A Tale of Two Sites

By George Roberts

A supermarket just north of the City of Ocala, Florida, downtown area sat vacant for approximately five years. The neighborhood was in a state of decline and nearby properties had some questionable environmental perceptions.

A mortgage brokerage firm expressed an interest in the property but had some concerns about its environmental status. They had heard about the Ocala’s and the State of Florida’s brownfield programs through a community outreach workshop conducted by Renew Ocala, the city’s brownfield office. Upon speaking with the brownfield project manager, the principals of the firm decided they would like to take advantage of brownfield incentives, including an environmental assessment.

Although the property was outside the existing designated brownfield area, the city-council-appointed brownfield advisory board designated the site as a brownfield area, enabling the property owner to tap into state incentives for redevelopment and cleanup.

A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) was conducted using state and federal funding from the city. While there were some off-site environmental concerns, the investigation concluded there was no impact on the site itself. The mortgage firm purchased the site and invested $75,000 in renovations, converting the building into a mortgage processing center. The company created over 100 new jobs and qualified for state job bonus refunds of $2,500 per job.

Shortly thereafter, the city partnered with Marion County and the Florida Department of Transportation to obtain transportation grants to widen and resurface one mile of road that passed in front of the newly renovated building. Infrastructure was upgraded with tax increment financing (TIF) funds, including new sidewalks and lighting.

Within a year of completion of the road project, the mortgage brokerage firm purchased additional properties adjoining the site to the east. With another investment of $1.2 million, the company expanded the existing building to double the size of its facility, creating another 100 jobs.

Meanwhile, One Block East

In the meantime, another site one block east was poised for its own brownfield redevelopment. An investor was showing an interest in redeveloping a former meat packing facility that had several deteriorating buildings and had remained vacant for almost fifteen years. The buildings were safety and health hazards and an environmental disaster was feared.

When a food processing company considered moving its facilities from Texas to Ocala, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), using EPA funding, conducted a brownfield Environmental Site Assessment. Several recognized environmental conditions were cited that would require some degree of remediation.

With the promise of another 100-plus jobs, transportation and economic development grants were acquired to demolish the dilapidated buildings, remediate the site, and upgrade the road and infrastructure in front of the facility. A brownfield site rehabilitation agreement (BSRA) was signed with the FDEP. The City of Ocala matched federal and state grant funds with $80,000 of its own money to bring the total redevelopment investment for the site to $1.8 million.

Unfortunately, a primary contract the Texas company was counting on failed to materialize and the Ocala project collapsed. Not to let an opportunity be lost, the city purchased the property and moved forward with the demolition and remediation plans. Once the site was remediated and the terms of the BSRA were met, the city negotiated with the recently established mortgage brokerage facility to purchase the site.

The FDEP will issue a site rehabilitation completion order once the city implements an institutional control on the property. An agreement was reached, with certain city incentives, for the company to build a 75,000-square-foot office complex on the site to become their corporate headquarters. When completed, almost $3.5 million will have been leveraged from $30,000 in environmental assessments.

Site plans have recently been submitted to the city. The value of the six-acre site has already increased with the demolition of the rundown buildings. The tax base for the area has increased and new construction has begun to appear in the immediate neighborhood.

A major wholesaler of pottery bought a vacant building next door to the former meat packing facility. Renovations are under way to convert the facility into a regional warehouse. A new façade has been added to the building, along with new paint, a new roof and an upgrade to the building’s mechanical equipment.
As a result of brownfield accomplishments in Ocala, millions of dollars have already been invested in the area and the surrounding neighborhood is definitely on the upswing with clean, stable businesses, improved infrastructure, and revived retail and commercial activity. BFN

George Roberts is project coordinator for the City of Ocala (Renew Ocala).

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