United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-98-266
November 1998
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
&EPA
Brownfields Showcase
Community
Stamford, CT
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
Brownfields are abandoned, idled or underused industrial and commercial properties where expansion or redevelopment is
complicated by real or perceived contamination. In May 1997, Vice President Gore announced a Brownfields National Partnership
to bring together the resources of more than 15 federal agencies to address local cleanup and reuse issues in a more
coordinated manner. This multi-agency partnership has pledged support to 16 "Brownfields Showcase Communities"—models
demonstrating the benefits of collaborative activity on brownfields. The designated Brownfields Showcase Communities are
distributed across the country and vary by size, resources, and community type. A wide range of support will be leveraged,
depending on the particular needs of each Showcase Community.
Community Profile
BACKGROUND
The Brownfields National Partnership has selected the
City of Stamford as a Brownfields Showcase Commu-
nity. The Stamford Harbor Redevelopment Project
seeks to restore the 250-acre harbor area to a major
economic and recre-
ational resource. Res-
toration of the harbor
will also provide a
much-needed economic
boost to Stamford's two
lowest-income neighbor-
hoods, Waterside and
South End, which are
located within a state
Enterprise Zone.
Waterside's population
is 71% minority, with
25% of families living below the poverty level, while
South End's residents are 80% minority with a 16%
poverty rate.
The city is targeting three of the harbor's largest
brownfields sites for redevelopment, as these sites will
catalyze the restoration of adjacent brownfields and de-
teriorated neighborhoods. All of these targeted sites
have been idle or underused for the past 3 0 years. They
include the 40-acre Northeast Utilities property, a former
manufactured gas plant contaminated by coal tar, PCB 's,
cyanide, lead, asbestos, and other by-products of the
gas manufacturing process; the 17-acre site of a former
fuel oil depot, for which a new residential complex is
now planned; and the 22-acre Yale & Towne site, a
former manufacturing
complex and foundry
property now slated for
housing and industrial
space. The city expects
that none of these three
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford plans to reclaimthe harbor
areaasaneconomicand
recreational resource, and revitalize
the city's two poorest
neighborhoods. Redevelopmentof
three brownfields will leverage $370
million in private investment, and
create 600 construction and 1,300
permanentjobs.
sites will require public in-
vestment in environmen-
tal cleanup, as current
owners and new devel-
opers will likely absorb
cleanup costs.
CURRENT ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS
Stamford already has a strong track record for
brownfields restoration, having recently completed
cleanup of a 12-acre site with extensive petrochemical
contamination. The ensuing $250 million construction
project created anew facility for 2,300 traders and other
financial services professionals. Highlights of the Stam-
ford Harbor Redevelopment Project include:
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Cleaning up and removing of contamination at the
Northeast Utilities property, which was financed
by the current owner at a cost of $700,000. The
city has agreed to purchase one acre of this site for
construction of a $1.7 million fire station, and is
negotiating with the owner to acquire an additional
three acres for a $3 million, high-speed ferry
terminal;
Completing environmental studies on the fuel oil
depot site, and the outlining of a cleanup program
with costs estimated between $1.5 and $2 million.
The property was recently sold to an investment
management firm. Cleanup costs will be absorbed
by the seller, an energy company, as part of the
sales agreement;
Receiving Planning Board approval for a mixed-
use development at the Yale & Towne site, which
consist of approximately 500 units of market-rate
housing, 100,000 square feet of retail space, and
200,000 square feet of state-of-the-art industrial
space. Total investment is estimated at
approximately $150million; and
Receiving a U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD) HOPE VI grant of
$26.4 million, in addition to a $6.5 million HUD
demolition grant, which will leverage $35 million in
private and municipal funds to convert a low-
income housing project to a mixed-income
community. This proj ect will stabilize the harbor's
western edge and vastly improve the entire area's
image.
SHOWCASE COMMUNITY OBJECTIVES AND
PLANNED ACTIVITIES
Stamford plans to use the Showcase Communities
project to form new federal partnerships, leverage
additional public funding to stimulate private demand,
and ensure that low-income residents of the harbor
area share in the benefits of harbor restoration. The
Showcase Communities project will ensure comple-
tion of the city's ongoing brownfields restoration ef-
forts as well as sparking new ones. Redevelopment
of the Northeast Utilities site will include an $80 mil-
lion sports and entertainment facility with 13,000 seats,
which will house an American Hockey League ex-
pansion team scheduled for October 2000. It is an-
ticipated that construction of the facility will be fi-
nanced through a 50/50 mix of private investment
and tax increment financing. This proj ect is expected
to create 150 full-time construction jobs, 25 perma-
nent full-time jobs, and 200 permanent part-time jobs.
A 150,000 square-foot office building, 250 housing
units, and a 5 00-car parking facility are also planned
for the Northeast Utilities property. The housing and
office building will be developed at atotal cost of $90
million, and will create 150 full-time construction jobs
and 475 permanent jobs. On the former fuel oil de-
pot site, developers plan a $50 million, 390,000 square-
foot mixed-use (primarily residential) development
proj ect that will create 75 full-time construction jobs
and 200 permanent jobs. The mixed-use develop-
ment planned for the Yale & Towne site will create
225 full-time construction jobs and 600 permanent
jobs.
Contacts
Stamford Harbor
Redevelopment Project
City of Stamford
(203)977-5088
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 1
(617)573-9681
For more information on the Brownfields Showcase Communities,
visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/showcase.htm
Brownfields Showcase Community
November 1998
Stamford, Connecticut
EPA 500-F-98-266
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