. NPCR was brought on to provide assistance with project administration. That same year, a contract was executed by UPROSE with WXY Architecture & Urban Design, HR&A Advisors and Gannett Fleming Engineers & Architects. Step 2 of the Sunset Park BOA maintained the same respect for and commitment to a robust public planning process, which by that time included the high prioritization of climate adaptation and community resilience. Through this process, the planning team worked within the environmental justice guidelines and perspectives provided by UPROSE to advance a twenty-first century vision of the Sunset Park waterfront. In 2013, the BOA Step 2 was released with the identification of eight strategic sites and future land uses to lay the foundation for this vision’s implementation.

The BOA funding will allow Downtown Riverhead to continue along the path of smart development for a newer brighter downtown with unique cultural attractions, a bustling Main Street, an Arts District, an Historic District with protected historic buildings, as well as an expanded and improved waterfront. Most important, funding for a parking analysis to accommodate the new development, funding to expand the Historic District, along with an economic and market trends analysis of existing conditions with targeted identification of reuse and development opportunities will assist private investors that see the potential of a wise investment.

The Town of Riverhead BOA team includes a very engaged steering committee of community members from a diverse representation of businesses within the BOA corridor including: Ray Pickersgill, Executive Director of the Business Improvement District; Small business owner Dennis McDermott of The Riverhead Project; Bryan DeLuca, General Manager of the Long Island Aquarium and Hyatt Place Hotel, and Janine Nebbons, General Manger of the Riverhead Tanger Outlet Center. Town officials Councilwoman Jodi Giglio, and Councilman John Dunleavy, as well as Deputy Supervisor Jill Lewis, Community Director Chris Kempner, Assistant Town Attorney Dan McCormick have contributed many hours to working with the project consultants and steering committee to identify and address key issues and obstacles for revitalization along the Main Street corridor. “The project Planning Consultants Nelson, Pope & Voorhis, LLC, led by partner Charles Voorhis, CEP, AICP and project manager Kathryn Eiseman, AICP, Nelson, Pope & Voorhis, LLC, along with community support outreach by Sustainable Long Island led by Executive Director Amy Engel and Director of Programs, Erin Thoresen, have done an outstanding job analyzing very diverse issues along an eclectic corridor with uses that vary from standard industrial use to former duck farms to a beautiful historic downtown district, all running along the Peconic River, a federally designated estuary of national significance,” said Supervisor Walter.

Throughout the Step 2 BOA process the City Rochester, the BOA Project Advisory Committee, and PLEX Neighborhood Association balanced the need for community-based visioning and master planning with the hard realities of brownfield cleanup and redevelopment including the critical role of property access, control and ownership as well as the need for securing both private and public funding for environmental investigation, site preparation, and cleanup. These key considerations led to a 3-phase BOA master plan that both addresses community concerns and objectives and retains the necessary flexibility required for brownfield cleanup and redevelopment on properties that are not yet fully characterized. “What was special and unique about the Vacuum Oil BOA, was the many public community meetings that were held where ideas were expressed, and having full support from the City of Rochester made our planning easier, ” said Dorothy Hall, PLEX President. John E. Curran, Co-chair, Plymouth-Exchange Southwest Rochester Riverfront Planning added, “What sets the Vacuum Oil BOA process apart is the integral collaborative role that Rochester's Department of Environmental Quality played with the Plymouth-Exchange Neighborhood Association. The City took the bold step of blending the simultaneous neighborhood-driven charrette process with its own separate yet coordinated BOA process. The cooperative dual efforts provided many areas of agreement benefitting from diverse civic engagement opportunities."

Progress is now being made on 20 acres of the former Vacuum Oil site with both the City and a private property owner entering the NYSDEC’s brownfield cleanup program. The BCP efforts of both the City and the private property owner can be attributed in large measure to the focus and flexibility of the BOA process and the consistent involvement of the neighborhood and its leaders in the master planning effort. The BOA master plan is now being used to work out the future uses for the City and privately owned parcels that will be addressed under the BCP. The Vacuum Oil Rochester BOA team includes Lovely Warren, Mayor, City of Rochester; Plymouth Exchange Neighborhood Association (PLEX), Dorothy Hall, President and John Curran, Co-Chair, Southwest Rochester Riverfront Planning Steering Committee; Sector 4 Community Development Corporation Joan Roby Davison, Executive Director; and City of Rochester Departments of Environmental Services and Neighborhood and Business Development BOA Project Director, Mark Gregor, Environmental Quality Manager.

