Technical Assistance Success Stories | EPA #560F23302 March 2022 Planning for Sustainable Brownfield Redevelopment BALLFIELD SITE, 201 EAST 5th STREET - DUBUQUE IA (EPA REGION 7) SITE STATISTICS • Community: Dubuque, Iowa • Local project lead: City of Dubuque • Former use: Industrial, port uses, and fill • Future use: Sports and recreation, tourism, and entertainment • Brownfields technical assistance: Financial/funding analysis for site reuse PROJECT BACKGROUND The city-owned "Ballfield" site, located at 201 East 5th Street in the Port of Dubuque, is one of 40 brownfields sites that the city has identified for potential redevelopment. The Ballfield site borders the Mississippi River and includes a 12.6-acre vacant parcel and a 6.1-acre surface parking lot. In recent years, the Port of Dubuque has been redeveloped to include numerous arts, tourism, and entertainment venues such as the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, a public marina and riverwalk, a public conference center, a casino, hotel, and an indoor water park. PROJECT CHALLENGE The City needed brownfield expertise to help evaluate the financial feasibility of transforming the site into a sports and entertainment destination. The City required assistance to understand the different types of sports complexes that might be appropriate for the location and the underlying economics of comparable sports/entertainment projects, HOW EPA HELPED In 2021, the U.S. EPA Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization (OBLR) provided technical assistance (TA) to support the City's site reuse efforts; TA included: • Facilitating a site reuse planning process with local stakeholders. The TA team reviewed the project economics and financial assumptions for a site reuse concept plan that included two reuse scenarios: one focused on entertainment and one focused on sports and recreation. • Developing a financial modelling spreadsheet to analyze the two site reuse scenarios. The financial modelling spreadsheet addressed local market data (area rental rates and construction costs), site cleanup costs, and site stability/geotechnical conditions. • Adding calculations to the financial model for public incentives including Tax Increment Financing and New Market Tax Credits. The financial analysis showed site redevelopment potential based on its prime location in the Port of Dubuque, but indicated significant public investment and/or financing would be required to implement the project. COMMUNITY'S NEXT STEPS • Engage the community on the potential reuses and opportunities to advance redevelopment of the site. • Use the financial modelling spreadsheet to assess project viability and explore resources and partnerships to address financing. • Explore a consulting relationship with technical experts in sports/recreation/entertainment site development, and consider issuing a Request for Information (RFI) to test the development market and attract developers. Figure 2: Concept Plan for the Ballfield Site. Figure 1: Aerial View of the Ballfield Site, Questions? Please contact EPA Region 7: Charlie Foley ------- |