Set to commence in the fall of 2017 and be redeveloped over the next two to three years, the $32 million Iron Ridge District Development project promises to bring local food, brew pubs, bakeries, stores, apartments, office and tech space and a fitness center to the cities of Ferndale and Pleasant Ridge, Mich. 

Covering 13 acres, the project site has been home to multiple commercial and industrial uses, including one of the largest, Walker Wire, a wire cutting, stretching, and chemical treatment plant that occupied a 74,000 square foot building on the property. 

“Given that it’s an old steel plant and that the building where ePrize was on the railroad tracks, there are some environmental issues that exist out there,” Pleasant Ridge City Manager James Breuckman told C&G News.

PM Environmental, Inc. prepared the approved Brownfield and 381 Work Plan which secures up to $6.5M in costs associated with environmental assessments, due care responsibilities, demolition, asbestos abatement, site preparation, and infrastructure improvements that can be reimbursed utilizing new taxes the property generates.

“It has been one of the most exciting projects to be a part of,” said Elizabeth Masserang, Senior Project Consultant at PM Environmental. “The environmental cleanup itself plays such an integral role in making sure the property can be reused and the Brownfield Plan is a necessary means to ensure that, financially, it can be done. It is truly a multi-faceted and team project.”

With the site being part of both Ferndale and Pleasant Ridge, which doesn’t have a brownfield authority due to so few sites, the two cities agreed that the Oakland County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority would review the project and its brownfield plan to redevelop the area.

The developers anticipate the project will create approximately 250 full-time jobs that will include clerical, sales, service, managerial and technical positions.  

“PM has been involved in the project since the early planning stages and seeing how much effort the development team has put into working with the local community and businesses has been inspirational,” said Masserang. “They’ve cultivated their vision for the end uses of all these buildings with input from the community so they are integrated into the fabric of the neighborhood.”