Back in 2002, local developers had their sights set on a 12-acre parcel in downtown Greensboro, N.C., recognizing it as a potentially prime spot to construct a multi-use sports stadium.
The operative word is "potentially." After further review, the development team changed its mind—scared off by what they called a "dirty" piece of property, marked mainly by petroleum contamination. While the project team picked up their ball and went home—or elsewhere—the city of Greensboro, picked up the ball and ran with it, crafting an ambitious plan for re-development.
In 2003, the city's planning team developing its own vision about what the 12-acre parcel could become. Currently, the city is moving through the process of breaking ground—in 2010 most likely—on what will be known as The South Elm Street Redevelopment project, located on the southern edge of Greensboro's downtown core. South Elm is expected to serve as "the anchor" for the next phase of redevelopment in Greensboro, which is located in the north-central part of North Carolina. Once completed, the development will connect key residential and commercial corridors.

The 12-acre parcel is regarded as a natural, southern gateway to the downtown sector, and "its rejuvenation is critical to the city's ongoing renaissance," said Catherine Timko, CEO of Community Retail Catalysts, a Washington, D.C.-based economic development marketing firm that worked with the city on helping sell the project to the community.
But South Elm Street has a distinction that's not lost on the city of Greensboro: It represents the first brownfield development to occur in Greensboro proper. The city, which has already built a reputation for its green building excellence, is confident that it also has the wherewithal to move forward with a successful brownfield project, and in the end make South Elm Street Redevelopment the success story they envisioned in 2003.

"We envision South Elm as a pilot project that will assist us in moving more aggressively into the sustainable and green development realm. We had been moving in that direction for some time, and see South Elm as the tipping point," said Barbara Harris, who has been the city's brownfield coordinator since 2004, and has a strong background in affordable housing.
"What makes this project particularly attractive is that is its one of the last parcels adjacent to downtown and to the Arlington and Ole Ashboro neighborhoods that already have experienced significant, successful reinvestment over the past few years," added Harris.

'Green,' as in Greensboro
Certainly, Greensboro's reputation precedes itself in the commitment it's made to best-practices green-build innovation, and its recognition of renewable resource use not as a luxury but a necessity.
Greensboro is home to good deal of leading-edge development activities, including the Proximity Hotel, the first LEED Platinum-certified hotel in the world. Local projects including the Southside neighborhood revitalization plan and Willow Oaks, have also received numerous national and industry awards in the planning and design industry.

The Proximity Hotel serves as "the shining star" in representing the hallmark of LEED excellence, said Diane Arkin, a Greensboro city official. "The intent of South Elm Street is to be a model for other communities to move from mitigation into sustainable uses," said Arkin, who added that 320 permanent jobs will result when South Elm Street goes live.

The genesis of what would become South Elm Street Redevelopment occurred in 2002 when the private group decided to look elsewhere for their stadium. At that time, the 12-acre site had 15 privately-owned parcels that consisted of light industrial, commercial and a single residence.
"There were some environmental issues that this group did not fully know how to address. The existing property owners had been called out for having dirty property, so the private developers decided to select a safer site," said Arkin. "At that point we decided that it was critical to identify this site for downtown growth. We were given a mandate to figure something out. This was not easy in 2003 because at that time, deciding to build on a brownfield carried more of a stigma than it does today."
Enter Barbara Harris in 2004. Harris, with her experience in the affordable housing sector as well as brownfields development, began to spearhead the effort to bring the community together and outline all the attributes of land revitalization on established-use properties.
In 2004 and 2005, a Community Advisory Team was established that included financial experts, students, residents, business owners and key local civic leaders. The team also had a 13-year-old boy who lived in close proximity to the site.

Open meetings ensued
By February 2007, the city embarked on a half-dozen public input and planning sessions. "There were a lot of concerns based on not understanding how you could take what you call a 'brownfield' and turn it into something useful. People were also concerned about encroachment on their space, and they had some strong feelings about how the finished project would be a competitive threat to them," said Arkin.
The city team went to work on first mollifying the concerns and then making the community stakeholders believers. They hired Chan Krieger Sieniewicz as the urban designer. "We worked with them on a vision and identified three core pillars—Urban Power Center, Residential Anchor and Large Institution," said Arkin. At first they thought that one of the pillars would be selected, but it was soon decided that blending the three was the most prudent course of action.
"Along the way we always continued to fine-tune the plan—it was a very iterative process. In the end, we were able to convince all parties that this project was the next piece to the downtown puzzle. This led to a redevelopment plan and the property acquisition piece look about a year. The demolition was carried out in 2008," said Arkin.

Remediation required
By the end of this fall, Greensboro will complete a site preparation and cleanup costing $11 million. Former uses on the site included gas stations, auto repair shops, a printing company and a coal and fuel oil company. "We found petroleum-impacted soil and identified some USTs, and several anomalies are being investigated. There is coal dust and some groundwater issues," said Harris.

Harris said there was groundwater contamination that led to the incidence of volatile organic compounds, which is being dealt with through vapor intrusion.
As the remediation work is completed this fall, the next step is to scout for a "master developer" who can oversee all components of the South Elm Street Redevelopment, and the team hopes to have that in place by early 2010. The way Greensboro envisions it, the site's footprint will consist of a balanced mix of retail, corporate offices, housing, cultural and institutional enterprises.
For the city that took the ball and ran with establishing a green and renewable living plan, adding brownfield redevelopment to its resume was the next logical step—and they can thank the developers who took a pass on this 12-acre site seven years ago. Arkin said Greensboro has seen brownfield redevelopment occur in the area, but only from a distance. The effort to redevelop on a brownfield has been a real education, with several lessons learned. "Basically we convinced the community that when it comes to brownfields, you can get there from here," said Arkin.