The Port has received state grants to clean up what's known as brownfield sites — previously developed land that is currently not in use — in Hamilton County. The nearly $13 million will be used to turn seven contaminated properties into pad-ready sites, according to The Port's Todd Castellini.
“Part of the reason we have this strategy is to create inventory. When I say inventory, I’m talking about sites. We don’t have enough sites to satisfy the market. There is a demand, and we’re just trying to satisfy that with a goal of trying to create high-quality jobs.”
Castellini says the level of contamination varies from site to site, and so will the amount of remediation.
The properties include the west half of the old Shillito's building Downtown, receiving $900,000, to the former Dow Chemical site in Reading, receiving $5.3 million. “Even the cheap ones are not cheap," Castellini says. "This subsidy helps the different sites become more manageable to repurpose or demo, whatever the case might be.”
Other sites and amounts are:
- The Crosley Building, in Camp Washington, $2.4 million
- Reliable Castings, $1.4 million
- Model Laundry, $1 million
- Lukenheimer Foundry, $1.7 million
- Lower Mill Creek, $135,000
Castellini says they hope to have the sites cleaned up and on the market by next spring.
Across Ohio, 190 brownfield sites will share $252 million from the Department of Development.
