Underutilized or abandoned former industrial properties are a national concern. Many of these properties with lingering environmental issues—brownfields—likely have not been redeveloped due to the uncertainties associated with legal liability and cleanup costs. The legal and procedural steps to test, acquire, clean up and reuse contaminated sites can be expensive and time consuming—and may be fraught with unanticipated cost and schedule delays. In recent years, the advent of state-directed voluntary cleanup programs, availability of public funds for assessment and cleanup activities, industry innovations in cleanup technologies, introduction of risk management insurance products, and amendments to federal environmental regulations which protect the prospective purchaser, have generated a greater interest in brownfield property reuse.

Environmental industry changes have been further augmented by recent development trends that are focused on mixed-use urban redevelopment initiatives. Brownfield properties can offer proximity to the core of larger cities, waterfronts, infrastructure, public transportation, and densely populated areas. In fact, brownfield properties are often in prime real estate markets and may present the only opportunities for urban development in areas where desirable, undeveloped land is dwindling. Altogether, these factors have encouraged more developers to embrace the concept of recycling brownfield properties and, as a result of brownfield properties being redeveloped with greater frequency, lessons have been learned which can improve the chances for future successful brownfield redevelopment. ...

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