The St. Joseph County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority (SJCBRA) is a county-wide redevelopment authority created by the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners as allowed by Michigan PA 381, the Brownfield Redevelopment Financing Act. The SJCBRA focuses on facilitating and supporting the redevelopment of brownfield sites throughout the county. The SJCBRA has become a major resource and partner for positive economic change in St. Joseph County helping to assess and understand contaminated sites, foster job creation, eliminate blight, re-use properties and infrastructure, and leverage investment. For more information see the Brownfield Redevelopment Opportunities Flyer.

What is a Brownfield?

A brownfield site is real property where expansion, redevelopment or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Michigan further defines brownfield sites as blighted, functionally obsolete, or historic resource. The property also may be adjacent and contiguous to a contaminated site, a tax reverted property, targeted redevelopment area or a transit-oriented property or development. View the acronyms and definitions.

Funding Sources

The SJCBRA has access to an assortment of federal, state, and local funding tools and incentives to help support eligible brownfield properties. For more information and how to apply for funding, please contact Cathy Knapp.

U.S. EPA Brownfield Assessment Grant

In 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded the SJCBRA a $300,000 grant for the inventory, characterization, assessment, and cleanup planning related activities for brownfield sites within St. Joseph County, Michigan. Find more about the current grant.

Brownfield Plans & Tax Increment Revenue

The cleanup and projected redevelopment/improvement of a brownfield property often increases the taxable value. Taxes on the improvement (the increment in the captured taxable value) are known as Tax Increment Revenue (TIR) and can be used to reimburse the SJCBRA and developer for eligible environmental and/or non-environmental activities. Brownfield Plans are used to capture up to a maximum of 30 years in TIR to reimburse these expenses. Find out more about these funds.

Local Brownfield Revolving Fund (LBRF)

After the SJCBRA and the developer have been fully reimbursed for their eligible expenses, the SJCBRA deposits excess funds into the Local Brownfield Revolving Fund (LBRF) for up to five years, not to exceed the amount of eligible activities reimbursed. The SJCBRA is currently growing their LBRF for future project funding, such as a grant or loan.

Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE)

For current funding opportunities, please visit the EGLE website.

Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC)

For current funding opportunities, please visit the MEDC website.

Project Profile

Clark Logic, a warehousing and logistics business, wanted to expand operations at their current site in Three Rivers through construction of a new 40,000 square foot warehouse. In order to clear space for the new warehouse, Clark Logic planned to demolish a blighted, former office building associated with historical operations at the site.

To support this redevelopment opportunity and leverage an estimated $1.5 million in private investment, the St. Joseph County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority (SJCBRA), in collaboration with the City of Three Rivers, used its U.S. EPA Brownfield Assessment Grant to fund development of a Brownfield Plan. The Brownfield Plan would capture tax increment revenue to reimburse Clark Logic and the SJCBRA for the cost of eligible activities, including site and building demolition, asbestos abatement, and preparation of the Brownfield Plan.

The site was eligible for a Brownfield Plan due to the identification of environmental contamination, stemming from illicit discharges from floor drains and poor housekeeping practices by previous occupants, at concentrations above state cleanup criteria, designating the site as a “facility” (Part 201 of Public Act 451, 1994). Find more about the Clark Logic project. See here for another example of brownfield redevelopment.

Contact

For more information on the St. Joseph County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority, or any of the above topics please contact Bronwyn Drost.

Bronwyn Drost
(269) 553-9588
bdrost@southwestmichiganfirst.com