H

construction. 

JUST THE FACTS: 

• Residents of local neighborhoods

affected by brownfields have been

involved in the reuse decisions for the 

properties being redeveloped with the 

help of Brownfields Cleanup Revolving 

Loan funds. 

• A total of 177 housing units—48 town 

homes, 12 three-story brownstones, 84 

loft-style condominiums, and 30 

affordable apartments—are part of the 

Village t. Anthony 

redevelopment project. 

• It is expected that this project will return 

more than $92 million in redevelopment

costs, increase the city’s tax base by 

$2.6 million, and create as many as 150 

permanent jobs. 

Hennepin County Cleanup

Loan—Finding a Niche with

Innovative Financing 

Hennepin County, MN 

continued 

With assistance from EPA’s 

Brownfields Program and other 

federal, state, and local agencies, as 

well as private investors, Hennepin

County’s idle brownfields are being

transformed. Two former brownfields 

in Minneapolis are being redeveloped 

as part of a multi-million-dollar project 

that will provide a mixture of luxury 

and affordable housing in 

combination with retail and office 

space. 

Hennepin County redevelopment in progress. 

ennepin County, Minnesota, has been faced with the same problem 

so many other counties across the nation have encountered—“brownfields,” 

former industrial properties, some contaminated, that have been left idle 

and often abandoned. 

communities and reduced property tax revenues. , long 

plagued by these properties, has worked in partnership with state, local, 

and federal partners to place these properties into productive reuse. With 

assistance from EPA’s Brownfields Program and other federal, state, and 

local agencies, as well as private investors, Hennepin County’s idle 

brownfields are being transformed. , two of Hennepin County’s 

former adjacent brownfields properties in Minneapolis are being redeveloped 

as part of a multi-million-dollar project that will provide a mixture of luxury 

and affordable housing in combination with retail and office space. 

the properties is already fully redeveloped, and the other is undergoing 

The property’s impending economic and environmental transformation was 

in part made possible by Hennepin County’s receipt of an EPA’s Brownfields 

Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund (BCRLF) Pilot. 

counties, cities, and Native American tribes to make low-interest loans that 

facilitate the cleanup and redevelopment of brownfields properties. o 

date, EPA has awarded 112 BCRLF Pilots that have leveraged more than 

$70 million in redevelopment funding from the BCRLF loans issued. 

Hennepin County received its original $500,000 BCRLF Pilot in September 

1999, $500,000 in supplemental funding in August 2001, and an additional 

supplemental grant of $500,000 in May 2002. 

agreement, the Pilot has successfully authorized two loans for the Village 

at St. Anthony Falls with reduced administrative burden, for a total of 

$875,000, $665,000 of which has already been distributed. 

Pilot has executed a third loan for $450,000 for the Prospect Park 

neighborhood of Minneapolis. 

at S Falls

These brownfields have affected their surrounding 

Hennepin County

In particular

One of 

BCRLF Pilots enable states, 

T

Using an innovative loan 

In addition, the 
The Hennepin County BCRLF Pilot has provided assistance in downtown Minneapolis along the 

Mississippi River, only blocks away from where the city was first established in the mid-1800s. 

Minneapolis, one of the largest cities in the nation, is located at the navigational head of the Mississippi 

River at St. Anthony Falls. A loan for $425,000 from the Hennepin County BCRLF has helped to fund 

the property restoration efforts on a former abandoned and contaminated car dealership and associated 

automotive services facility compromising two city blocks (Blocks 1 and 2). A second BCRLF loan 

for $240,000 has funded, in part, the restoration efforts on a third block (Block 3) which had, over 

time, been occupied by various commercial and residential facilities, a stone quarry, various 

manufacturing operations, a taxi garage, and a trucking facility. Located on Second Street NE near 

University and East Hennepin Avenues, these three city blocks are now referred to as the Village at 

St. Anthony Falls development project. 

Although the Pilot distributed the current revolving loan funds to two different recipients, Fire Barn 

Associates and Housing Partners III (for Blocks 1 and 2 and Block 3, respectively), the Village of St. 

Anthony Falls is being developed as one entity as part of the community’s master plan for that area. 

Residents of local neighborhoods affected by the St. Anthony Falls project have been involved in the 

reuse decisions for the properties being redeveloped with the help of the BCRLF funds. As the size 

of the community grew in this area, community leaders lobbied for a pedestrian-friendly environment 

to reflect these changes. The community wanted a combination of retail and office space, affordable 

housing, and luxury housing to capitalize on the real estate value of the near-river property. 

