The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy is awarding a $1 million Brownfield Redevelopment Grant to a project that will clean up a blighted former truck stop in Vassar and create up to 20 new jobs.
The property at 1223 West Saginaw Road was home to the Halfway Truck Stop, which included a gas station, repair shop and restaurant. The redevelopment also includes 1211 West Saginaw which was used for warehousing, a gravel supply company, and a construction company.
The 1.9-acre site has been vacant since 2022. Environmental assessments found metals and petroleum compounds in the soil. Multiple petroleum releases have been reported from the eight underground storage tanks (UST) removed from the site in 1998.
The EGLE brownfield grant will be used for: additional site investigations and sampling; excavation and disposal of contaminated soil; removal of at least three more underground storage tanks; asbestos abatement and demolition; and the design and installation of a vapor mitigation system, if one is needed for the new construction.
The developer, Cook Chevrolet, plans to expand its business with a $4 million used car lot and sales building, plus an expansion of its services center. The site is within walking distance of downtown Vassar’s shops and restaurants and the project fits into the community’s development plans.
Grant-funded work is expected to be finished in the summer of 2028.
