ReVenture Park Secures Development and Financing Partners for Anchor Projects

CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Forsite Development announced today it has secured development and financing partners for the anchor project of its ReVenture Eco-Industrial Park to be developed in northwest Charlotte.

The firms teaming with Forsite to develop ReVenture Park include ReCommunity, a Charlotte-based leading recycling and resource recovery operator, and Pegasus Capital Advisors, L.P., and Hannon Armstrong Securities, LLC, both multi-disciplined renewable energy private equity/finance companies.

This new team brings together a broad range of expertise that is specifically focused on developing and investing in sustainable businesses that will reduce environmental impacts. The group will initially focus on completing the ReVenture Park, however Forsite and Pegasus are exploring additional opportunities to create other eco-industrial parks in the Southeast.

"This is a major leap forward for ReVenture and we're pleased to team with these highly-respected, capable experts to provide development support and financing expertise for the waste-to-energy and recycled fuel facilities, which are the backbone of ReVenture Park," said Tom McKittrick, president of Forsite. "In addition to providing capital, these partners bring deep technical and development experience that will help us successfully navigate the complex regulatory framework."

ReVenture Park is transforming a 667-acre shuttered textile dye manufacturing site in northwest Charlotte into an eco-industrial park that is designed to attract and develop renewable and alternative energy projects.  Beyond the solid waste reduction projects, ReVenture Park will also include other clean energy projects, solar energy fields, wastewater treatment and reuse, incubator labs and R&D facilities.

ReVenture's anchor project is a 20MW waste-to-energy plant that is powered by recycled fuel created by sophisticated processing of 370,000 tons of Charlotte-Mecklenburg's solid waste.  The facilities will generate enough clean electricity to power more than 20,000 homes annually. Combined with Charlotte-Mecklenburg's recycling efforts, the project will push the county's residential recycling rate to more than 35%, one of the highest in Southeast U.S.  It will also enable the county to divert more than 75% of its waste stream away from landfills and toward higher and better uses. When operational, the project will catapult Charlotte into a leadership position throughout the South in waste diversion, recycling and renewable energy recovery.

When fully developed, ReVenture Park will generate an estimated $900 million in new investment and create more than 1,000 new jobs.  ReVenture Park is poised to become a model for innovative redevelopment of brownfield industrial properties.  It recently earned the prestigious Wildlife and Industry Together (WAIT) certification from the N.C. Wildlife Federation for its work to enhance wildlife habitats on site.

ReCommunity's goal is to lead a "recovery revolution" by repositioning waste as a community resource instead of a growing liability. "Our goal is to be a leader in dramatically reducing the volume of landfilled waste through conversion into useful products, such as the recycled fuel we'll create for the ReVenture Park facility," said Jim Bohlig, chief executive officer of ReCommunity. "We join Forsite in its commitment to provide Charlotte-Mecklenburg progressive waste management options that will create jobs, increase recycling and significantly decrease the region's carbon foot print."

ReCommunity was recently formed when Pegasus Capital, Mission Point Capital Partners, HarborVest Partners, LLC, and Ares Capital Corporation acquired recycling assets of FCR Recycling from Casella Waste Systems. FCR's current senior management will continue to run the recycling operations for ReCommunity as well as the ReVenture Park recycled fuel facility. ReCommunity operates 18 recycling and recovery facilities in nine states and has operated Mecklenburg County's recycling center for the past 20 years.

Pegasus Capital Advisors, LP, is a U.S.-based private equity fund manager that provides creative capital and strategic solutions to middle market companies across a variety of industries.  Pegasus currently manages approximately $2 billion in assets through several private equity funds and has made more than 80 investments since its inception.

"We see great potential in the ReVenture Park project as it represents a creative re-development concept that can revive dormant industrial sites while leveraging synergies between multiple clean energy projects," said Craig Cogut, managing partner and founder of Pegasus Capital Advisors. "ReVenture Park is truly unique and we look forward to providing ongoing development capital to help Forsite create other similar projects."

Hannon Armstrong Securities is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hannon Armstrong Capital, LLC.  Hannon Armstrong Capital has built a strong reputation over the past 31 years for offering innovative financing solutions that encourage progressive investments in new technologies, including gasification, renewable energy and water/wastewater treatment. In the past two years, the firm has provided over $1 billion for gasification, biomass, geothermal and energy efficiency projects.

Website: http://www.reventure.com

SOURCE ReVenture Park