THE ROLE OF BROWNFIELDS AS SITES FOR
MIXED USE DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN
AMERICA AND BRITAIN
Authors: Jan Laitos & Teresa Abel
INTRODUCTION
TRADITIONAL ZONING
Before Mixed Use Development - Inefficient use of space
MIXITE
After Mixed Use Development – More Sustainable
Mixed use development requires urban
space that is free of existing uses.
REDFIELDS & GREYFIELDS
Redfields: Foreclosed
Commercial Real Estate
Greyfields: Abandoned
Parking Lots and Shopping
Centers
GREENFIELDS
• Usable Natural Open Space
BROWNFIELDS
• Before
• After
1. Barriers to and benefits of brownfield
development
2. Differing ways in which the United Kingdom and
the United States have responded to the need
for brownfield development
3. Varying degrees of success each country has
experienced in actually creating mixed-use
spaces from brownfield sites
4. Three case studies of mixed-use development
sites in the United States
BARRIERS TO AND BENEFITS OF
BROWNFIELD DEVELOPMENT
PART I
A. Regulatory, Financial, and Physical Barriers to
Brownfield Development
Presence of Contaminants
Remediation of Asbestos in Soil
B. Challenges to Communities Where Brownfields
are Left Undeveloped
Reduced Property Values
Visual Blight
C. Benefits of Brownfield Redevelopment
BROWNFIELD DEVELOPMENTS: A
COMPARISON BETWEEN THE UNITED
KINGDOM AND THE UNITED STATES
PART II
A. Responses of the Government and Private
Sector in the United Kingdom
• Promote Brownfield development to:
• create new housing
• encourage sustainable mixed use development
• reduce pressure on greenfield development
UNITED KINGDOM
• Some public funding provided, but most funding
must be raised by the private sector
B. United States Response to Brownfields and
Their Development
• General Policy: Remove brownfields as lands that
are not productive, and instead are depressing.
• Promote development that is sustainable.
UNITED STATES
• Direct and comprehensive funding
• Available through the Environmental Protection Agency’s
(EPA’s) Brownfield Program and numerous other federal
programs
• Federal and state laws combat liability barriers
• RCRA and CERCLA amended to ease liability concerns that
could hinder development
• Taxpayer Relief Act allows developers to deduct costs of
clean-up
• Environmental insurance
VARYING SUCCESS IN THE UNITED
STATES AND THE UNITED KINGDOM:
WISHING TO CREATE MIXED USE SPACES
FROM BROWNFIELD SITES
PART III
A. Implementation of Brownfield Redevelopment
in the United Kingdom
Brownfield development in London's Docklands has
shown how wastelands can be brought back into use
and profits made
UNITED KINDGOM
• The United Kingdom has had success in promoting
brownfield development for residential use.
IMPERIAL WHARF,
CHELSEA,
LONDON
A handsome brownfield
development providing
1,800 homes. Half of the
scheme is affordable
housing.
ADMIRALTY
QUARTER,
PORTSMOUTH
Once a car park, this
site now provides over
500 homes whose
residents enjoy lovely
places to live and play.
TARLING
REGENERATION,
SHADWELL, EAST
LONDON
Two hundred new
homes in east London a successful example of
a high-density, inner-city
regeneration scheme.
• However, greenfield development is still
usually more economically feasible.
• Private investors worry about costs of
cleaning the land.
• Limited space inhibits expansion.
• Some argue that housing supply has
decreased in general.
• Governmental initiatives that
discourage development on
greenfields have not adequately
addressed the underlying problems
and potential liabilities associated with
development on brownfields.
B. United States
• The EPA has prioritized reduction of barriers to
brownfield development.
• The EPA has promoted aggressively the idea that
the implementation of mixed use development on
urban brownfields can benefit every party involved.
UNITED STATES
• As a result of the EPA’s policies, there has been
considerable interest and investment in brownfields.
Redeveloped brownfield in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
C. Case Studies
• The following case studies are three examples of
brownfield development in the United States.
• The first is a terrific success story.
• The second might be a success several decades into the
future.
• The third could have been a success, had economic
conditions been better.
• The goal for each development project was mixed
use development.
