DEP Fast Tracks $400M MXD

CHESTER, PA-The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has designated the site of a proposed $400 million mixed-use development along the Delaware River here a Brownfield Action Team project. The designation ensures the expedition of the permitting process for the project, which will see a former industrial site transformed into a soccer stadium, housing and retail.

The 80-acre property consists of several parcels that have, over the years, housed an ironworks plant, an electric generation station, a chemical manufacturing company, a waste treatment plant and an illegal waste dump. The site of the future 18,500-seat major league soccer stadium—a $155 million project itself—sits just south of the Commodore Barry Bridge. According to a DEP spokesperson, the site has already been cleaned.

The developers, Wilmington, DE-based Buccini/Pollin Group have received a DEP permit that allows the company to begin preliminary construction work at the site. Development of the site hinges on the stadium, which must be completed and ready for play by April 2010.