Colfax Mainstreet Coalition announced today it has received a $900,000 Brownfields grant from the Environmental Protection Agency that will be used to study the 15-mile Colfax Avenue corridor to foster redevelopment of Colorado’s original main street.
Colfax Mainstreet Coalition is a partnership of the City of Denver, the City of Lakewood and the Denver Urban Renewal Authority.
The grant, which will be used for site assessment and remediation planning efforts, includes a three-year project period. The coalition will begin utilizing the funds immediately by engaging the community and identifying potential brownfield sites to study in the coming months.
A brownfield site is property that is difficult to build-on, redevelop or re-use because of the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants.
“Denver, Lakewood and the Denver Urban Renewal Authority are taking a strategic approach to reviving blighted properties and creating new opportunities for investment and job creation along the Colfax Avenue corridor,” said EPA Regional Administrator Jim Martin. “These funds will help secure cleaner, healthier neighborhoods by improving the environment and restoring dozens of properties to productive reuse.”
The Colfax Mainstreet Coalition is one of only eight groups across the country that received at least $900,000 in funding.
The grant will be used to assess contamination of “brownfields” properties along 15 miles of Colfax from Yosemite Street on the east in Denver to Indiana Street on the west in Lakewood.
These environmental assessments will help determine the nature and extent of potential contamination at sites, identify specific cleanup needs, and restore properties to beneficial reuse. Examples of potential brownfields targeted by this effort include former gas stations and dry cleaners.
“The great news about this grant is that it will add to the momentum we have underway along Colfax in Lakewood,” said Lakewood Mayor Bob Murphy. “We have several redevelopment projects either completed or planned, we have a new business improvement district and best of all, we have a new art district. This grant will be another step in creating the Colfax our neighborhoods and residents want.”
“This grant will build upon the public investment already occurring within the Colfax corridor,” says Doug Linkhart, Manager of Denver Environmental Health. “By integrating sustainable development that includes new high-density, mixed-use mainstreet zoning, we’re moving closer to achieving our ultimate goal of improving the environment and public health.”
The EPA awarded a total of $69.3 million in grants nationwide for new investments to provide communities with funding necessary to clean and redevelop contaminated properties, boost local economies and create jobs while protecting public health.
“When assessing an iconic, regional corridor like Colfax Avenue, one that stretches from the eastern plains to the Rocky Mountains, it takes a coordinated effort at the federal, state, city and community level,” said Tracy Huggins, executive director of DURA. “Without the strong support of the groups in this audience, we would not have this very important piece of funding to catalyze redevelopment and revitalize the Colfax corridor.”
DURA led the charge in forming the Colfax Mainstreet Coalition with the City of Denver Department of Environmental Health, Denver Office of Economic Development and the City of Lakewood Environmental Services. The coalition then acquired the Colorado Division of Oil and Public Safety and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment as strategic partners and applied for the federal grant in 2011.
Have a news tip or a real estate story idea? Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com. InsideRealEstsateNews.com is sponsored by Universal Lending, Land Title Guarantee Co. and 8z Real Estate.
To learn more about what is for sale in the Colfax area in Denver, please visit COhomefinder.com
To learn more about what is for sale in the Colfax area in Aurora, please visit COhomefinder.com
To learn more about what is for sales in the Colfax area in Lakewood, please visit COhomefinder.com
Let’s hear it for pork.
@Dave – Agree 100%. This is going to be money just pissed away.
Let private enterprise do it’s job and it will be done well. Getting public money into projects such as this just makes them a vacuum for more money and resources.
Yeh because private enterprise is doing such a bang up job on its own right now.
Anyway, this is good stuff. Glad they were able to get together to land this grant!
This grant is designed specifically to encourage investment from the private sector. Environmental contamination is a major question mark along all of Colfax Avenue. This funding will start to analyze the extent of contamination along the corridor to help private sector developers better understand the financial costs and cleanup process they will face upon redevelopment.
[...] the EPA awarded a $900,000 Brownfields grant to the Colfax Coalition. See the latest edition of Inside Real Estate News. The BID is a partner in this grant, and will be working with property owners to access funding [...]