ATLANTIC STATION IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA
ATLANTIC STATION
• Atlantic Station is the
United States’ largest
urban brownfield
redevelopment
project
ATLANTIC STATION
• It sits on 138 acres in
Atlanta, Georgia,
where there once was
a former steel mill
ATLANTIC STATION
• The transformation of Atlantic Station ultimately
required an investment of over $2 billion.
ATLANTIC STATION
• Two key elements to its success:
• the formation of numerous public-private partnerships
• the strategic implementation of the comprehensive
redevelopment plan
ATLANTIC STATION
• The site was issued “Tax Allocation Bonds” by the
federal government. These bonds contributed up
to $170 million in cleanup costs (to remove its
brownfields status) and infrastructure.
• The US Department of Transportation also provided
funding to improve the sidewalks, streets, and traffic
flow.
• The private sector paid for the office, commercial,
and residential development.
More than 3,000 residents and 3,500 employees
live and work in Atlantic Station.
11 acres of parks and greenspaces, bike trails,
wide sidewalks, and numerous public
transportation options
GOWANUS CANAL IN BROOKLYN, NEW YORK
GOWANUS CANAL
• The canal is one of the most extensively polluted
bodies of water in the United States
GOWANUS CANAL
• The EPA is in charge of funding the cleanup, but
potential developers have to wait for the parties
responsible for the pollution to be located, and
liability to be assigned.
GOWANUS CANAL
• The designation of the Gowanus Canal as a Superfund
site spurred the creation of the Gowanus Institute – a
group of developers, planners, and environmental
professionals dedicated to realizing the most productive
development of the Gowanus neighborhood.
• The institute has proposed a development plan that
includes a 10,000-square-foot Whole Foods store that
would sell only local products, a building for food
production and culinary arts training, and a building for
green and creative industries. This approach could
produce as many as 950 jobs.
GOWANUS CANAL
• The case of the Gowanus Canal is an example of
how government regulations can slow progress at
brownfields - government cleanup requirements
have caused redevelopment to be delayed by
over a decade.
GATES REDEVELOPMENT IN DENVER, COLORADO
GATES RUBBER FACTORY
Mixed-use development was seen as
an opportunity to bring numerous
benefits to the investors and to the
community surrounding the site.
GATES RUBBER FACTORY
• In exchange for public subsidies and tax increment
financing to aid in cleanup and development,
developers agreed to comply with a long list of
conditions stipulated by the local government and
surrounding communities.
Rendering of “Metropolitan Gardens”
A MIXED USE URBAN ENVIRONMENT DESIGNED FOR THE SITE OF THE
FORMER GATES RUBBER FACTORY
GATES RUBBER FACTORY
• The redevelopment plan was never fully realized
due to the collapse of the real estate market in
2008.
GATES RUBBER FACTORY
The site remains a
Denver eyesore and
an example of an
opportunity costthe loss of jobs in
transforming the site,
and the lack of
benefits that would
have followed,
economically and
environmentally, had
the site been
redeveloped.
GATES RUBBER FACTORY
• Many lessons can be learned by understanding the
financial obstacles that eventually put this otherwise
model redevelopment goal on hold.
CONCLUSION
• The strategy used for development of Atlantic
Station can be implemented in other brownfield
projects.
• The Gowanus Canal development project should
be examined when considering the potentially
hindering effects of government involvement.
• The Gates Rubber brownfield project is an example
of the benefits that private-public partnerships can
bring to mixed use brownfield development.
CONCLUSION
• The United States has succeeded largely because
of:
• Incentives it provides for private investors to engage in the
mixed use development of brownfields.
• The EPA’s efforts to remove the unique legal obstacles to
development.
CONCLUSION
• The United Kingdom confronts problems
similar to those faced by the United States.
CONCLUSION
• The UK should consider reforming its policies to
provide incentives that convince investors of the
unique social and economic benefits of sustainable
brownfield development:
• limiting liability
• promoting voluntary cleanup / reduce investment risks
• Promote mixed use development by providing job training
and education, becoming more involved with encouraging
local communities to embrace mixite, and reducing
regulatory obstacles that inhibit the allocation of funding for
cleanup and new infrastructure at brownfield sites
THE END