Ebenezer Plaza I Mixed-Use Brownfield Redevelopment

Seven parcels on a consolidated city block in the Brownsville Section of Brooklyn, New York were previously used for commercial purposes, including several automobile body and repair shops, a former gasoline station, a used automobile dealership, and a former dry cleaner. The sites, known as Ebenezer Plaza I and II, span approximately 1.25 acres and are in the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Brownfields Cleanup Program. Targeted for redevelopment as multi-story, low- and moderate-income apartment housing with street level commercial storefronts, high-rise apartments, a community center, and a church, the sites were in dire need of cleanup.

LaBella provided environmental planning, coordination, implementation management, oversight, and reporting for the investigation and remediation of Ebenezer Plaza I. Approximately 25,000 cubic yards of impacted soil that included regulated metals (lead and chromium) and chlorinated volatile organic compounds were excavated and removed for off-site disposal. The remediation included the treatment of groundwater heavily impacted with kerosene from historical dry cleaning operations (circa 1930) and the identification and removal of 27 underground storage tanks. Engineering controls included a 20-foot-thick Petrofix barrier wall along the downgradient property boundary to mitigate off-site migration of residual groundwater impacts.

The complex now includes over 310 units in two towers that surround a 40,000-square-foot community center used for church services, soup kitchens, a food pantry, GED programs, addiction recovery meeting space, family counseling services, and more. The finished development converted a blighted property into a much needed and community oriented, mixed-use building.

The successful brownfield cleanup was awarded the 2021 Big Apple Brownfield Award for Innovative Remediation by the New York City Brownfield Partnership.