The Karolina site, a former industrial area, lies in the center city of Ostrava,
Czech Republic, just feet away from the city’s historic square. Its importance lies in the rarity of finding 150 acres of
prime, undeveloped land in a prominent central city location—especially land that is available and suitable for development of local and
regional importance. The size, location and potential use of the site …
It’s Friday afternoon, the mayor’s chief of staff calls and asks you to prepare a report with specific facts and figures about how many brownfield properties have been cleaned to date, how many private sector dollars have been invested into redevelopment of brownfield properties in the city, how much in public sector funds has been invested, how many jobs were created and what has been the return on investment for …
Mention the name “Diamond Shamrock” to locals in the Cleveland area and you’re likely to get an immediate, negative reaction. People inevitably think about the company’s contentious past and the legacy it left behind when it ceased operations more than 25 years ago: a massive piece of prime lakefront property, permanently fenced off due to unquantified chemical contamination.
Of course, as is often the case with brownfields, …
An economically feasible, sustainable funding mechanism
For developers and communities alike, one of the biggest barriers to overcome
when redeveloping brownfield property is the cost of environmental activities.
The question often asked is “How do we fund these costs?” We have come a long way, where the particular project cost pro forma can
support the environmental costs in obtaining willingness from the existing
…
The government has faced
many challenges over the past year determining brownfield reuse strategies.
As brownfield redevelopment has progressed over the past seven years,
the involvement of state government has become increasingly important. This
past year has proven to be one of the most dynamic and challenging times
…
Parts of the Midwest are
more heavily industrialized. Areas along the Gulf, West Coast and the Great
Lakes have waterfront issues that are as serious. Some Sunbelt cities may
have similar crowding and sprawl issues. But only the Mid-Atlantic region
faces all those problems—and more.
The …
Since 1995, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has strived to make the restoration of brownfields a usual occurrence in the Commonwealth. All across Pennsylvania, communities that once were home to the remnants of Pennsylvania’s economic past are flourishing and coming to life as old sites are turned into new opportunities. Since the Land Recycling Program’s inception in 1995, 864 cleanups have been performed at 769 sites across Pennsylvania. As …
The states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania share many things, including the scenic Delaware River as a border and more than 100 years of industrial heritage. Industry thrived along the banks of the Delaware River for many years, but population shifts and industrial migration left in their wake many abandoned contaminated “brownfield” properties.
Today both states share leadership roles in dealing with these abandoned, underused, contaminated properties. These sites are considered …
A Brownfield Developer’s Asset In Disguise: An
Introduction to Insurance Archeology
Like brownfield properties themselves, historic
insurance policies are often an asset in disguise. Once identified,
however, they are a potent source of funding for brownfield redevelopment
projects. Brownfield redevelopers are becoming familiar with new insurance …
If we are to unlock the keys to private investment in
the rejuvenation of brownfield properties, then we must first understand
the context that has contributed to their abandonment.
Brownfield sites were not abandoned just because they
were contaminated. The contamination rather must be viewed as just another
…
Over the last decade, cities across America have faced
both municipal and military airport closures with significant concern. With
job losses, thousands of acres of potentially fallow land and a tangle of
jurisdictions looming before them, the federal government, local
authorities and developers have found some surprising new uses for …
In New England, the Industrial Cycle Comes Full Circle
The former Riverside Mills Property in Providence,
R.I., is a time capsule of New England’s industrial history. In 1863,
a firm known as Champlin & Downes built a four-story textile factory
and a series of different mill operators used the building …
Tax Credits Give a Boost to Michigan’s
Manufacturing and Technology Industries
Michigan’s emerging high-tech industries are
growing out of the state’s strengths in manufacturing. Now, the state
that put the world on wheels is home to sophisticated new industries,
building on a manufacturing base enhanced by generations of investment in
…
This summer the city of Chicago will open the Midwest
Center for Green Technology in an industrial area three miles west of
downtown. It will house Spire Solar Chicago, a manufacturer of solar energy
equipment employing 100 people, along with Greencorps Chicago, the
city’s own community greening and job skills …
This is the first in a semi-regular Brownfield News series on waterfront redevelopment throughout the U.S. Future articles will explore shoreline projects, policies and methods in the South Atlantic states, the Gulf Coast, the West Coast, the Great Lakes, and riverside redevelopment. The next part of the series will …
Why Now?
It may seem a bit odd to be running a survey of waterfront redevelopment in Michigan with a story on East Coast waterfronts, but we thought this information would be useful to our readers.
The survey, conducted by EC&S in …
The Keystone in Pennsylvania
Denise Chamberlain puts her private-sector experience
and her vision to work to create a world-class brownfield program in the
state of Pennsylvania.
Denise Chamberlain
If you distilled …
All the talk about sprawl in recent years has missed the larger issue, which is how the loss of quality of life threatens future growth and prosperity. Sprawl is simply one form of development that has come to symbolize a negative form of growth, but other forms are available.
A …
Ralph Nader
While issues such as education, health care, and
military preparedness dominate the presidential campaign, brownfields, and
related issues such as sprawl, rebuilding industry, job creation, and
environmental policy, are …
