Barriers to Brownfield Redevelopment: Lessons Learned from Two Great Lakes States

Abstract

This article examines the barriers to brownfield redevelopment through a case study analysis of four cities in two Great Lakes states. Four key barriers are identified and investigated: legal liability, limited information, limited financial resources, and limited demand for the properties. Perceived liability emerges as a dominant barrier, and one that compounds the other three barriers. The article analyzes how and why liability perceptions affect stakeholder behavior and provides lessons learned for promoting brownfield redevelopment.

Attracting private investment to contaminated properties: The value of public interventions

“…Most studies that have examined the redevelopment of contaminated properties have identified the barriers to redevelopment and how direct financial subsidies and other interventions can improve the attractiveness of investing in such properties (Bartsch, Undated;Bartsch, Collaton, & Pepper, 1996;Coffin & Shepherd, 1998;DeSousa, 2004;Howland, 2003Howland, , 2004Pepper, 1997;Wernstedt, 2001;XL International and International Economic Development Council, 2002;Yount & Meyer, 1999). Sherman (2003) provides the most thorough work on financial subsidies in his simulations of developer investment calculations, including property tax abatements, site assessment grants, development grants, low-interest loans for assessment and remediation, and federal tax incentives that allow remediation costs to be written off for tax purposes as expenses in the year they are incurred (rather than depreciated over a project life).…”

Characteristics and land use of contaminated brownfield properties in voluntary cleanup agreement programs

“…There have been many case studies describing some of the characteristics of the contaminated properties, which include the history of the property, location, the contamination, liability concerns, costs of remediation, and the incentives used to promote the remediation and redevelopment of the property (Page and Rabinowitz, 1994;Pepper, 1997;Bartsch et al, 1997;Coffin and Shepherd, 1998;Collins and Savage, 1998;De Sousa, 2000).…”

Factors affecting brownfield regeneration in post-socialist space: The case of the Czech Republic

“…The increasing number of projects and research platforms demonstrates the increasing interest of policy makers, too (see the summary reports on activities, products and tools developed by previous brownfield projects by Tölle (2009) or Frantál et al, (2012). Many previous studies have investigated and conceptualized drivers and barriers of brownfields redevelopment -whether on the basis of stakeholder surveys or interviews with experts (Adair et al, 2002;Alberini et al, 2005;De Sousa, 2000;Letang and Taylor, 2012) or assessments of a limited number of local case studies (Coffin and Shepherd, 1998;Dixon, 2007;Dixon et al, 2011;Nijkamp et al, 2002).…”