City of North Bend release – The Urban Renewal Agency of North Bend was awarded Thursday, Oct. 21, a $60,000 Brownfields Redevelopment Fund technical assistance grant to cover environmental costs associated with purchasing the Coos County Annex Building. In August, the Agency purchased the Annex and two adjacent lots for $125,000, intending to demolish and redevelop the former hospital site into a planned mid-rise housing complex. Business Oregon informed the URA that the grant would cover its costs for the Phase One and Phase Two Environmental Site Assessments and the Hazardous Building Materials Survey required to acquire the building. Brownfield grants are used for the cleanup of abandoned properties where redevelopment is complicated due to toxic contamination. The URA aims to demolish the blighted building and create a mixed-use project that will add housing units, enhance retail and commercial activity, and inspire additional investment in North Bend’s central downtown business district. North Bend has a housing crisis that the pandemic has only compounded, and this project will help dent North Bend’s affordability problem while returning the property to the tax rolls. Due to the age and prior use of the building, extensive environmental and hazardous materials testing was completed during the URA’s due diligence period. The URA will participate in Oregon’s Brownfields Program for reimbursement of remediation of environmental activities associated with the property, including asbestos, lead-based paint, and two fuel tanks that need to be remediated and closed per state rules. The URA pays for this project through tax increment financing (TIF), which creates funding for identified projects without raising taxes. When the URA district was created, the property tax revenue from that area was diverted into revenue streams: • Frozen Base: Continues to go to the taxing jurisdictions, such as the city, county, school district. • Increment: As property values increase over time from new development or appreciation, the increment goes to the Urban Renewal Agency district instead of overlapping taxing districts. The goal of TIF is to make strategic investments that spur development, address blighted conditions, and support property investments that would not have otherwise occurred.
