HUD Awards $30.5M in Brownfield Economic Development Initiative (BEDI) grants

The Department of Housing and Urban Development recently announced awards totaling $30.5 million that were made through three competitions of its Brownfields Economic Development Initiative program.

BEDI provides grants to local governments to improve the security of loans guaranteed under Section 108 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 or the viability of the projects financed with those loans. BEDI funds support the redevelopment of brownfields sites, which have actual or potential environmental contamination, in an effort to return them to productive economic use.
Eligible applicants for BEDI grants are Community Development Block Grant entitlement and nonentitlement communities. Projects that receive BEDI funding are required to increase economic opportunities for low- and moderate-income individuals or stimulate and retain businesses and jobs that lead to economic revitalization.

The recently announced awards were made through two competitions for fiscal year 2009 funds and one competition for FY 2010 funds. Projects in 11 states received 18 awards through the competitions:

• California: Santa Rosa, $1.5 million
• Florida: Palm Beach County, $1.06 million
• Massachusetts: Taunton, $1 million
• Michigan: Wayne County, $2 million; Port Huron, $1 million
• New Mexico: Las Cruces, $2 million
• Ohio: Cleveland, $2 million, $3 million; Toledo, $2 million
• Pennsylvania: Philadelphia, $2 million, $2 million, $3 million, $1.25 million; Reading, $750,000
• Tennessee: Memphis, $2 million
• Vermont: Burlington, $1.04 million
• Washington: Bremerton, $1.75 million
• West Virginia: Ranson, $1.5 million

The recipients will use their awards for a wide range of redevelopment projects that range from waterfront parks to museums, commercial areas, housing, medical centers and job training facilities. Burlington, for example, will redevelop a former waterfront coal plant into spaces for one commercial and two nonprofit tenants, as well as two community facilities. One of Philadelphia’s awards will go toward the development of a supermarket-anchored community shopping center that includes a credit union and a health clinic. Santa Rosa, Calif., will use its award for the first phase of a transit-oriented development, which will convert an historic cannery into a health club. A Cleveland, Ohio, facility will be redeveloped into an office, lab, warehouse and incubator space in support of the area’s Health-Tech Corridor.

Need More Information?

An overview of the BEDI program is available at http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/comm_planning/BEDI.
The award notices for the first FY 2009 competition is available at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-02-01/pdf/2012-2235.pdf.
The award notice for the second FY 2009 competition is available at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-02-01/pdf/2012-2250.pdf.
The award notice for the FY 2010 competition is available at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-02-01/pdf/2012-2234.pdf.