Maple Grove Site Among 15 Receiving Cleanup Grants

On Wednesday, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development announced 15 grants to clean up contaminated sites around the state. The largest, for $828,122, will go to Maple Grove to supplement a previous $1 million grant awarded in 2017.

The project also has received grants totaling $750,000 from Hennepin County and the Metropolitan Council, and has applied for additional money from the Met Council’s Tax Base Revitalization Account. The city is also planning to put $1.4 million in tax increment financing into the project for a total package close to $4 million.

It’s a hefty price tag, but the reuse of the property, at the northeast corner of Zachary Lane and 85th Avenue North, has been a priority for the city for some time, Wille said.

“The site had really been targeted by a redevelopment site by the city for a number of years,” she said. “I believe initial environmental investigation started over 10 years ago on this site.”

The Opus-Inland project, known as Arbor Lakes Corporate Center, is expected to begin construction later this year, barring further delays, Wille said. Among other grants announced Wednesday by DEED are:

• $521,752 for soil remediation and cleanup at the Upper Post Flats at Fort Snelling, a Dominium project to convert 26 existing buildings into affordable housing.
• $211,214 to Minneapolis to clean up 907 Winter St. NE, formerly a metal plating site now slated for a 20-unit apartment building.
• $328,488 to Minneapolis to clean up metal machining debris at 2200 Snelling Ave., where Seward Redesign is planning the Bessemer at Seward
• $433,305 to South St. Paul to clean up contamination at a city-owned lot on Concord Exchange, the future site of the Big Heist Beer Company taproom and brewhouse.
• $184,438 to Robbinsdale to clean up the site of Inland Development Group’s 197-unit Parker Station Flats.
• $262,493 to St. Paul to remove dump materials from a former gravel pit slated for an expansion by the International Institute of Minnesota.

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