The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced it’s giving a $900,000 revolving loan grant to Texarkana for cleaning of brownfield areas.
"The definition of a brownfield is real estate or real property that has known potential hazards," said Craig Lindholm, executive director of community redevelopment and grants for Texarkana.
The grant is intended to help with about 200 acres and 200 properties containing brownfield areas. It includes the city’s historic downtown and its Seventh Street corridor.
Lindholm said the loans would be useful for rehabilitating older buildings in the city’s downtown area that were constructed with asbestos paint or tiles, as well as cleaning abandoned buildings damaged by pigeons or bats.
"That’s a real deterrent to the redevelopment of historic areas," he said. "Most developers are hesitant to develop older properties. They’re afraid of what’s in there."
Lindholm said Seventh Street was once the main highway through the city. Many properties along that highway, he noted, are old gas stations, and the loans will also help with the removal of rusting gas tanks that impact groundwater.
The loan funds must be used for redevelopment, Lindholm said. A developer must be planning to either reuse the targeted building or have a plan for replacement after it’s demolished.
"We’re able to loan the money out to them so they can go ahead and have it cleaned up at a very, very reasonable rate, and then once it’s cleaned up, the banks are a lot more willing to work with them," he said.
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