Jun 14, 2007
G&B redevelopment
Project is seeing lots of ‘green’
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by SUSAN WOLF
pilot@thereddingpilot.com
Kermit the frog says it’s not easy being green, but for the owners of the Gilbert & Bennett redevelopment project, “green” is a good thing.
Georgetown Land Development Company is the firm redeveloping the former manufacturing site off Route 107 into a pedestrian-friendly village with a mix of residential and commercial uses. Its project has been selected for a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) pilot program. It will be designated a Gold LEED development, and the designation would apply to the entire development.
“This is a big deal because the whole project will be a LEED community,” said Stephen Soler, Georgetown Land Development Company president. He added that there will also be several buildings within the project that will be LEED certified.
The LEED for Neighborhood Development program is a rating system that integrates the principles of smart growth, new urbanism and green building. The system is from the U.S. Green Building Council in collaboration with the Congress for the New Urbanism and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Green bonds
In another “green” related issue, the state legislature, both the House and the Senate, recently approved changes to the bill creating the Georgetown Special Taxing District. “It allows us to issue Green Bonds — $72.25 million — for the commercial development on this site,” said Mr. Soler.
The company set up the district as a financial mechanism for the redevelopment of its property, a brownfield site. In February 2006, the Georgetown Special Taxing District received a special tax-exempt bond designation from the U.S. Treasury, which allows the district to issue qualified “green” building and sustainable design project bonds.
To qualify for the bond designation, the taxing district had to demonstrate that its green building and sustainable design project could meet a number of criteria. Among them is that 75% of the square footage of commercial buildings is registered for LEED certification; the project must include a brownfield site; and it must demonstrate it can create 1,000 construction jobs and 1,500 permanent jobs.
The designation “is based on the way a project is planned and laid out in the community,” Mr. Soler during an earlier interview.
Legislative changes
Mr. Soler explained the effect of the changes to the legislation creating the special taxing district, which only applies to the redevelopment site.
First, it allows the district to issue the green bonds “in a way that has no effect on the town of Redding’s bonding capacity,” said Mr. Soler. “Our bonds are now in a separate bonding category.”
It also allows the district to relend the bond money; for example, the district may lend to companies with commercial enterprises on the site.
Second, the legislative changes allow the district to regulate the property, such as making sure projects are in compliance with the design code approved by the Zoning Commission, or with open space requirements, or any other elements required by the town.
Third, the changes allow the district to have benefit assessments, said Mr. Soler. For example, the Georgetown sewer plant is being expanded and paid for by Mr. Soler’s company to accommodate the redevelopment project. Sewers users in the project may now be asked, through a benefits assessment, to pay their share of the cost.
“It allows anything that happens there that is beneficial to the people in the project to pay their share. This (provision) is the same as in other taxing districts in the state,” Mr. Soler said.
Now on board with the redevelopment company is Frank Owens, a marketing and financial modeling consultant. “The project is what smart growth and smart development is all about,” he said. It encompasses what the town wants and provides a commercial tax base, as well as civic components such as a performing arts, center, a YMCA, a train station and walking trails, he added.
Tenants
“We’re looking to very distinctive (commercial) tenants that would serve the community,” said Mr. Soler.
“Also, those that would complement the green philosophy,” Mr. Owens said. He added that the goal is to not only target business to complement the development, but the area as well.
“Without being specific, we are in preliminary talks with tenants for over 50% of the space here,” said Mr. Owens.
“The marketplace now knows about Georgetown,” added Mr. Soler. “It is on the map, it is where people want to be. It’s not the place of 30 years ago, but the mill town is getting to the next generation of the mill’s legacy.”
What’s ahead
By the end of summer, the infrastructure work on the project will begin, both the commercial infrastructure and the off-site work, said Mr. Soler. At the same time, he said, the design of buildings will be taking place.
Mr. Owens predicted that people in the community would see residential development before the commercial development. It takes longer to build a commercial building.
In any case, Mr. Soler said there will be some building activity by the end of the year. Next spring, he said, the off-site infrastructure would be done, including the new rail crossing.
To date, 14 million pounds of steel and masonry have come from the demolition of buildings at the site. The company says 100% of the steel and masonry has been recycled.
The company is removing buildings that are structurally unsound; it is keeping historic mill buildings that may be renovated for both residential and commercial uses.
Intersection work
By the end of the month, said Mr. Soler, his company will file for an encroachment permit with the state Department of Transportation to work within the state right-of-way for work on Routes 7, 57 and 107. The intersection work is slated for early fall.
The Georgetown sewer plant, which the company is expanding, is expected to be operational by summer’s end, said Mr. Soler. Once the work is done, the town or, in actuality, its Water Pollution Control Commission’s enterprise fund, would acquire the plant and its new footprint, subject to negotiations between GLDC and the town.
With the company’s redevelopment project ramping up, it plans to inform the public, and its neighbors, about what is happening. Plans call for a newsletter, The Village Green, that would be published periodically and inserted in The Pilot, said Mr. Soler.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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