St. Louis County Receives DEED Cleanup Grant for Site Redevelopment

St. Louis County is among 13 Minnesota communities sharing more than $6 million in Contamination Cleanup and Investigation grants aimed at readying polluted properties for redevelopment. The largest local award sent to the Duluth Economic Development Authority is $2,134,320 for Lot D, a 12-acre parcel long used by petroleum companies and scrap metal operations that remains contaminated by petroleum and other pollutants.

Duluth’s Lot D is slated for significant redevelopment. Plans call for two five-story apartment buildings totaling 509 housing units and a pad-ready parcel for a future hotel. The project is expected to create 12 jobs, increase the local property tax base by more than $1.5 million, and leverage roughly $129 million in private investment, with matching funds coming from the Duluth EDA, tax increment financing, and the developer. State funding will help cover assessment and cleanup work that must precede construction.

Small-city recipients in St. Louis County also benefited. The city of Hermantown secured $50,482 for cleanup of a 10-acre site contaminated with lead; a portion of that site is planned for 20 rental townhomes for seniors. Hermantown’s project is projected to create one new job, retain 42 existing jobs, boost the tax base by $95,799, and leverage $11 million in private investment, with matching funds from the city and the developer. Ely is listed among Northern Minnesota recipients in the DEED cycle, though specific award details for Ely were not included in the available materials.

Statewide, DEED projects these grants will support 147 new jobs, add nearly $5.5 million to property tax bases, and leverage more than $486 million in private investment across cleanup projects. Some reporting also aggregates outcomes as the cleanup of roughly 75 acres and the creation of 1,509 housing units statewide; Duluth’s 509-unit portion is a substantial share of that housing total. DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek described the program this way: “The Contamination Cleanup grants support communities’ efforts to remediate contaminated land to rehabilitate it into productive spaces for business or housing development, or other projects supporting community economic growth.”

The grants pay up to 75% of eligible assessment and cleanup costs and are open to cities, port authorities, housing and redevelopment authorities, economic development authorities, and counties with known or suspected soil or groundwater contamination. Local officials framed the awards as a catalyst. The Duluth Delegation in the Minnesota House said, “Duluth is a growing, vibrant city, and partnering with the state can help make it even better. This funding is fantastic news for the redevelopment of Lot D, a site that is emblematic of our community’s evolution and limitless potential. This session in the Minnesota House, we’ll continue to advocate for additional investment in this site and others as we build tomorrow’s Duluth.”

For St. Louis County residents, the grants mean contaminated parcels could move from long-term blight to taxable, occupied properties that expand housing supply and local services. The next practical steps are environmental investigation, delineation of cleanup work, and securing developer financing and permits; timelines for cleanup and construction have not yet been finalized.