Rochester’s Poster Child

By Mark Gregor

For every brownfield success there are plenty of other sites that remain abandoned and contaminated. They are a frustration to municipalities, neighbors and anyone concerned with the health and vibrancy of a community. The former industrial complex located between Orchard Street and Whitney Street in Rochester, New York could be the poster child for such frustration. Our experts explain the challenges this site presents and examine how to overcome them, sharing their insights and exploring the opportunities for redevelopment.

Rochester is a city of 219,000 located on Lake Ontario in upstate New York. The city covers about 36 square miles and is known for its international corporate leaders including Eastman Kodak, Xerox Corporation and Bausch and Lomb. It has been, and remains, a center for advanced optics technology and industry. Rochester is also home to a sophisticated precision manufacturing industry and cutting-edge University of Rochester research facilities.

Unable to annex land from adjoining towns, Rochester is forced to actively restore and reuse its older industrial, commercial and residential areas. During the last 10 years the city has secured $12 million in state and federal investigation and cleanup grants. Using these grants, it has stimulated cleanup and redevelopment on 285 acres of brownfield properties.

Rochester’s successful projects include nationally recognized and award-winning cleanup and redevelopment efforts. The city has developed brownfield financial assistance programs for businesses, an effective tax delinquent property review process, and a city building-permit based brownfield institutional control system.

Site History and Liabilities

The 4.1-acre “Orchard-Whitney” site at 415 Orchard Street and 354 Whitney Street in northwest Rochester is arguably the most challenging brownfield in the city. The two abandoned parcels are assessed at $765,000. However, delinquent property taxes exceed $1.6 million. There may also be a federal lien in excess of $200,000 on 354 Whitney as a result of a drum removal action. The only viable structure left on the site is a six-story, 129,000- square-foot building on Orchard. Both parcels are zoned for manufacturing. 

From 1915 to 1922 the North East Electric Company operated on the site. General Motors occupied the site from 1930 to 1967. Industrial activities including the production of electrical equipment, heat treating, plating, coal storage, boiler operations, petroleum fuel storage and industrial wastewater treatment were performed on the site.

After General Motors ceased operations, tool and die, printing, plastic manufacturing, synthetic foam production, metal finishing, bearing production and warehousing took place at the site through the early 1990s. 

The current owners of record are non-responsive, and although the parcels have been offered at the city’s tax-delinquent brownfield auctions on several occasions, no viable bidders have come forward. Title research has already been completed, and the city, now in the process of evaluating potential acquisition of the parcels, could foreclose by first providing notice to anyone that public records indicate might have an ownership interest.

The Neighborhood

The site is located in a struggling, transitional area. The neighborhood is just beginning to overcome a history of falling property values, substandard housing, childhood lead poisoning, crime and drug activity. Thirty-five percent of residents in the area live below the poverty level and 39 percent of those over 25 years old have not graduated from high school. The unemployment rate is nine percent. 

The City of Rochester is working through its Neighbors Building Neighborhoods (NBN) community-based planning process with neighborhood leaders and groups to prioritize brownfield sites and identify reuse opportunities. Neighborhood groups use the NBN process to develop action plans for each of 10 planning “sectors” in the city.

The Orchard-Whitney site is a very high priority for the area, its residents, local businesses, property owners and community groups

Environmental Status

The two parcels have been on the city’s tax delinquent brownfield list since 1994. In 1999, U.S. EPA performed a drum removal action at 354 Whitney Street after more than 200 drums and containers were identified by city environmental staff and consultants.

In 2000, the city secured a court order for access to conduct a Phase 1 site inspection and limited sampling in order to evaluate whether to foreclose on the properties. Groundwater contamination with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and heavy metals was identified from samples of existing monitoring wells on the property. Other recognized environmental concerns identified include PCBs, asbestos, underground storage tanks, soil contamination with metals and VOCs, and numerous underground vaults and utilities both on-site and off-site.

