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EGLE grant will make a contaminated site in Pontiac safe to be redeveloped into a homeless shelter

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) is awarding a $460,000 Brownfield Redevelopment Grant to a project that will create a Hope Shelters facility in Pontiac. The shelter will primarily serve the adult homeless. In addition to being an emergency shelter and warming center, Hope Shelters assists in obtaining crucial documents like identification cards and birth certificates for the unhoused.

The property is at 283 Baldwin Avenue, 18 Tacoma Court, and 155 West Rundell Street. It was first developed as part of a railroad in 1907. A drycleaner opened in 1931, and an auto parts warehouse by 1963. The railroad and commercial buildings were gone by 2012. The only remaining building is a house that has been and will continue to be used as an office. EGLE Brownfield Site Assessment funding was used to pay for environmental assessments in 2024 and 2025 that found chlorinated solvents and metals in soil. The EGLE Brownfield Redevelopment Grant will be used to pay for additional site investigations, transportation and disposal of contaminated soil, asbestos abatement, and for the installation of a vapor mitigation system beneath the new shelter building.

The $7 million project will create a 12,350-square-foot single-story shelter and as many as 32 new jobs. Funding for the project is being provided by U.S. Housing and Urban Development HOME American Rescue Plan funds distributed locally through Oakland County. The shelter is scheduled to be open by May of 2028.

More than half of EGLE’s annual budget supports local projects, protects public health and the environment, and helps create economic growth and jobs for Michigan workers. Redevelopment increases the value of brownfield sites and other nearby properties. In 2025, the EGLE Brownfield program provided more than $23 million in brownfield incentives to 76 projects in 52 Michigan communities. These projects are projected to create more than 440 housing units, 600 jobs, and result in more than $675 million in capital investment.

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