FORMER JEFFERSON  DAVIS  HOSPITAL
                                                         Jefferson Davis Artist Lofts, LP, TX
                                                                                 Cleanup Grant
                              Artists  Call  a  Former Brownfield Home
      ADDRESS:            I 101  Elder Street, Houston, TX 77007
      PROPERTY SIZE:       1.6 acres
      FORMER USES:        Cemetery, park and hospital
      CURRENT USES:	34 loft-style rental apartments	
     EPA GRANT RECIPIENT:
     The Jefferson Davis Artist
     Lofts, LP received a
     $200,000 EPA Brownfields
     Cleanup grant.
 PROJECT PARTNERS:
Artspace Projects Inc., Greater Houston Preservation
Alliance, National Trust for Historic Preservation,
Downtown Historic District, Washington Avenue
Coalition, Cultural Arts Council of Houston and Harris
County, and The Building
For add itional data and geographic
information for this and other Brownfields
Grants, please visit EPA's:
Envirofacts - www.epa.gov/enviro/html/
bms/bms querv.html Enviromappei -
www.epa.gov/enviro/bf
    PROJECT BACKGROUND:
    The formerjefferson Davis Hospital property in Houston, Texas is a registered State Archeological Landmark and was built on a historic
    graveyard donated to the city by Houston's founders, Augustus and John Allen. The property was used as a park in the 1920s, until the
    city built its first hospital for indigent care in 1924. The rapid growth in Houston's population made larger hospital facilities a necessity
    causing the Jefferson Davis Hospital to close. Over the years, the old hospital building had a variety of uses, including a clinic, a
    residential addiction treatment facility, and records storage. The hospital building then became abandoned, a magnet for the  homeless
    and gangs, and an attractive nuisance for youths. For several years, Avenue Community Development Corporation (CDC) and other
    community activists looked for a way to re-assimilate the historic Jefferson Davis Hospital back into the Washington Avenue community,
    an ethnically diverse, mixed-use neighborhood directly northwest of downtown. Since many artists have come to live and work in the
    Washington Avenue neighborhood, which has a small theatre district and a growing number of art galleries, the Cultural Arts Council of
    Houston recognized a special need for affordable housing for artists. As a result, in 2002, Jefferson Davis Artist Lofts (JDAL) purchased
    the property from Harris County for redevelopment. As part of the acquisition process, an environmental assessment was performed in
    2001 revealing an underground storage tank that had contained gasoline used to fuel ambulances, as well as lead-based paint and
    asbestos contamination present in the building.
                                           KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

                                               Cleanup activities were completed in June 2004 and included asbestos, lead, and oil
                                               abatement and removal of an underground storage tank.
                                               No Further Action letter issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
                                               Leveraged approximately $6.2 million for cleanup and redevelopment.
                                               Redevelopment of affordable loft-style apartments completed in October 2005,
                                               leveraging 10 redevelopment jobs.
    The Elder Street Artist Lofts. (Photo taken by Steve
                   Hudson)
    OUTCOME:
    The use of EPA Brownfields Cleanup grant funds to address and clean up the formerjefferson Davis Hospital helped JDAL leverage
    funding from diverse entities motivated by different aspects of the project, such as the need for affordable housing, support for the arts,
    and historical preservation. As a result, a new affordable loft-style apartment building opened in October 2005 and was fully leased by
    November 2005. One unique feature of the apartment building is a "green" or vegetative roof system that conserves energy. Some of the
    lofts were leased to New Orleans jazz musicians displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Moreover, the redevelopment provided an opportunity
    for this property to serve as the connection between Houston's growing Theatre District and the eclectic First Ward neighborhood.
    The redevelopment also complements the revitalization of downtown that includes the restoration of numerous historic buildings in the
    central business district.
    FOR MORE INFORMATION:  Visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/ or call EPA Region 6 at (214) 665-3172

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