The owner of the old foundry site where a new Chattanooga Lookouts stadium is planned is moving ahead with the future reuse of the first 45 acres of the South Broad tract, an official said Thursday.
Landowner Perimeter Properties has crafted a brownfield voluntary agreement with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
"Although this is largely an administrative step, it is good news and means we are one step closer to redeveloping our land into something truly transformational for the residents of Chattanooga and Hamilton County," Gary Chazen, president of Perimeter Properties, said in an email.
The 45 acres is where Core Development of Nashville has indicated it's looking at redeveloping 11 acres in a potential $160 million residential and commercial project.
The document with the Department of Environment and Conservation summarizes environmental conditions of each parcel included in the agreement and sets targets so that developers such as Core will know what will be required for compliance, according to officials.
"We continue to work with our local and state partners to ensure we move as quickly as possible on this development and address all environmental concerns along the way," Chazen said.
Next up is moving forward with a similar agreement with the Department of Environment and Conservation toward the reuse of nearly all of the rest of the 120 acres of developable land at the foundry site, including where the proposed multiuse stadium will sit, according to Perimeter. The environmental effort is progressing in separate pieces because the entire site is held by different legal entities.
The 45-acre tract is the southeast portion of the U.S. Pipe/Wheland site. The parcel is south of 28th Street and includes both sides of Chattanooga Creek.
Mark Deutschmann, chief executive of Core Development, said in an earlier phone interview the company is looking at eventually building 400 to 500 homes and up to 20,000 square feet of neighborhood-scale commercial space on the foundry tract.
"The site has great potential given its location and improved interstate access," he said, citing improvements underway on Interstate 24 into downtown.
Groundbreaking for the proposed $79.4 million Lookouts stadium could take place in April, officials said this summer in a meeting of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Sports Authority.
The newly created panel plans to issue up to $80 million in bonds by the end of December to fund the construction of the minor league baseball facility, officials said.
Troy Keith of the Department of Environment and Conservation's Division of Remediation in Chattanooga said by phone that the environmental agreement enables redevelopment by new owners of the property.
Keith said new owners work cooperatively with the department to identify and address environmental concerns.
The effort limits the liability for the new owners and provides oversight in the investigation and cleanup process.
Privately held Core would be responsible to pay for cleanup as that cost will be part of its development, officials said.
But with the publicly owned stadium, the city-county Sports Authority would be expected to be responsible for meeting costs related to the planned environmental agreement with the Department of Environment and Conservation if there are any, according to officials.
In July, Chattanooga received $4.9 million in federal money, and the city indicated that some may go to help clean up the foundry site.
Kirsten Yates, the city's senior advisor for communications and digital strategy, said how the Environmental Protection Agency's grant money announced for environmental assessments will be distributed in Chattanooga hasn't been finalized.
She said in an email that the foundry site has been designated as "no further action required" by the Department of Environment and Conservation as the land sits today, and any further action needed would be based on the final use for individual parcels.
Officials have said the new stadium is needed because the existing AT&T Field is inadequate and doesn't meet new standards sought by Major League Baseball.
The city and county already have approved creation of a special tax district around the planned stadium. Most of the new property tax revenue from the special district along with Lookouts' lease payments, sales taxes, parking revenues and $1.4 million each from the city and county will pay for debt service on the 30-year bonds to be issued for the project, officials have said.
Through tax increment financing, such special districts are designed to spur development in areas often before economic activity would typically take place.
Revenues from the tax district of about 470 acres around the stadium would pay for 58% of the project, officials have said. The district includes not just the foundry property, but the South Broad area around it. Also included are a number of tracts south of Chattanooga Creek, including a site for a proposed greenway connecting to Alton Park.
City and county officials have said they initially expect $350 million in new development in the tax district over the 30-year period, but Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly has said $1 billion or more is anticipated.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.