NSNA is enthusiastic about infill and urban development when it involves brownfields revitalization. There is much that government can to assist this process. Syd Gernstein explores the subject for National Policy Analysis (2002):
See also:
Mary Bielen, “Brownfields and Their Redevelopment” (2001)
Throughout the country, especially in older industrial regions–such as the Great Lakes states–cities and neighborhoods face the challenge of redeveloping unused, and sometimes abandoned, industrial properties… The General Accounting Office estimates that between 130,000 and 425,000 brownfield sites exist nationwide…
…brownfield sites located along urban waterfronts and adjacent to downtown centers may be well positioned for development of retail and entertainment…
The most often cited factors which discourage brownfield redevelopment are uncertainty regarding liability, remediation cost, remediation process, and level of cleanup required. Inconsistency in current federal and state laws and their related enforcement contributes to the uncertainty… To overcome these hurdles, one real estate development corporation in Ohio purchases brownfield sites and, after remediation, sells or redevelops the properties…
As of 1996, 30 states have instituted voluntary cleanup programs to encourage brownfield site remediation. The Ohio Real Estate Cleanup and Reuse Program, also known as the Voluntary Action Program (VAP), in existence since 1994, establishes opportunities for parties to remediate contaminated properties voluntarily…
Case study analysis shows the most successful local programs are initiated by public and private sector community leaders working in a concerted effort…
A local optimization strategy prioritizing redevelopment based on the highest economic return per unit of cleanup cost would maximize use of limited public resources…
The Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative (BERI), a federal EPA program, provides grants to cities developing local strategies.
City Report Shows Effects of Brownfields in America (2000)
This third annual report on “Recycling America’s Land” finds brownfields redevelopment could generate 550,000 additional jobs, and up to $2.4 billion in new tax revenue for cities…
Responding cities reported three major obstacles to the redevelopment of brownfield sites. Lack of funding was cited most often, followed by liability problems arising from Superfund legislation, and requirements for expensive environmental assessments…
The ten-point “New Agenda,” which the Conference has called upon Presidential Candidates to adopt, calls for federal action to help eradicate the nation’s estimated 600,000 brownfields sites, and to restore these properties to productive use while preserving farmland and open spaces.
EPA: Brownfields Success Stories
…Lowell, MA (PDF, 2002): Almost completely developed, with historic industrial buildings standing adjacent to high-density residential neighborhoods, Lowell was faced with a critical shortage of land and the modern industrial space needed to attract job-producing businesses to the area…
Through implementation of the Acre Plan and the support of its local, state, and federal partners, the City of Lowell will create new opportunities for developers and investors while creating new jobs, reducing poverty, increasing the tax base, and protecting the environment. The Coalition for a Better Acre hopes to rehabilitate as many as 500 homes in the neighborhood, build 150 new residential units, and reach 50 percent home ownership within 20 years. A new grocery store has already been built on a former brownfield within the Acre, one of the first successful redevelopment projects in the area…
Indianapolis, IN (1995): On September 26, 1995, EPA awarded $200,000 to the City of Indianapolis to develop a Brownfields Pilot. With help and guidance from EPA, the Indianapolis Pilot is transforming a 6.7-acre abandoned concrete block factory from a tax-delinquent eyesore to a productive part of the city’s tax base. When redevelopment is complete, the former site of Spickelmier Industries (appraised just after cleanup at $182,500) will be worth $2.62 million and will employ 40-60 people at a self-storage facility and a 20,000-square-foot office space and light industrial complex. Altogether, new development at the site is expected to generate $53,000 per year in tax revenue. Spickelmier Industries’ concrete block factory was located on the site until the company went bankrupt in the early 1980s. After the city took ownership of the property in 1996, EPA’s Brownfields Pilot financed an environmental assessment that yielded evidence of soil contaminated by two underground storage tanks, as well as asbestos present in the site’s buildings. Clarification of these contaminants allowed the city to place the property on the market and began cleanup. Between October 1996 and May 1997, the city cleared debris from the site; removed the storage tanks, contaminated soil, and asbestos; and demolished the buildings. Meanwhile, the Pilot worked with three surrounding residential neighborhoods to ensure that community concerns were recognized during the planning process…
Brownfields are abandoned commercial and industrial sites that are suspected to suffer from environmental contamination.
…regulatory uncertainties made it difficult, risky and impractical for entrepreneurs to invest in brownfield redevelopment. Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA, or Superfund), a new owner could potentially be held liable for environmental wrongdoing that happened on the land before purchase…
Relief did not come until local lawmakers cleared the uncertainties and eliminated liability concerns through legislation like Ohio’s “Covenant Not To Sue.”
