Credit: Submitted
A former polluted industrial site in Bristol Township has been rehabilitated.
On Thursday morning, politicians, officials from the private sector, and the Redevelopment Authority of Bucks County (RDA) gathered at the former brownfield site at 6401 McPherson Street in the industrial section of the township near Runway Road to celebrate the redevelopment.
Advertisements
The 23,000-square-foot building and 1.15 acre lot that formerly was home to Rapid Circuits, a company that printed and etched circuit boards, was deemed blighted in 2017 with support from the Bristol Township Council. It allowed the redevelopment of the vacant property to move forward.
RDA Executive Director Jeff Darwak said the property had contamination from its days as a circuit board manufacturing site and needed to be remediated. The site also had abandoned vehicles and boats sitting on it.
In 2017, Bristol Township officials said neighbors near the site had complained about trucks running overnight at the site. They also said Rapid Circuits left the property when they ran into money problems and closed in 2011
Advertisements
The environmental concerns and liens on the property made it unattractive to developers and businesses.
Credit: Submitted
To spur redevelopment, the RDA worked to obtain more than $100,000 in funding the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development’s Industrial Sites Reuse Program. The funds went to complete the guidelines laid out under Pennsylvania’s Act 2 land recycling program that helps cleanup and reuse commercial and industrial sites, Darwak said.
Advertisements
Another advantage for the redevelopment of the property was the fact that it sat in a state-designated Bucks County Enterprise Zone that aims to spur revitalization of industrial sites.
“The Enterprise Zone status was critical in securing the limited state Industrial Sites Reuse Program grant funds that were used to address environmental concerns at the site,” RDA Chairman, Sean Schafer said, adding that programs that made redevelopment possible have been supported by State Sen. Tommy Tomlinson, State Rep. Tina Davis, the Bucks County Commissioners, and Bristol Township Council.
In 2015 the Bucks County Commissioners and Bristol Township Council made industrial and commercial zoned properties along Route 13 and on McPherson Street a certified redevelopment area.
Advertisements
Darwak said all the programs helped redevelopment move toward.
Credit: Bob White/Bucks County RDA
After the remeditation work was completed, developer Mnop Inc. worked with the RDA convert the building into five business condo units. Home Healthworks Inc. and Keen Compressed Gas Company ended up converting the units into two and have began operating out the former circuit board factory.
Advertisements
“All of these initiatives laid the groundwork for the Redevelopment Authority to acquire the property and ultimately partner with a private developer willing to make an investment in Bristol Township. The fact that a project such as this could be completed in less than two years is a testament to the quality of the development team, and also speaks to the long-standing commitment of our federal and state legislators, county commissioners, and local elected officials to reversing economic decline in Bucks County’s hardest hit areas,” Darwak said.
The addition of the two businesses to the site have brought jobs to the township and also put the property back on the tax rolls, officials said.
Advertisements
