by Christa Franzi 17. June 2014 09:15
Funding soon to be
announced and some advice on brownfield redevelopment…
If you work in the
Northeast you've got em…old, underutilized, corroded, former industrial sites
that we aptly refer to as "brownfields". These relics of our
former industrial economy pose a special sort of redevelopment challenge that's
fit only for the strongest, fiercest, iron-willed, bullet proof…you get the
picture, brownfield redevelopment is H-A-R-D!
City of Rochester, NY: Vacuum Oil
Brownfield Opportunity Area (BOA)
The good news is that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and many
state and local governments recognize the challenges and opportunities of
redeveloping brownfields and there are lots of federal, state, and local
funding sources available for planning, training, cleanup, etc. EPA recently
announced that it will be issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) this summer for
the 2015 round of funding for the Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Program.
We're not sure exactly
what the 2015 program will look like yet, but the 2013 program broke down like
this:
·
Total funding
available: $4,000,000
·
Max per applicant:
$200,000
·
Project period:
24-months
·
Number of Projects
selected: +/- 20 projects
Funding was used for
research, technical assistance, and training for area-wide planning designated
to identify reuses for brownfields that will meet community health,
environmental, and economic development goals.
It is always helpful
to see what projects received funding in the past. That list can be found here:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/pdfs/2013-awp-project-summaries.pdf
At Camoin Associates,
we have worked on over 20 brownfield redevelopment-planning projects. We're
typically members of a full redevelopment team that includes planners,
engineers, environmental scientists, government officials, neighborhood
residents, and others. Our role is to conduct market opportunity studies and
financial feasibility analyses to give the communities we're working in
realistic parameters on which to formulate their redevelopment strategy.
One piece of advice we can offer you when approaching brownfield redevelopment: collaboration is key. Whether seeking funding this round or in the future,
success lies in the team effort. Start by building the best team possible with
knowledgeable, creative, leaders that understand the value in and are committed
to seeing redevelopment of our urban cores. As you develop your team, find a champion. Every brownfield
redevelopment project needs someone to push team members to explore all
options, think outside the box, and keep the project moving forward. You need a
hero.
Additional information
on what you can do to get a head start planning your brownfield planning grant
proposal while we wait for the official announcement can be found here: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/pdfs/preparing-BF-AWP-proposal-in-advance-FY15-RFP.pdf
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