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By Tim Beeble |
Kudos to Alison Evans on her summary of the history and growing success of the EPA brownfield RLF. As a second round RLF grantee, Stamford, Connecticut, and its mayor, Dannel Malloy, have been proud to be a partner with EPA in getting the RLF program off the ground.
While the first RLF grant awards were made in 1997, no loans had yet been committed by the close of federal fiscal year 1999. In September 1999, Stamford entered into an RLF assistance agreement with EPA. Within one month, the city signed its first RLF loan agreement with a developer who agreed to clean up the soil contamination on a waterfront site that was located in a low-income neighborhood and build 330 apartments overlooking Long Island Sound.
This was the first RLF loan commitment made in the country. Shortly thereafter, Las Vegas followed with the nation’s second RLF loan commitment. In December 1999, Stamford made the third national RLF loan commitment to a Harley Davidson dealership to clean up a historic industrial site and mill building in a low-income neighborhood and create nine new jobs.
The Common Element
These first three RLF commitments have a common element — a strong real
estate market. Evans quotes fellow EPA staffer, Brooke Furio, saying that RLF
grantees must possess “four elements to be successful.”
Certainly these four elements are necessary to be successful in brownfield redevelopment with RLF loans. However, without a strong real estate market that will support the cost of brownfield cleanup with substantial land value, and thereby support a redevelopment loan with a cash flow from the new land use, these four elements alone are not a guarantee of success.
To a certain extent, municipalities have some power to strengthen their real estate market at a micro level by changing zoning to allow more intensive use of brownfield sites. This allows greater cash flow for reuse of the brownfield, thereby resulting in higher land value and an ability to support a larger redevelopment loan. BFN
Timothy Beeble is RLF fund manager for the City of Stamford, Connecticut.
Point
RLF Grants Hit their Stride
Counterpoints
Building Capacity
A Second Chance