…One obvious benefit of brownfield redevelopment is that it eases the need for metropolitan expansion. It allows a city to grow by making better use of the space it already occupies…
…In Bridgeport, Connecticut, the abandoned and decaying Jenkens Valvesite plant used to be an eyesore at the gateway to the city. The city redeveloped part of this brownfield into a new 5,500-seat baseball stadium…
In Buffalo, New York, the former Republic Steel site – once considered hopelessly contaminated – was converted into a $16 million, 22-acre hydroponic tomato farm and greenhouse facility. This created 175 new jobs…
See also:
Mary Bielen, “Brownfields and Their Redevelopment” (2001)
Throughout the country, especially in older industrial regions–such as the Great Lakes states–cities and neighborhoods face the challenge of redeveloping unused, and sometimes abandoned, industrial properties… The General Accounting Office estimates that between 130,000 and 425,000 brownfield sites exist nationwide…
…brownfield sites located along urban waterfronts and adjacent to downtown centers may be well positioned for development of retail and entertainment…
The most often cited factors which discourage brownfield redevelopment are uncertainty regarding liability, remediation cost, remediation process, and level of cleanup required. Inconsistency in current federal and state laws and their related enforcement contributes to the uncertainty… To overcome these hurdles, one real estate development corporation in Ohio purchases brownfield sites and, after remediation, sells or redevelops the properties…
As of 1996, 30 states have instituted voluntary cleanup programs to encourage brownfield site remediation. The Ohio Real Estate Cleanup and Reuse Program, also known as the Voluntary Action Program (VAP), in existence since 1994, establishes opportunities for parties to remediate contaminated properties voluntarily…
Case study analysis shows the most successful local programs are initiated by public and private sector community leaders working in a concerted effort…
A local optimization strategy prioritizing redevelopment based on the highest economic return per unit of cleanup cost would maximize use of limited public resources…
The Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative (BERI), a federal EPA program, provides grants to cities developing local strategies.
City Report Shows Effects of Brownfields in America (2000)
This third annual report on “Recycling America’s Land” finds brownfields redevelopment could generate 550,000 additional jobs, and up to $2.4 billion in new tax revenue for cities…
Responding cities reported three major obstacles to the redevelopment of brownfield sites. Lack of funding was cited most often, followed by liability problems arising from Superfund legislation, and requirements for expensive environmental assessments…
The ten-point “New Agenda,” which the Conference has called upon Presidential Candidates to adopt, calls for federal action to help eradicate the nation’s estimated 600,000 brownfields sites, and to restore these properties to productive use while preserving farmland and open spaces.
EPA: Brownfields Success Stories
…Lowell, MA (PDF, 2002): Almost completely developed, with historic industrial buildings standing adjacent to high-density residential neighborhoods, Lowell was faced with a critical shortage of land and the modern industrial space needed to attract job-producing businesses to the area…
Through implementation of the Acre Plan and the support of its local, state, and federal partners, the City of Lowell will create new opportunities for developers and investors while creating new jobs, reducing poverty, increasing the tax base, and protecting the environment. The Coalition for a Better Acre hopes to rehabilitate as many as 500 homes in the neighborhood, build 150 new residential units, and reach 50 percent home ownership within 20 years. A new grocery store has already been built on a former brownfield within the Acre, one of the first successful redevelopment projects in the area…
Indianapolis, IN (1995): On September 26, 1995, EPA awarded $200,000 to the City of Indianapolis to develop a Brownfields Pilot. With help and guidance from EPA, the Indianapolis Pilot is transforming a 6.7-acre abandoned concrete block factory from a tax-delinquent eyesore to a productive part of the city’s tax base. When redevelopment is complete, the former site of Spickelmier Industries (appraised just after cleanup at $182,500) will be worth $2.62 million and will employ 40-60 people at a self-storage facility and a 20,000-square-foot office space and light industrial complex. Altogether, new development at the site is expected to generate $53,000 per year in tax revenue. Spickelmier Industries’ concrete block factory was located on the site until the company went bankrupt in the early 1980s. After the city took ownership of the property in 1996, EPA’s Brownfields Pilot financed an environmental assessment that yielded evidence of soil contaminated by two underground storage tanks, as well as asbestos present in the site’s buildings. Clarification of these contaminants allowed the city to place the property on the market and began cleanup. Between October 1996 and May 1997, the city cleared debris from the site; removed the storage tanks, contaminated soil, and asbestos; and demolished the buildings. Meanwhile, the Pilot worked with three surrounding residential neighborhoods to ensure that community concerns were recognized during the planning process…