Officials tout policies, funding that help redevelop brownfield sites in Hudsonville, elsewhere

HUDSONVILLE — One person's polluted or abandoned land parcel is another person's housing treasure.

That was the sentiment Thursday as local officials and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gathered to celebrate mixed-use development in Hudsonville's city center that was funded through a public-private partnership.

"Targeting brownfield assessment money allows a community and the developers to know what they're getting into," said Ann Vogel, Region 5 administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

In May, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy announced that Ottawa County received a $500,000 brownfield assessment grant as part of a $6.7 million federal investment from the EPA.

Read More: EPA awards $500K to Ottawa County to help assess brownfield sites for cleanup

Brownfield grants are used to assess what kind of contaminants or pollution might be on the property and what has to be done to clean it up. Some of the funds have been used to assess old properties in Hudsonville.

The money was for environmental site assessments, cleanup planning and community engagement in Grand Haven and Holland.

Abandoned properties sometimes don't have records documenting the parcel's previous uses. If it were used as an industrial site, hazardous waste could be left behind. The EPA funds pay for deep research and assessment of the property to gather the background information for potential developers.

After the EPA helps pay for the cleanup, Vogel said it's up to the local community to decide on the parcel's future uses.

In Hudsonville, the funds have been focused on housing projects, such as the recently completed Prospect Flats, and the under-construction Terra Station, both along Prospect Avenue in Hudsonville, west of 32nd Street.

"Hudsonville knew they needed more housing," Vogel said. "They are a growing area of the state."

Vogel pointed out the expanding job opportunities to both the east and west of Hudsonville, in Grand Rapids and Zeeland. However, she said, the EPA funds could be made available to support commercial development or even public buildings like schools.

"Whatever the case may be for the community," she said. "But again, here in Hudsonville, what we're looking at is housing."

Getting Prospect Flats built was a long road for the property, which once had blighted homes and buildings that the city tore down more than a decade ago. Moxie Group received some brownfield funds for environmental assessment and found some ground contamination that had to be cleaned up before new residences could be safely built there.

"Everything showed a fuel tank from the 1920s," said Trevor Petroelje, developer at Moxie. "We searched for it for a whole day with an excavator and couldn't find anything ... so it must have been removed at some point."

Remediation also often involves the removal and replacement of contaminated soils.

Petroelje said projects like Prospect Flats are virtually impossible without incentives through the state and federal government.

"The numbers do not work in today's financial climate," he said. "And if they did work without the incentives, the rental rates would be at a place that, they would be unaffordable for people."

In 2023, Michigan amended the Brownfield Redevelopment Financing Act to include financing for housing-focused development through the Ottawa County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority. Essentially, the state uses some tax revenue to reimburse a developer for building something they wouldn't build otherwise.

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The state will forgo an estimated $8.9 million over 10 years in order to support the construction of the 41-unit apartment complex, and for units to be rented under affordable housing standards.

"We're working with our partners from start to finish," said Tyler Dotson, Hudsonville's city manager.

Dotson believes these new developments fit well within the master plan set by the city commission, with a goal of creating a more traditional downtown that is more than businesses alone.

"It's a sense of place," he said. "It's a sense of community."

— Joshua Vissers covers communities in eastern Ottawa County. Contact him at newsroom@ottawanewsnetwork.org.