The United States
Conference of Mayors defines the term "brownfield" as an abandoned or
underutilized property where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by
either real or perceived environmental contamination. This description applies
to a wide variety of sites including, but not limited to, industrial
properties, old gas stations, vacant warehouses, former dry cleaning
establishments, abandoned residential buildings which potentially could contain
lead paint or asbestos and under the new law, sites that contain petroleum
products as well as and mine scarred land. Brownfields are located in almost
every community in the United States.
2008 Brownfield Questionnaire
**The United States
Conference of Mayors Has Extended the Deadline for Survey / Questionnaire
Submission until April 29th, 2009. If You Have Any Questions Please Contact
Ted Fischer @ 202.861.6779 or tfischer@usmayors.org
Coming in May 2009, More Brownfield On-Line Best Practices; Here is a sample of what's coming!
City of Buffalo, New York-
LakesideCommercePark and UnionShip Canal
The
closing of the Hanna steel plant in south Buffalo
in 1982 signaled the end of a chapter in the city’s economic history, which for
more than a half-century was dominated by steel production. But since 2001, a
project at the former Hanna site has been setting the stage for a new economic
future for Buffalo.
A vast redevelopment is converting 113 acres of land—including the abandoned
Hanna plant, an adjacent shipping canal, a former railroad yard, and a 19-acre
disposal site—into the BuffaloLakesideCommercePark. In the process, the
City is cleaning up contaminated soil; “recycling” available infrastructure;
luring developers away from greenfield
sites and into the urban community; boosting city commerce, jobs, and the local
tax base; and eliminating blight.
City of Miami, Florida-
Villa Patricia, in little
Haiti, north of downtown Miami
In
the 1980s and 1990s, Little Haiti was one of the poorest areas in Miami and was known for
its crime and drug trade. Some of the area’s violent past still exists today,
however the area is experiencing a cultural renaissance and the city is
investing in its future.Villa Patricia, previously a vacant and dilapidated
warehouse property in a main corridor of the city of Miami, which significantly contributed to
slum and blight. The Villa Patricia project was prime for redevelopment as the
location had ready access to public transportation and is located close to
downtown and acts as a catalyst of redevelopment for the area to upgrade the
business corridor. The site is located close to the New Little Haiti Cultural
Campus and SoccerPark which added to the
project’s redevelopment value.
Neptune and Son/Piman Bouk Restaurant and Beauty Shop
Through
the years, the community has changed from agricultural to residential, from
middle class to lower class and middle class again. Part of this change was
driven by immigrants from Haiti and the significant unrest on the island in the
early 80’s that found it’s way to Miami, and soon the area was called
"Little Haiti, (La Petite Haiti). The area is undergoing a cultural
renaissance, due in large part to the development of the Little Haiti Cultural
Center, SoccerPark and proposed redevelopment of the
Caribbean Marketplace. The City of Miami
and original property purchaser Mr. Neptune worked on the property after Mr.
Neptune purchased the property in 1999 for $30,000 cash with no financing, and
unknowingly he acquiring the site with existing contamination from an adjacent
dry cleaner. Across the street from what became the Piman Bouk restaurant on
the redeveloped site is the recently renovated Caribbean Market Place, and the recently
completed Little Haiti Cultural campus and soccer park with an investment of
over $40 Million from the City of Miami.
City of Washington, District of Columbia-
WashingtonNationalsPark
In 2004, the D.C.
city council agreed to build the Nationals a new park to entice the Expos from Montreal. The city council
insisted that it be the first major sports stadium to get the US Green Building
Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating. The
points-based system was designed to limit the environmental impact of
commercial office buildings, not outdoor ballparks, but DC’s Mayor Anthony
Williams was willing to put the effort forth. By recycling 5,500 tons of
construction waste, installing a state-of-the-art water-filtration system and
placing the stadium close to public transportation on what used to be the site
of a contaminated Brownfield; the city was able to get the certification with
less than a 2 percent hike in construction costs. When President Bush threw out
the first pitch, and the crowd sat focused on whether the home team would
deliver a performance worth a $611 million stadium and a national TV audience.
It's unlikely anyone noted the high-efficiency bulbs in the field lights, or
realized that 95 percent of the stadium's steel was recycled, or even that the
low-flow toilets would save millions of gallons of water each season. Most of
what makes NationalsPark the country's first
green professional-sports stadium doesn't look any different from what you'd
find at other ballparks, which is one reason its recent certification by the
U.S. Green Building Council is so impressive.
(If Your City Is Interested in Showcasing a finished Redevelopment please
contact us at 202-861-6779 p or email Ted Fischer @ tfischer@usmayors.org)
Register for EPA's 2009 Brownfield's Meeting In New Orleans by visiting the website at www.brownfields2009.org
