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The
Burlington Mills complex redevelopment will provide more than 700,000
square feet of multi-tenant space. |
In 1998, the North Carolina Brownfields Program enacted the first brownfields agreement — a provision that offers liability protection for brownfield developers who agree to undertake necessary cleanup measures to restore a property to safe standards for reuse.
To date, the North Carolina Brownfields Program has been a true success story with 53 completed agreements, 60 more pending and more than $1 billion of committed private investment. The program provides additional incentives to promote brownfield investments, including five years of property tax savings and liability protection for developers who did not cause or contribute to the environmental problems.
One of the program’s successes involves private investor Cherokee Investment Partners and the Town of Mooresville. The parties received a brownfield agreement for the 39-acre Burlington Mills textile-manufacturing complex in 2003. The abandoned facility was filled with asbestos and soil and groundwater had been impacted around the 100-year-old mill.
Cherokee completed environmental remediation in 2003 and worked with the Town
of Mooresville to create a redevelopment plan that would fit within the broader
Mooresville Downtown Redevelopment Initiative — a comprehensive plan to
revitalize downtown and bring social and economic vibrancy back to the area.
Redevelopment will provide over 700,000 square feet of multi-tenant flex, retail
and commercial space. Completion is anticipated in 2006 and is expected to draw
hundreds of jobs to Mooresville.