Washington County Leaders Request $1.6 Million “Brownfield” Investment

Slinger, WI – At the site of one of the several projects redeveloped utilizing an EPA grant, Washington County leaders joined local officials to request $1.6 million in funding to double down on brownfields redevelopment. The county board will act on the request on Wednesday, March 11 at the regular board meeting.

Brownfields are sites requiring some type of environmental remediation, such as a former industrial site. These sites create blight in communities and whenever a brownfield is redevelopment a “greenfield” such as farmland is preserved.  In total the program has redeveloped 32 brownfield acres, constructed 262 new housing units, and invested over $43 million in new construction.

“We have heard from our residents in our rural communities that farmland preservation is important,” said County Administrator Josh Schoemann. “Each brownfield redeveloped helps us achieve this goal and allows us to revitalize our communities with new workforce housing, hotel accommodations, commercial properties, and job creating businesses.”

“Today, we are coming together as leaders in Washington County to praise the success of the site redevelopment program through collaboration,” said County Board Chair Don Kriefall. “This program is a partnership between municipal governments, the county, the state, and the federal government. No one government is doing this great work alone.”

“The program helped develop Rincon 225, a six-story, 82-unit apartment building in the heart of downtown Hartford,” said Mayor Tim Michalak. “This luxury apartment really gives us city living and helps us recruit young professionals to work and more importantly live in the city of Hartford.”

More information on the site redevelopment program is available at co.washington.wi.us/srp. More information on the program’s redevelopment projects is available here.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.