Successful Brownfield Redevelopment for Retail Client at Site Devastated by Fire
Target Corporation

When the 12-acre site of a former manufacturing facility in the old mill town of Ansonia, Connecticut was destroyed by fire in 2001, the property owner realized that a major hurdle to the sale and redevelopment of the property was the unknown nature of environmental conditions on the site.

The owner retained Woodard & Curran as the Licensed Environmental Professional (LEP), and in that capacity, Woodard & Curran designed and implemented a comprehensive site characterization program, prepared cost-to-cure estimates, and supported marketing and negotiating efforts for the property owner. The goal was to make this property, which had been an industrial site since the mid-1800s, attractive to potential buyers. The city was also very interested in redevelopment of this property, as the fire had taken away its largest taxpayer and private employer.

In 2005, Target Corporation purchased the property and began preparing the site for construction of a 200,000-sq.-ft. retail store. Woodard & Curran was retained by Target to continue as the LEP of record, and to provide all environmental services in support of the brownfield redevelopment.  Woodard & Curran’s role in the project included engineering design and planning, construction oversight, environmental characterization, and agency negotiation. 

The July 2007 opening of the Target store location was hailed as an integral part of a transformation reshaping the city’s economy by providing jobs, adding to the tax base, and attracting other businesses to the area.