There have been some highly-effective brownfield redevelopments, great projects accomplished as reported in Brownfield Renewal and elsewhere, but each done one at time, with great effort. From a policy perspective, the question is how to move from resolving brownfields one at time to multiple remediations and redevelopments that will substantially reduce the number of vacant, contaminated sites. The Obama administration is considering innovative area-wide strategies as well as multi-agency approaches to increase brownfield redevelopment in communities.

Floyd Bennett Field © Flickr/how_long_it_takes

In 1993 the U.S. Government Accounting Office (GAO) estimated that there are 450,000 brownfield sites in the U.S. In 2007, EPA reported that it tracks 497,000 contaminated or potentially contaminated sites totaling 15 million acres, and that nearly 1 million acres have been remediated or the contamination encapsulated. Due to factors including; de-industrialization (such as former auto industry facilities), community concerns, ever more sensitive testing and stricter standards, the number of sites needing remediation appears to have actually increased.

The potential of doing “brownfields by the bunch” has enormous appeal in communities and with developers, as well as among policy makers, primarily as an approach that will get more projects done more efficiently. The concept also ties nicely with the administrations HUD-EPA-DOT smart growth sustainability effort that calls for re-use of a land and more development near infrastructure, such as transit. Yet, there are also many questions, including management capability to coordinate multiple redevelopments, finding funding sources, assuring quality and equity. There are some models that can be considered in considering this emerging concept.

One model is private portfolios of brownfield properties, usually by type, such as groups of former gas stations or retail locations with battery and accessory shops. Some of these have been highly successful for purchasers, using the standard portfolio advantages in negotiating price, spreading risk, and maximizing return. Also, portfolios were able to effectively manage liability, mostly by effectively negotiating environmental insurance. Such liability management is crucial to redevelopment of contaminated sites, and geographic portfolios might be able to similarly obtain liability protection and even cleanup cost insurance not available to individual sites. In general, brownfields areas may offer some of the same advantages as by type portfolios, but also concentrate market risk and market potential.

Brace for BRAC
Another interesting model is BRAC, Base Realignment and Closure, which deals with former military installations deemed no longer necessary by the BRAC Commission. While the cost of BRAC closures exceeded early estimates, the BRAC process already has closed or realigned 152 major DOD installations and 235 smaller ones, and annual cost savings are still estimated at $4 billion. Many of the larger sites had multiple brownfield areas yet have been all or partially transferred to localities, states or private developers. While some of the success may be due to a highly structured process by which former bases are transferred, including phased parcel disposition, the fact that the Dept. of Defense assumes much of the clean-up liability and cost is a very significant factor.

The idea of dealing with a geographic cluster of brownfields, to improve a number of contaminated sites in the same community, especially low income communities, has been actively pursued in several states, including New Jersey and Colorado. New York State, through its Brownfield Opportunity Area (BOA) and Showcase communities, has been an innovator. Its BOA program provides what are essentially planning grants, allowing communities with multiple brownfields to assess and consider options, and then obtain funding priority based upon a state approved plan.

The program got off to a slow start, due to cumbersome political and bureaucratic procedures. After almost five years, though, it has begun to gain some momentum, but unfortunately this occurs as resources have become scarce. Still, the BOA program is now being used by a number of non-profits in New York City and by municipalities upstate. Several plans have been completed, and there have been increased efforts, especially in communities further designated and given support as Showcase communities.

Mathy Stanislaus, now EPA Assistant Administrator for OSWER, was instrumental in creating the New York BOA program. At the recent EPA Brownfields conference in New Orleans, he met with many of the non-profits across the nation to discuss and pursue the role of community-based organizations nationally. The focus on community brownfield efforts strongly connects with the administration’s multi-agency “green” efforts (i.e. the HUD-EPA-DOT sustainability partnership), providing an alternative to sprawl by recycling land in older cities or suburbs, often transit oriented intense development and using other existing infrastructure.

Remediating multiple sites and removing sources of contamination can have a positive impact on groundwater or a nearby water body. The remediation process for multiple sites can be coordinated and greened—made more energy efficient and with greater protections for neighbors.

Sustainability pilots
A related effort, the brownfield sustainability pilot program in which EPA provides technical assistance to communities in order to “achieve greener assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment at their brownfields,” may also be applied to clusters of brownfields. Several of the first group of sustainability pilots, such as The Waterfront, in Allentown, Pa., target communities and waterfronts with multiple brownfields. There is also the possibility of converting some brownfields to what EPA calls “brightfields” (see December 2009 issue), which is re-use for energy such as solar, wind, methane (landfills), and then distributing that energy within the same community.

There are potential economic advantages to the brownfield area-wide approach. Redeveloping such a cluster may, like same-type portfolios, provide some economies of scale and offer the possibility for multi-project coordination, such as using the same contractors and equipment. There may be an opportunity to negotiate more effective environmental insurance or other liability protection.

A number of historic HUD programs, such as the Neighborhood Strategy Area, tried a related concept by rehabilitating a number of residential properties in the same community. Cleaning up a number of properties in a neighborhood, corridor, or near a body of water may create some synergy magnifying beneficial impacts and reducing stigma. There is also a possible real estate market benefit: If a number of projects begin to show positive results, the entire community may become more attractive for investment. For developers, the opportunities to do a group of projects offer some economies of scale, and create a market opportunity.

Moving the brownfields program into a higher gear, reusing and redeveloping more sites, is a promising goal. If done properly, addressing “bunches of brownfields” rather than one at a time has enormous potential, and there are a range of approaches worth pursuing. It is clear the administration is committed to expanding the brownfield program, and particularly focusing on communities. This serves as an opportunity for all those in the brownfield arena.

Barry Hersh is a long time brownfields developer and researcher. He is a Clinical Associate Professor at New York University Schack Institute of Real Estate and a partner in Vita Nuova, LLC. He can be emailed at: barry.hersh@nyu.edu