MDEQ video series highlights Bay City

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has launched a video series it calls “Brownfield Flip,” highlighting the agency’s contributions to the successful cleanup and transformation of contaminated and underutilized properties through its Michigan Brownfield Redevelopment Program.
 
The most recent video focuses on the redevelopment of the former Industrial Brownhoist factory in Bay City, a 43-acre site that sat vacant and abandoned for 15 years. Through the persistence and perseverance of local officials – including RACER Trust Transaction Manager Steve Black, a former Deputy City Manager of Community Development who plays a prominent role in the video — as well as financial and technical assistance from the MDEQ and the U.S. EPA, and $28 million in private investment from Shaheen Development, the Uptown at River’s Edge emerged as a beautiful live-work-play destination on the banks of the Saginaw River.
 
The project has resulted in 400 permanent jobs and a nearly 100-fold increase in the taxable value of the property, and stands as a shining example of the benefits of public-private partnerships in tackling seemingly intractable environmental and reuse challenges.
 
Click here to watch the video.