Great Article from ESE Partner’s Brady Beckham:
Eye Sore or Economic Opportunity?
Economic Benefits of Brownfields Redevelopment
Since the industrial revolution, more and more land has been contaminated, abandoned, perceived as unusable. Many developers and investors tend to avoid such properties that are perceived as environmental liabilities. In reality, these environmentally-impaired properties are often diamonds in the rough and can be developed to return a greater financial and social gain than ever thought possible for the investor and the community.
What is a “Brownsfield?”
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines a brownfield as " real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.” A brownsfield may include former power plants, terminals, gas stations, landfills, oilfields, industrial sites and other potentially contaminated abandoned properties.
So how do I turn brownfields into greenbacks?
Through the process of environmental science and engineering, brownfields redevelopment continues to serve as a lucrative investment strategy to the real estate market. For instance, ESE served as the Project Manager and Engineer for the brownfields reclamation of a former Power Plant located in Texas. With cost-effective measures and a rapid response time, the power plant property was quickly restored in order to construct a master planned mixed use community. This transformation ultimately created an eco-friendly community asset, as well as a new tax revenue for the city.
So the next time you’re driving and notice a seemingly blighted piece of property, don’t write it off
just yet. That property could be THE next retail development center, and YOUR next revenue stream.
ESE is committed to recycling the land and revitalizing our cities and neighborhoods, making the unusable, usable. We enable our clients to realize unconsidered financial opportunity in real estate and deliver investments associated with environmentally impaired properties. We'll increase the value of your property and deliver new development options through environmental risk management and engineering.
Brady Beckham at ESE Partners has over a decade of experience in the environmental industry. As a born and raised Austinite he knows the growth first hand of Central Texas. He is very committed to the ins and outs of the commercial real estate process and committed to serving you and your clients. For more on Brady Beckham and ESE Partners, please contact, (512) 470-5590, brady@esepartners.com
Jim Young, CCIM, Broker
Longbow Real Estate Group
West Point ‘94
jim@longbowRE.com
Twitter: @jimyoungCRE
512-565-7509
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