Benton Harbor City Commissioners have moved Project T another step forward by approving a purchase agreement for the property at 960 Agard Street to the developers.
At a meeting this past week, commissioners were told after Project T was broken into two separate phases due to contamination found on one of its properties, developers Harbor Habitat for Humanity and Renovare are moving forward with the purchase of 960 Agard Street and extending their purchase option for 807 Weld Street.
City Attorney Sara Senica said Weld Street is the property with the contamination.
“The city has already approved an option on this property,” Senica said. “What this document does is it extends the option. The option right now, as you can see, it only goes until September 7, and because of some of that environmental damage that they found on that property, they’re asking to extend that until next June. So, it extends that until June of 2025.”
This buys the developers time to remediate the contamination. Meanwhile, they can move ahead with plans for 960 Agard Street with the purchase agreement in place.
Mayor Pro Tem Duane Seats said after the community watched the former Mercy Hospital site fall into disrepair, it’s encouraging to see a new developer with plans for it.
“This is coming from a place that we worked hard to try to get this agreement together,” Seats said. “They’re paying money and they’re investing millions of dollars.”
The purchase price for 960 Agard Street is $72,500. The eventual price for 807 Weld Street will be $27,500.
Project T will be a combination of duplexes, apartments, and retail space at the site of the former Mercy Hospital. Developers Renovare and Harbor Habitat are still securing the funding for both phases of construction.
