A Portland developer was awarded federal funds to assess several properties in the Bayside neighborhood for environmental hazards before building several hundreds of units of housing.
Tom Watson, of Port Property Management, is seeking brownfields assessment funding for the Bayside Center Project. The project aims to create 500 units of affordable and market-rate housing in buildings within five city blocks, including the soon-to-be vacated Oxford Street Shelter, which is intended to be demolished and used as a construction staging or contractor parking area until potentially being used as a site for more housing.
These grants are used to assess sites contaminated by hazardous substances, pollutants, petroleum and other contaminants.
This would be an appropriation of $3 million in funding the city has already received in brownfields cleanup funding. Watson’s company previously received $15,000 in brownfields assessment funding for an earlier phase of development of all properties.
The request went before the Portland Development Corporation on Feb. 16, which passed 4-3 to provide the developers $30,700.
