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Old Posted Jan 2, 2007, 10:13 PM
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Blazer85 Blazer85 is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Birmingham, AL
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Here's some promising news:

Quote:
U.S. Steel agrees to help rehab old Ensley Works site

Officials with U.S. Steel today pledged to help rehabilitate the abandoned Ensley Works industrial site as part of a deal where the Birmingham City Council agreed to deannex about 2,000 acres off Interstate 20 near Leeds.

U.S. Steel plans a residential development on the Interstate 20 site

The vote came after months of delays where city leaders balked at surrendering the land. Both Mayor Bernard Kincaid and most of the council eventually agreed they were contractually bound to grant the request.

Annexation of U.S. Steel’s property occurred in 1997 during a complex land deal involving the city, U.S. Steel and Hoover. Birmingham acquired 700 acres of U.S. Steel land where Barber Motorsports Park now stands, and Hoover acquired Spain Park, which was owned by Birmingham.

A term of the deal also involved the city annexing 2,000 additional acres of U.S. Steel land and deannexing the property when the company was ready to build a residential development. U.S. Steel will build houses on most of the deannexed land but keep its related commercial development inside the city.

On Tuesday, U.S. Steel agreed to commit to several projects including rehabilitation of the abandoned Ensley Works industrial site.

Kincaid said he’s sure the former industrial site can be reclaimed although there are no specific plans for the land.

The Ensley Works once employed thousands of workers. The factory closed in 1984, and a few rusted smokestacks mark the 600-acre site off Alabama 269.

Joseph D. Bryant
BTW, wasn't this the site that those Pittsburgh developers were looking at converting into some sort of retail/mixed-use complex or was that something different?
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Last edited by Blazer85; Jan 3, 2007 at 2:00 AM.
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