In July 2003, the buildings at 354 Whitney Street were severely damaged by an arson fire. From 2003 to 2005 the city’s Community Development Department performed fire-related demolition activities at a cost of $956,000 using CDBG funds.

Grants

The city proposed the Orchard– Whitney site to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) for a U.S. EPA targeted brownfield assessment grant in 2004. As result, this year the DEC will use $125,000 from U.S. EPA to begin investigating the site. 

The city has also applied to the DEC for a $200,000 grant to complete investigation activities and perform remedy selection under New York’s 1996 Bond Act Environmental Restoration Program (ERP). The ERP program reimburses municipalities 90 percent of the cost of brownfield investigation and cleanup. Municipalities completing ERP projects, as well as successors in title, are indemnified by the State of New York for future environmental responses.  

In addition, Rochester has been awarded $90,000 from the New York Department of State for preliminary assessments of brownfields in the general area around the site and the development of land-use planning strategies for the area, including the Orchard-Whitney site.

Site Attributes and Incentives

The Orchard-Whitney Site is located 0.6 miles from Interstate 490, three minutes from downtown, and 10 minutes from the Greater Rochester International Airport. Of great significance to the future of the site and the neighborhood is the $24 million stadium now under construction two blocks east of the site.

The stadium, named PaeTec Park, will be the home of the Rochester Rhinos, a successful A-league soccer franchise. In support of the stadium, the city is completing a $3.26 million reconstruction of Broad Street with pedestrian gateway features and amenities. Broad Street is the major arterial that links the stadium and Orchard-Whitney site to downtown and the interstate.

Real estate speculation appears to be starting with investors acquiring several properties in the four-block area around the stadium and Orchard-Whitney site. An established real estate developer last year purchased the adjacent 367 Orchard Street property at one of the city’s tax delinquent brownfield auctions.

The city has foreclosed on several parcels in the immediate vicinity, including a two-acre, four-parcel site between Orchard Street and Broad Street. One of the four parcels is a former gasoline station now under investigation using EPA brownfield assessment grant funds. 

The Orchard-Whitney site is located in a New York State Environmental Zone, which receives enhanced state income tax credits for brownfield cleanup and redevelopment costs incurred under the DEC’s brownfield cleanup program. New York State Empire Zone credits for job creation are also available. In addition, the site is also in a federal Renewal Community Zone and an established Urban Renewal District.  

If private parties were to become involved in the investigation and cleanup of some or all of the site, the city could provide financial support through its U.S. EPA-funded Brownfield Assistance Program. This program provides site investigation services to the private sector for low cost or in some cases no cost. The city’s $500,000 Brownfield Cleanup Revolving Loan program could be used as well.

Partnership Is Key

Public investment in the environmental investigation and cleanup of the Orchard-Whitney site at this time is important in order to capitalize on the recent momentum associated with the new soccer stadium, to respond to neighborhood needs, and to encourage private investment.

Similarly, cleanup and reuse of the site are crucial to the turnaround of the neighborhood, and planning is just beginning for interim and long-term site uses. The New York State Brownfield Opportunity Area grant program should help integrate the site with other important improvements such as the PaeTec Park stadium.

The city will be looking for creative, viable reuse opportunities and private sector partners. The ultimate success of the redevelopment of the site and the area will depend on both public and private investment. BFN

Mark Gregor is manager of the division of environmental quality of the City of Rochester, N.Y.

Read expert advice on the Orchard-Whitney site from the varying perspectives of the Brownfield News editorial board:
DEVELOPER’S DEPARTMENT Can you find a good apple in this orchard?
TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT What a personality!
INSURANCE DEPARTMENT Perfume and lipstick to help developers see past flaws
ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT Financial reporting considerations not a deterrent
COMMUNITY DEPARTMENT A good place for all of us to live in
OWNER’S DEPARTMENT A potential for renaissance
U.S. EPA DEPARTMENT The classic brownfield story line
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