In 2000, the Suffolk County Planning Commission named Wyandanch the most economically distressed community on Long Island, citing its high crime, poverty, unemployment rates, and lack of infrastructure and investment. Since that time, through successful community planning and design made possible by the NYS BOA program, the Wyandanch Rising revitalization initiative has garnered local, state and national recognition for its ambitious and comprehensive approach to community rebuilding. With a groundbreaking last summer on the first phase of an estimated $500 million redevelopment, Wyandanch is on its way to achieving its goal of becoming a regional model for sustainable, transit-oriented development. The Wyandanch BOA team includes Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, the Town of Babylon, the Long Island Rail Road, Sustainable Long Island, AKRF, RBA, Parsons Brinkerhoff, Bowne AE&T Group, Arcadia Land Company, Torti Gallas and Partners, Olin Studio, Joel Russell, Esq., and Speck & Associates LLC.

In 2006 the South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation (SoBRO) was awarded a Step 1 BOA grant for the Eastchester section of the Bronx, an industrial area along the Hutchinson River with a high concentration of auto related uses. Eastchester has a long history of underinvestment and environmental contamination and its residential population is over 80% minority with a per capita income of $18,000. Using the BOA grant, SoBRO did extensive outreach to diverse stakeholders to identify priorities and revitalization strategies and engaged the planning firm, Vita Nuova, to undertake a comprehensive study of existing conditions and trends. The Hexagon Superfund site, a 60,000 square foot former pharmaceutical manufacturing plant, emerged as the highest community priority and SoBRO engaged Dattner Architects to complete a zoning feasibility study and schematic design for the site. SoBRO was awarded a Step 2 BOA Nomination grant to advance strategic site planning, business sector development, green infrastructure creation, and expansion of the working waterfront.

The New Cassel BOA in the Town of North Hempstead includes approximately 520 acres and 1,920 tax lots, characterized with a universe of approximately 176 known and potential brownfield, abandoned, vacant, or underutilized sites. As part of the BOA, the Town undertook the 2012 Vision Plan update, which focused specifically on the role that the Arts and Cultural initiatives can play in the revitalization, economic development, and place making of a community. Since 2004, plans have been selected for the redevelopment of seven brownfield sites in downtown New Cassel which have or will replace empty storefronts, boarded-up buildings, and vacant land with new apartments and retail space. In total, approximately eight brownfield sites have been or are anticipated to be redeveloped with 263,500 square feet of mixed-use development, 193 residential dwelling units, and $53.8 million of private sector investment. Other brownfield sites are being reviewed for pocket park potential. The new “Yes We Can” Community Center opened to the public in September of 2012. Nevertheless, the numerous vacant and underutilized sites as well as the limited supply of open space and recreational opportunities in the BOA present many more opportunities for redevelopment and revitalization, including the long abandoned Grand Street School site located in the heart of the BOA adjacent to the “Yes We Can” Community Center, which the Town was finally able to acquire in 2013 as one of the BOA’s most important Strategic Sites for redevelopment. With the Step 2 BOA Nomination, the Town is continuing its efforts to transform contaminated, underutilized, and deteriorated properties into vibrant mixed uses, new affordable housing, business incubators, and recreational areas. In addition to the Town of North Hempstead, the New Cassel BOA team includes AKRF; and Global Arts/Media.

The South Queensbury BOA contains a mix of unique land uses, divided by a complex transportation network. Traditional mixed-use residential neighborhoods are isolated from nearby commercial land uses and the Hudson River waterfront due to the lack of pedestrian accommodations along roadways and the 50-plus acre former Ciba-Geigy site. The BOA Study Area is also being evaluated through a concurrent redevelopment study of the former Ciba-Geigy site via a Local Waterfront Revitalization Program redevelopment plan. The Ciba-Geigy property, once a highly contaminated site, was a joint Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and State Superfund site, which has been remediated, bulldozed, and turned into a grassy field. The draft Pre-Nomination BOA includes continuation of the Town’s affordable housing strategies, new recreational facilities, appropriately located infill development opportunities, improved site design, multimodal and streetscape opportunities that focus on safety and connectivity, improved access to an enhanced Feeder Canal Heritage Trail, strong connections to Hudson River waterfront and redevelopment of the Ciba-Geigy site and Warren County Department of Public Works (DPW) site to include new job opportunities and open space resources. The South Queensbury BOA Steering Committee includes many town officials including Town Supervisor John Strough, Deputy Town Supervisor Ron Montesi, Senior Planner/Project Manager Stuart Baker. It also includes John Wheatley, Vice President of the Warren County EDC; Joseph Strauss, President of HJE Company, Inc.; Chris Hunsinger, Chairman of the Queensbury Planning Board & Director of the Warren County Employment & Training. BOA consultants include The Chazen Companies; and River Street Planning & Development.

