From 1999 to 2003, the city of Ypsilanti purchased segments of land that now make up the Water Street Redevelopment Area. The Water Street area is now 38-acres of land between the Huron River and Michigan Avenue, adjacent to downtown Ypsilanti. The city’s aim in this purchase was to improve the area and tax base.
However, the project has been delayed for years. Much of this has been due to struggles with financing the project. Debt and interest stacked up for Ypsilanti, forcing them to cut other expenses, as outlined in the 2016 Water Street fact sheet from the City of Ypsilanti website. A millage to pay off this debt was passed in 2016.
Katie Jones, Ypsilanti economic development and equity coordinator and project manager for the Water Street Redevelopment site, said several developers also took interest. However, they ultimately ceased talks with the city to develop the project due to the 2008 economic downturn as well as the site’s contamination.
She said this contamination stems from the site’s historic uses. In the 1800s the site was created as several individual tax identification parcels, later having more commercial uses until the 1980s. This consisted of residential dwellings, lumber yards, coal storage, a Detroit United Railway storage yard, metal junkyard, marshland later infilled with non-native material, automobile service and repair, dry cleaners and more.
This resulted in several Environmental Site Assessments finding concentrations of volatile organic compounds, semi-volatile organic compounds, metals, and polychlorinated biphenyls above state and/or federal regulatory standards.
These levels of contamination were unexpected, Jones said, which has been a major roadblock in making progress on this land.
However, the city has applied for and received many grants recently. This means progress will soon start to be seen.
Jones said this project is using the $4.381 million State of Michigan Michigan Economic Development Funds granted through Senator Irwin’s Office. As well as the $3 million US Housing and Urban Development Community Project Fund. Additionally, the $4 million EPA Cleanup Grant could potentially be used.
The Michigan Economic Development Funds will be used for PCB characterization and removal. The city is still in the process of contracting the US Housing and Urban Development Community Project Funds. The plan for these is to be used for costs associated with services (legal, environmental, architectural, planning, etc.) necessary to remedy the environmental contamination and support the redevelopment efforts.
Through these funds, Jones expects that PCBs will begin being excavated in 2025. The EPA Cleanup Grant would be awarded or denied in May of 2025 and the city would have until 2029 to use it. The HUD Grant has until 2031 to be used.
Currently, the site has no developer. As the cleanup begins, the city hopes to be soliciting developers for the project. Through community engagement sessions the city would understand what community members want to see developed on Water Street. This would help shape the request for proposal. These sessions will also determine what the land will ultimately be used for.
Jones said the ultimate goal of this project is to redevelop the property and return it back to the city tax rolls.
