HomeMy WebLinkAbout24052_Doggett W Tremont_Revised LOE_2021.05.18
May 18, 2021
Sent Via USPS and email
Bill Bassett
Cousins Tremont Doggett LP
3344 Peachtree Road NE, Suite 1800
Atlanta, Georgia 30326
bbassett@cousins.com
Subject: Amended Letter of Eligibility
Doggett Street & West Tremont Avenue
305 Doggett Street, 242 & 306 West Tremont Avenue
Charlotte, Mecklenburg County
Brownfields Project Number 24052-20-060
Dear Mr. Bassett:
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has received and
reviewed your revised January 19, 2021 Brownfields Property Application (BPA) submitted by
NOVA Engineering and Environmental, Inc. on behalf of Cousins Tremont Doggett LP as the
new Prospective Developer seeking a Brownfields Agreement regarding the Brownfields
Property. The revised application indicates that the applying Prospective Developer entity for the
subject property is Cousins Tremont Doggett LP, whereas the subject property was previously
accepted into the Brownfields Program on December 23, 2020 with Cousins Acquisitions Entity,
LLC as the Prospective Developer. DEQ notes that because of common ownership, the new
eligible PD is effectively a simple name change. Upon review of the BPA with respect to the
requirements of the Brownfields Property Reuse Act of 1997, DEQ has determined that this
project is eligible for entry into the North Carolina Brownfields Program
According to the BPA, the intended redevelopment for the Brownfields Property is for a
mixed-used development, which will include multi-family residential, retail, office, and parking
use. Because risk management decisions may vary depending on the nature of the
redevelopment, it will be important that DEQ review the locations of the various elements.
Please forward any maps or drawings indicating these details, even if they are only preliminary
or conceptual.
Please note: The site uses in the application have not yet been determined to be suitable.
That determination will be made with further analysis of site specific data. Pending execution of
a final BFA, NCBP eligibility is provisional. The protections a BFA offers the Prospective
Developer are not in effect, unless and until, the BFA is executed. If you occupy the Brownfields
Property or operate or conduct activities at the Brownfields Property that result in a release of
regulated substances before a BFA has been finalized for the Brownfields Property, you may be
Doggett Street & West Tremont Avenue
May 18, 2021
Page 2
considered to have caused or contributed to contamination at the Brownfields Property. Because
an entity that could be considered to have caused or contributed to contamination at the
Brownfields Property cannot be a Prospective Developer under the Act, your eligibility for
participation in the NCBP would be placed in jeopardy. Consult closely with your Project
Manager regarding any planned site activities prior to agreement finalization. You are cautioned
to conduct all such operations and activities at the Brownfields Property with great care not to
cause a release of regulated substances at the Brownfields Property that could jeopardize your
eligibility for participation in the NCBP.
If a party other than Cousins Tremont Doggett LP will own the Brownfields Property at
the conclusion of the brownfields process, the final document (which gets recorded at the register
of deeds’ office) must be signed not only by Prospective Developer, but by that owner. Failure
by the Prospective Developer to ensure, by the time the BFA negotiations are complete, the
willingness to sign of any such party, and to provide DEQ the exact name, email address,
telephone number, and US mail address of the party (along with the signatory/signatory’s title in
the case of an entity) will delay, and could prevent, the BFA taking effect.
We are excited about the potential for public benefit offered by the reuse of the Doggett
Street & West Tremont Avenue Property and look forward to working with you to advance this
brownfields redevelopment project. If you have questions about this correspondence or require
additional information, please feel free to contact the project manager Bill Schmithorst by phone
at 919.441.3606, or by e-mail at william.schmithorst@ncdenr.gov.
Sincerely,
Bruce Nicholson
Brownfields Program Manager
ec: Central Files, DEQ
Ellen Lorscheider, DEQ
Bill Schmithorst, DEQ
Keith Rice, NOVA Engineering and Environmental, Inc.
Douglas A. Henderson, King & Spalding, LLP