PROJECT BACKGROUND:

The former Jefferson Davis Hospital property in Houston, Texas is a registered State Archeological Landmark and was built on a historic

graveyard donated to the city by Houston’s founders, Augustus and John Allen. The property was used as a park in the 1920s, until the

city built its first hospital for indigent care in 1924. The rapid growth in Houston’s population made larger hospital facilities a necessity

causing the Jefferson Davis Hospital to close. Over the years, the old hospital building had a variety of uses, including a clinic, a

residential addiction treatment facility, and records storage. The hospital building then became abandoned, a magnet for the homeless

and gangs, and an attractive nuisance for youths. For several years, Avenue Community Development Corporation (CDC) and other

community activists looked for a way to re-assimilate the historic Jefferson Davis Hospital back into the Washington Avenue community,

an ethnically diverse, mixed-use neighborhood directly northwest of downtown. Since many artists have come to live and work in the

Washington Avenue neighborhood, which has a small theatre district and a growing number of art galleries, the Cultural Arts Council of

Houston recognized a special need for affordable housing for artists. As a result, in 2002, Jefferson Davis Artist Lofts (JDAL) purchased

the property from Harris County for redevelopment. As part of the acquisition process, an environmental assessment was performed in

2001 revealing an underground storage tank that had contained gasoline used to fuel ambulances, as well as lead-based paint and

asbestos contamination present in the building.

KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

· Cleanup activities were completed in June 2004 and included asbestos, lead, and oil

abatement and removal of an underground storage tank.

· No Further Action letter issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

· Leveraged approximately $6.2 million for cleanup and redevelopment.

· Redevelopment of affordable loft-style apartments completed in October 2005,

leveraging 10 redevelopment jobs.

OUTCOME:

The use of EPA Brownfields Cleanup grant funds to address and clean up the former Jefferson Davis Hospital helped JDAL leverage

funding from diverse entities motivated by different aspects of the project, such as the need for affordable housing, support for the arts,

and historical preservation. As a result, a new affordable loft-style apartment building opened in October 2005 and was fully leased by

November 2005. One unique feature of the apartment building is a “green” or vegetative roof system that conserves energy. Some of the

lofts were leased to New Orleans jazz musicians displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Moreover, the redevelopment provided an opportunity

for this property to serve as the connection between Houston’s growing Theatre District and the eclectic First Ward neighborhood.

The redevelopment also complements the revitalization of downtown that includes the restoration of numerous historic buildings in the

central business district.

ADDRESS: 1101 Elder Street, Houston, TX 77007

PROPERTY SIZE: 1.6 acres

FORMER USES: Cemetery, park and hospital

CURRENT USES: 34 loft-style rental apartments

Artists Call a Former Brownfield Home

brownfields at-a-glance

FORMER JEFFERSON DAVIS HOSPITAL

Jefferson Davis Artist Lofts, LP, TX

Cleanup Grant

EPA-560-F-06-228

August 2006

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/ or call EPA Region 6 at (214) 665-3172

EPA GRANT RECIPIENT: PROJECT PARTNERS:

The Jefferson Davis Artist

Lofts, LP received a

$200,000 EPA Brownfields

Cleanup grant.

Artspace Projects Inc., Greater Houston Preservation

Alliance, National Trust for Historic Preservation,

Downtown Historic District, Washington Avenue

Coalition, Cultural Arts Council of Houston and Harris

County, and The Building

For additional data and geographic

information for this and other Brownfields

Grants, please visit EPA’s:

Envirofacts - www.epa.gov/enviro/html/

bms/bms_query.html Enviromapper -

www.epa.gov/enviro/bf

The Elder Street Artist Lofts. (Photo taken by Steve

Hudson)