at-a-glance ROBERTSON ON THE RIVER Taunton, MA Cleanup Grant Former Textile Mill Cleaned Up and Transformed into Affordable Housing ADDRESS: PROPERTY SIZE: FORMER USES: CURRENT USES: 120 Ingell Street, Taunton, MA 02780 6.5 acres Historic Textile Mill Affordable housing units and commercial space EPA GRANT RECIPIENT: The Weir Economic Invest- ment Revitalization Corporation received a $52,000 Brownfields Cleanup Grant. PROJECT PARTNERS: Metric Construction, Bank of America, Massachusetts Housing Partnership, Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development For additional data and geographic information for this and other Brownfields Grants, please visit EPA's: Envirofacts - www.epa.gov/enviro/html/bms/bms_querv.html Enviromapper - www.epa.gov/enviro/bf PROJECT BACKGROUND: Constructed in 1890, the Robertson Mill operated as a mill for yarn production and various other textile products until it was closed in the early 1990s. The property remained vacant until the Weir Corporation purchased it in 2003 from Combined Realty Trust. The mill was a blight and safety concern for the historic Weir Village community due to the soil contaminated with polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and lead from the railroad easements that serviced the mill, and asbestos. KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS: • 6.5 acres cleaned up and 40 redevelopment jobs leveraged • Soil excavation, lead and asbestos removal, and removal of Underground Storage Tanks (USTs) was funded by a $140,000 Brownfields RLF Loan and a $ 148,000 Brownfields RLF subgrant from the City of Taunton • More than $15 million in redevelopment funding leveraged from local, state, and public entities OUTCOME: EPA awarded a $52,000 cleanup grant to the non-profit Weir Corporation for the redevelopment of the 140,000-square-foot historic Robertson Mill with its partner, Combined Realty Trust, into 64 units of affordable rental housing, 18,000 square feet of commercial space, a community meeting room, and a 100-foot wide Riverfront Park. On November 16, 2004, groundbreaking ceremonies were held for the Robertson on the River apartment complex. Less than a year later, on October 31, 2005, a grand opening ceremony was held for the complex, which has 20 one-bedroom, 34 two-bedroom, and 10 three-bedroom apartments and offers affordable rent to households earning between 30 and 60 percent of the median income. Currently, 63 of the 64 apartments are occupied with over 120 people living at Robertson on the River and two new businesses are located on the first floor. View of the karate studio, one of the businesses at Robertson on the River. FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/ or call EPA Region I at (617) 918-1 I I I ------- |