Formerly a transportation and industrial hub, Elmira’s Southside was once home to significant railroad and manufacturing activity. Several companies opened operations adjacent to the New York and Erie railroad line (now Norfolk Southern). Starting in 2000, the City of Elmira embarked upon a concerted effort to identify, remediate, and redevelop properties contaminated by former industrial activity and worked with the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation to clean up the Chemung Foundry and American LaFrance sites. Despite the City’s efforts to prepare sites for development and some recent private reinvestment that occurred prior to participation in the NYS BOA Program, Elmira has lacked a comprehensive revitalization strategy for neighborhoods impacted by the presence of brownfields. The Southside Rising Revitalization Strategy funded under the BOA Program examines an approximately 440 acre Study Area and develops a Master Plan that addresses vacant and underutilized sites, downtown redevelopment, wayfinding and connectivity, parks and the Chemung Riverfront, and neighborhoods. Although the City of Elmira is hoping to progress to Step 3, preliminary recommendations from Step 2 have already spurred excitement in the community and funding applications are being submitted under the Consolidated Funding Application for New York Main Street Funds as well as an application under the Transportation Alternatives Programs. In addition to the City of Elmira, the Southside Rising BOA team includes Bergmann Associates, Trowbridge Wolf Michaels Landscape Architects and RKG Associates.

Jamaica revitalization was hit hard by the 2008 economic collapse. An outdated image of a crime ridden, dirty and unwelcoming neighborhood among private investors and an unwillingness to “go first” limited the area’s advancement. The Jamaica BOA has made concrete progress, particularly in the last twelve months. Two strategic sites have been announced for development within the Jamaica Station Area BOA. The impact of these developments in the BOA, Downtown Jamaica and all of Southeast Queens will be important. Developers, investors and entrepreneurs are now taking a fresh look at Jamaica as a key neighborhood for significant private investment and local residents will benefit from new jobs, affordable housing, expanded retail offerings and a dramatically improved quality of life. The BOA is a success story of the reuse of a former one-story industrial property into badly needed mixed- income housing and commercial activity. Outdated perceptions of social disorder are giving way to the reality of a diverse working class/middle income community. The Jamaica Station Area BOA is a place where the community and its leaders works with and engages developers, retailers, restaurants, cultural activities and educational advancement. The Greater Jamaica Development Corporation (GJDC) which is managing this BOA has worked to remediate community eyesores which perpetuate negative images of Jamaica and to upgrade infrastructure. In addition to GJDC, team members of the Jamaica Station Area BOA include the Velez Organization; JGSC Group; and Buro Happold.

The Flushing BOA neighborhood is an exciting and challenging place for development. Approximately 75 percent of the BOA area includes vacant, underutilized, or potentially contaminated properties. Various site constraints, including FAA height limits and a high water table, as well as an outdated zoning code have discouraged property owners from redeveloping their sites. An Economic and Market Trends Analysis was performed for the entire BOA, which led to the identification of the Strategic Areas for near- and long-term redevelopment. The highly diverse population requires extensive community outreach and the team has met with the majority of the key property owners as well as community-based organizations to discuss the plan and redevelopment options. The team has also been working closely with the New York Department of City Planning to ensure that the land use and zoning recommendations are implementable. Preliminary recommendations for the site include concepts for additional waterfront open space, taking into account the site’s topographical and natural environmental features and flooding considerations. The BOA is being managed by the Flushing Willets Point Corona Local Development Corporation, with Claire Shulman at the helm. The lead consultant is AKRF, Inc.; and subconsultants include Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects, SHoP Architects, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc., and Akerman Senterfitt LLP.

The 30 year long debate over dredging the Hudson River to remove PCBs resulted in this community having the largest Superfund in the country and 150 acres of pristine woodland sacrificed for the siting of a dewatering facility to process the sludge being removed from the River. It also had a debilitating effect on the community’s willingness to trust and work together. The Fort Edward Downtown Renaissance BOA gave neighborhoods the opportunity to work together by taking the focus off the municipal financial woes and giving the power to the residents, students, business owners and stakeholders. The 7 Concept Areas that emerged from the BOA process are already achieving remarkable results: 20 strategic sites have been identified, 4 cleanups are underway, and 14 projects are in development. In addition to the Town of Fort Edward, team members of the Fort Edward Downtown Renaissance BOA include Avalon Associates, Elan Planning & Design, CT Male, and Barton & Loguidice

The Fort Edward Commercial and Industrial Reuse BOA is focused on the Hudson River PCB Dredging 125 acre Dewatering facility and the north area of the Town that is riddled with closed businesses, including a 6 acre site with extensive contamination. The $180,000 in BOA funding has leveraged $975,000 in cleanup activities. Development is underway on a 50,000 square foot store which will create 135 jobs and replace a blighted, condemned building on a contaminated site. In addition to the Town of Fort Edward, the Fort Edward Commercial and Industrial Reuse BOA team members include Avalon Associates, Elan Planning & Design, and CT Male.