News
Palouse Producers Brownfield Site Wins Phoenix Award
Congratulations to the City of Palouse on receiving the 2023 Small Community & Impact Phoenix Award! The Phoenix Awards are prestigious national accolades that are given to both individuals and projects that highlight the best practices…
Matt HoffmanFacility Odor Issues, Complaints, and Tools to Predict Them
Facility odor issues are very subjective and strangely regulated. For facility property developers looking to build a project, anticipated odors can be a stumbling block to regulatory approval. Additionally, odors can lead to a contentious…
Chad DarbyMeet Elliot Frank, GIS Analyst
Where are you from and where do you live now? I grew up about an hour east of Portland, near Mt. Hood, in Welches, Oregon. Now I live in Edmonds, Washington. What do you do at MFA? I assist local governments, mostly as part of my work…
Sabrina TurnerUpdated PSM and RMP Rules Are Coming Soon. Maybe.
PSM/RMP for the Uninitiated: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enforce similar requirements for facilities that have more than the threshold quantity of listed highly…
Bill Beadie, CIHResults for "Real Estate"
This post was originally written by Sarah Sieloff, former MFA Senior Planner. Redeveloping Expo Idaho Fairs offer excitement and fun for kids from 1 to 92. Fairgrounds, however, require large amounts of land, and it can be challenging to…
Seth Otto, AICP, LEED APThe Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) recently published a new model remedy that provides guidance for cleanup of historical orchards in central and eastern Washington. While the new requirements may seem daunting, once you are…
Sidney CountsHappiness is an easy commute, but finding affordable housing near employment centers or near high-capacity transit is becoming more difficult every year. Many factors contribute to the record pace of increasing housing prices, especially…
Matt HoffmanTiger Oil was a Texas-based company with locations across the United States, including several in Yakima, Washington. This string of gas stations and accompanying mini marts ceased operations in the town in the early 2000s. One of the former…
Carolyn R. Wise, LHG, RGMFA’s award-winning remediation work for the Zidell Yards property on the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon is featured in a new film by local filmmaker, David Bee. Beginning its operation in the early 1900s, the Zidell Yards property is…
Erik Bakkom, PEJoin Grant Herbert, Senior Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Analyst/Developer, and Erik Strandhagen, Senior GIS Analyst and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Certified Remote Pilot, for presentations on the benefits, challenges, and…
Grant Herbert, GISPWhen you think of job creation and economics, look no further than the Lower Grand Employment Area (LGEA). The City of Vancouver, Washington recognized the potential for the LGEA to help preserve jobs in the city’s core and drive regional…
Stacy J. Frost, PEMFA staff led sessions on brownfield development at the most recent Certified Commercial Investment Managers (CCIM) Conference, held on September 29 and 30, 2016, in Bend, OR. Jim Maul, Ted Wall, and Seth Otto prepared a dynamic, informative,…
Seth Otto, AICP, LEED APIn the world of economic development, nothing can add value to a large-scale project like a strong, mutually beneficial partnership between public and private interests. At the P3C Public-Private Partnership Conference & Expo 2015 in…
Sidney CountsAs mixed-used redevelopment forges ahead on the Zidell Yards property, NorthWest Ecosystem Services Ecologist Paul Fishman took a moment to reflect on the project’s myriad undertakings in the nine years since cleanup efforts got underway in…
Sidney CountsWith the real estate market strengthening, there is increased interest in urban redevelopment. Many of these infill projects must address challenges from historical contamination. MFA will be participating in several upcoming conferences to…
Seth Otto, AICP, LEED AP