HomeMy WebLinkAboutRetreat at Renaissance LOE-OCR
North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources Pat McCrory Governor
John E. Skvarla, III Secretary
April 16, 2014
Sent Via USPS
M/I Homes of Raleigh, LLC
Attn: Mr. Jeremy Medlin
1511 Sunday Drive, Suite 100
Raleigh, North Carolina 27607 jmedlin@mihomes.com
Subject: Letter of Eligibility
Retreat at Renaissance
White Street and S. Franklin Street Wake Forest, Wake County 27587
Brownfields Project Number 18014-14-092
Dear Mr. Medlin:
The North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR),
Brownfields Program has reviewed your March 31, 2014 Brownfields Property Application (BPA)
and supporting information submitted on behalf of M/I Homes of Raleigh, LLC as a Prospective
Developer seeking a brownfields agreement regarding the subject site. We are very excited about
the potential for public benefit offered by the reuse of the Retreat at Renaissance site and the possible improvement to the tax base of Wake Forest and Wake County. Upon review of the BPA
with respect to the requirements of the Brownfields Property Reuse Act of 1997, DENR has
determined that this project is eligible for entry into the North Carolina Brownfields Program and for
continued evaluation for a Brownfields Agreement.
The next step in the process will involve a detailed review of available environmental and
other relevant data to determine what is currently known about contamination at the site, and what, if
any, information gaps may exist that may require additional assessment. We are in receipt of several
environmental reports and other supporting documentation regarding the site. Historical site
information from the files of DENR’s Division of Waste Management will also be utilized during the evaluation process. Please forward any additional information or data you may have or can
acquire for our evaluation. This should include reports from other DENR agencies or regional
offices. We will contact you regarding any additional assessment that may be necessary to establish
that the property is or can be made suitable for the intended reuse, as required by statute.
1646 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1646 Phone: 919-707-8200 \ Internet: http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/wm
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Retreat at Renaissance
Eligibility Letter, April 16, 2014
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According to the BPA, the intended redevelopment for the site is mixed use. Because risk
management decisions may vary depending on the nature of the redevelopment, it will be important
that DENR review the locations of the various elements. Please forward any maps or drawings
indicating these details, even if they are only preliminary or conceptual. Also: Please note that M/I Homes of Raleigh, LLC does not have the liability protections a Brownfields Agreement offers
unless and until it is executed. Thus, pending the execution of a Brownfields Agreement, you
operate at the site at the risk of jeopardizing your eligibility and/or becoming a party responsible for
the contamination at the site if an agreement is not finalized. This makes it very much in your
interest to consult closely with the Project Manager regarding any planned site activities prior to agreement finalization.
Please be aware that if the applicant Prospective Developer, M/I Homes of Raleigh, LLC,
does not actually buy the property for redevelopment, it cannot be a Prospective Developer under
our authorizing statute and loses its eligibility for the Brownfields Program. This refers to M/I Homes of Raleigh, LLC itself, not an affiliate or any other party.
Also, if a party other than the Prospective Developer will own the Brownfields property at
the conclusion of the brownfields process, the final Notice of Brownfields Property (which gets
recorded at the Register of Deeds’ office and to which the Brownfields Agreement is an exhibit) must be signed not only by the Prospective Developer but by that property owner. Failure by the
Prospective Developer to ensure, by the time Brownfields Agreement negotiations are complete, the
willingness to sign of any such party, and to provide DENR the exact name, e-mail address,
telephone number and U.S. mail address of the party (along with signatory/signatory’s title in the
case of an entity) will delay, and could prevent, the Brownfields Agreement taking effect.
Again, we are very enthusiastic about the potential for public benefit for Wake Forest and
Wake County offered by the reuse of the Retreat at Renaissance site, and we 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, Joe Ghiold, by phone at 919-708-8375, or by e-mail joe.ghiold@ncdenr.gov.
Sincerely,
Linda M. Culpepper, Deputy Director
Division of Waste Management
cc: Project File
ec: Bruce Nicholson, DENR
Retreat at Renaissance
Eligibility Letter, April 16, 2014
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Joe Ghiold
Retreat at Renaissance
Eligibility Letter, April 16, 2014
Page 2