Brownfields Redevelopment
Re-energizes East Palo Alto
E
East Palo Alto, CA
ast Palo Alto has an ethnically diverse population of
approximately 30,000, mostly minority. In comparison with its Silicon
Valley neighbors, East Palo Alto has historically had a small industrial and
commercial tax base. The city government has had difficulty meeting the
significant social service needs of its population. East Palo Alto is the
home of the region's largest tract of industrial land, the Ravenswood
Industrial Area (RIA), which has sat underutilized to this day. This 130-
acre, mixed-use industrial property is located 30 miles south of San
Francisco Bay in the heart of Silicon Valley.
Although redevelopment had been stalled by staggering cleanup cost
estimates for this property—which was home to auto wrecking, steel
fabrication, chemical processing, light manufacturing, trucking, and bus
companies—the city decided to seize the opportunities presented by the
booming regional economy. The city's goals were to redevelop the RIA,
create new job opportunities, and increase the city's tax base to improve
community services. The city moved forward with an ambitious
community-wide revitalization effort, and today, two redevelopment
projects are complete and several more are in the works. Currently, the
city's redevelopment agency is meeting with property owners and
developers to map out an implementation plan. Expected to generate
nearly 4,000 jobs, with a significant percentage filled by local residents,
these projects will also result in an aesthetic and economic transformation
of the area. A significant part of the effort on the 130-acre Ravenswood
Industrial Area site was driven by the presence of EPA.
In cooperation with the city and the California Regional Water Quality
Control Board, an EPA Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot
grant funded a comprehensive soil and groundwater sampling effort of the
60 privately owned parcels making up the Ravenswood Industrial Area.
Cleanup estimates for the RIA ranged from $2 million to $5 million, a far
cry from the $30 million estimated years earlier. Private property owners
were still reluctant, however, due to fears that their interests would be
excluded in any comprehensive redevelopment plan.
In 1997, grant money from the same Brownfields Pilot award was used to
secure a facilitator, and the Ravenswood Industrial Area Brownfields
Stakeholders Group was born. This group was composed of residents,
business and property owners, and regional experts, among others. They
worked over a nine-month period to tour neighboring cities'
redevelopment projects, and conducted research about the regional
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JUST THE FACTS:
• In cooperation with the city and the
California Regional Water Quality
Control Board, an EPA brownfields
grant funded a comprehensive soil
and ground-water sampling effort of
the Ravenswood Industrial Area
(RIA).
• Cleanup estimates for the RIA
ranged from $2 million to $5 million,
significantly lower than the $30
million estimated years earlier.
• East Palo Alto took the next step
toward restoring the RIA by adopting
a comprehensive, city-wide strategic
redevelopment plan.
East Palo Alto is the home of the
region's largest tract of industrial
land—the RIA. The city's goals were
to redevelop the RIA, create new job
opportunities, and increase the
city's tax base to improve
community services. To accomplish
this, the city moved forward with an
ambitious community-wide
revitalization effort.
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CONTACTS:
For more information on EPA's Showcase
Communities, contact Tony Raia of OSWER's
Office of Brownfields Cleanup and
Redevelopment at (202) 566-2758
Or visit EPA's Brownfields Website at:
http://www.epa.aov/brownfields/
economy, the job market, and the environmental status of the area. The group's efforts
led to strengthened communications with the property owners and community
residents and culminated in a report that provided elected officials with a
series of recommendations for redevelopment of the RIA. In recognition
of East Palo Alto's brownfields restoration efforts, EPA designated the
city as a Brownfields Showcase Community in March 1998.
Showcase Communities are selected by the Brownfields National
Partnership to demonstrate that through cooperation, federal, state,
local, and private efforts can be concentrated around brownfields to
restore these sites, stimulate economic development, and revitalize
communities. Showcase Communities serve as models for broad-based
cooperative efforts to support locally based initiatives. Showcases
receive up to $400,000 from EPA for both environmental assessments and
to support the loan of a federal employee to the Showcase for up to three
years. Showcase Communities receive additional financial and technical
support from the Partnership's more than 20 federal partners, depending on the
community need and program eligibility.
East Palo Alto took the next step toward restoring the RIA by adopting a comprehensive, city-wide
strategic redevelopment plan. Through a series of community workshops funded in part by EPA and
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), community input was gathered and
served as the basis for an urban design study that covered unplanned portions of the entire city,
including the Ravenswood area. By leveraging additional funds from EPA, NOAA, property owners,
and other private sources, the city was able to turn the study into a thorough Revitalization Plan.
Under the plan, the RIA will be reborn as the Ravenswood Business District, featuring office, high-
tech, and residential space. Property owners within the planned business district have enthusiastically
embraced this plan and have formed an association, the Ravenswood Shores Business District LLC.
This association has agreed to form an assessment district—a special taxing mechanism—to pay for
needed infrastructure improvements.
The Showcase Community formed several local partnerships to aid in integrating brownfields
redevelopment with other community development and social service programs. For example, the
Pilot has formed a partnership with Opportunities Industrialization Center West to enhance brownfields
job training and with the Community Alliance Neighborhood Development Organization (CAN DO) to
integrate brownfields and community development needs. The city also partnered with an array of
federal agencies, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the National
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the Department of Commerce, and the Department of
Justice. These partnerships have leveraged millions towards East Palo Alto's efforts to redevelop the
RIA. The city received authorization for a $5 million HUD Section 108 Loan for road improvements
and $3 million in grants and other cash contributions, including $1.8 million from EPA, $1.2 million from
HUD Economic Development Initiative grants, $700,000 from the Deparment of Transportation, and
$500,000 from the property owners' association.
Brownfields Success Story
East Palo Alto, CA
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-02-156
December 2002
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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