A total of 177 housing units—48 town homes, 12 three-story brownstones, 84 loft-style condominiums, 

and 30 affordable apartments, many of which are completed or under construction—are part of the 

Village of St. Anthony Falls redevelopment project. This project also includes 1,500 square feet of 

commercial retail and 3,000 square feet of commercial office space. Construction on Blocks 1 and 2 

is complete and Block 3 construction is underway. It is expected that this project will return over $92 

million in redevelopment costs, increase the city’s tax base by $2.6 million, and create as many as 150 

permanent jobs. 

When EPA awarded Hennepin County its BCRLF grant, it did so in a state well versed in property 

reuse. Minnesota’s sophisticated brownfields redevelopment community has been a progressive 

economic revitalization and environmental restoration force since the early 1990s. Within this strong 

framework, the Hennepin County BCRLF Pilot was able to find a niche that provided community 

developers additional options for funding. With such high capital needed for successful redevelopment 

efforts (typically more than $1 million), it is imperative to ensure that developers have access to 

adequate redevelopment funding. The Pilot has been able to meet that community need and provide 

financing flexibility necessary to leverage additional private and public funding (a grand total of more 

than $30 million to date). Both loans already distributed for the Village of St. Anthony Falls 

redevelopment, as well as the newly executed third loan, have provided the necessary funding to 

supplement existing federal, state, local, and private grant money to make these projects possible. 

continued 

Brownfields Success Story Solid Waste EPA 500-F-03-033

Hennepin County, Minnesota and Emergency May 2003

Response (5105) www.epa.gov/brownfields/
A former brownfield, addressed under the 

Village at St. Anthony Falls project. 

CONTACTS: 

For more information contact 

US EPA - Region 5 (312) 353-2513 

Or visit EPA’s Brownfields Web site at: 

http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/ 

In addition, the Pilot has taken an innovative approach to its BCRLF loans. 

is common to find more contamination once cleanup at a property begins, Hennepin 

County introduced an escalation clause to its loan agreement. 

provides for the loaning of additional cleanup funds in the event that unexpected 

contamination is found on the property during cleanup. 

agreement reduces administrative burdens on both the issuing agency and 

the loan recipients. 

developers, Fire Barn Associates, for the Village of St. Anthony Falls project 

was for $240,000, with an escalation clause for up to a total of $425,000. 

The developer did indeed need to take advantage of this clause, and ultimately 

received the full allocation of the loan. Although it has not yet requested the 

full allocation of its loan, the second primary developer, Housing Partners III, 

has the ability to escalate its loan from $240,000 to $450,000. 

The Hennepin County RLF Pilot executed its third loan for $450,000 

in August 2002. The loan was made to East River LLC for the 

cleanup of a 4.6 acre parcel south of the Village of St. Anthony 

Falls property, in the Prospect Park neighborhood of Minneapolis. 

The property has long been an industrial island in an otherwise 

residential area. 

Association (PERRIA), the local neighborhood group, has been 

very active in moving the property toward cleanup and 

residential reuse. The property, 825 Thornton Avenue, will be 

developed by East River LLC into a residential area, which is 

the community’s preference. The BCRLF loan will provide the 

additional funding necessary to overcome the financial hurdles of 

property cleanup associated with redevelopment. 

had previously unsuccessfully applied for a county grant to help 

clean up this property, before becoming aware of BCRLF Pilot funds. The soil cleanup at this property 

was completed in November 2002; construction is expected to begin in Summer 2003. 

The Hennepin County BCRLF Pilot has proven to be an ideal example of recognizing a need and filling 

a niche to provide its communities and developers with the financial flexibility needed to achieve 

redevelopment goals. 

redevelopment and the actuality of economic revival, the Pilot has been able to contribute to the building 

of a strong Minneapolis downtown area and provide local communities the means to meet their vision. 

Through the innovative use of escalation clauses in its loan agreements, the Pilot has successfully reduced 

administrative burden and streamlined the effective cleanup of Hennepin County’s brownfields properties. 

Because it 

This clause 

This innovative loan 

The original cleanup loan with one of the primary 

Prospect Park/East River Road Improvement 

The developer 

By providing additional financing to close the gap between the possibility of 

Brownfields Success Story Solid Waste EPA 500-F-03-033 

Hennepin County, Minnesota and Emergency May 2003 

Response (5105) www.epa.gov/brownfields/