Feature
New report ties smart growth to economic prosperity
A new report by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) looks at the connection between smart growth strategies and economic development.
The report "Economic Development and Smart Growth" presents eight case studies where communities implemented projects that incorporated smart growth principles and then experienced economic development success in various forms, including increased tax revenue, more jobs, higher income levels, downtown revitalization and business growth. The case studies focus on transit development, commercial corridor revitalization, targeted area redevelopment and infill, and the creation of arts and entertainment districts.
Smart growth is a hot phrase right now. In fact, the Brownfields 2006 conference in November will discuss the topic in numerous sessions. As cities face population growth and demands for more housing and services, more municipalities are turning to smart growth principles to guide their development decisions, according to the IEDC report. The report lists the 10 principles of smart growth:
- Mix land uses.
- Use land efficiently.
- Create a range of safe, convenient and affordable housing opportunities and choices.
- Create walkable neighborhoods.
- Foster distinctive, attractive communities with a strong sense of place.
- Preserve natural lands, farmland and critical environmental areas.
- Strengthen and direct development toward existing communities.
- Provide a variety of transportation choices.
- Make development decisions predictable, fair and cost-effective.
- Encourage community and stakeholder collaboration in development decisions.
Among the projects profiled in the case studies is the Brewery Blocks development in Portland, Ore. Bruce Allen, senior development manager at the Portland Development Commission (PDC) who’s quoted in that case study, says smart growth is not a new word to the PDC. “My sense is that we have been using that word in regular conversation for about 10 years,” he says.
Brewery Blocks, developed on a former brewery site, ties a cluster of residential and commercial development around the Portland Streetcar, launched in 2001. It’s created a bridge between the central business district and the Pearl District while generating $1.3 million in new tax revenues for the city. The light rail project itself has sparked $3 billion in new development around it, according to the report.
Regional brownfields experts say smart growth and brownfields can be synonymous with one another. And in fact the report touches on the environmental benefits smart growth can bring, pointing to how the development of idle or underutilized infill sites can save community green space and also restore contaminated sites.
“Brownfields are smart growth,” says Sharon Kophs, Washington State Community Trade and Economic Development brownfields program manager. Often times, brownfield redevelopment curbs urban sprawl, she adds.
In Spokane, Wash., for example, brownfield money is being used as an incentive for smart growth in the downtown’s University District. Earlier this year, the city received a $200,000 EPA grant to be used for the assessment and redevelopment of brownfields in the U-District. The city previously completed an extensive inventory of brownfields located there. The city also received a $45,000 EPA smart growth grant to be used for technical assistance.
This project is the city’s first real emphasis on smart growth, says Brian Jennings, who is both brownfields project manager and smart growth project manager for the city of Spokane. The city would like to put smart growth principles to work in the district, including building a bridge for pedestrian traffic and mixing residential and commercial development, while placing an emphasis on creating a research or innovation district that builds upon the nearby medical district and higher education programs available at the surrounding universities.
Smart growth ties in well with the city’s master plan for the area, and brownfield money will help carry out those goals, he says. “You couldn’t ask for a better area that’s primed for growth and activity than this area.” Judging by the IEDC report, Spokane isn’t the only city that can benefit from utilizing brownfields redevelopment as part of a smart growth strategy.
A full copy of the IEDC report, which is supported with funding from EPA, is at http://www.iedconline.org/Downloads/Smart_Growth.pdf.
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Problem Solver
Oregon town sets out to clean up its downtown
Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of stories following the city of Albany as it prepares to redevelop and revitalize its downtown waterfront in this west central Oregon town. We will check in every few months with the city and its partners as the project progresses from its beginning stages onward to the completion of its community vision.
John Boock of Albany, Ore., is ready to see some new life breathed into his hometown’s historic downtown, which sits along the beautiful Willamette River.
While the waterfront is dominated by abandoned industrial plants and vacant lots, Boock envisions a downtown one day rich with activity. He talks of more people living downtown, with upscale lofts and condominiums re-energizing the historic buildings. With the new residents would come a mix of businesses catering to them. More people means more activity along the river’s already established walking path. Built along the public path could be galleries, restaurants and other downtown draws.
A retired lawyer, Boock owns a couple of downtown buildings, one of which is the former Albany woolen mill. The building, about 30,000 square feet and nearly 100 years old, sat empty for 10 years before he bought it. “I saw what it could be,” he says.
Boock plans to preserve the structure, attract a business such as a winery, brewery or restaurant to it, then use the remaining space for deluxe riverfront condos. “I’m getting antsy to go,” Boock says. “I know (the revitalization) is going to happen. I’d like it to happen very soon.”
Boock may get his wish. Albany is in the fledgling stages of an urban renewal project that would redevelop a 1.25-mile stretch of its downtown. Dick Ebbert, the city’s economic development director, says Albany is currently in a stage best described as “anticipation.” Since the 1980s, officials have talked of forming public-private partnerships to redevelop the riverfront into a mixture of commercial and urban-residential properties. “The potential is there, we know that,” he says.
In the heart of the Willamette River Valley, Albany is a community of about 45,000 people. Since the city’s beginnings, when steamboats brought commerce to the booming waterfront, downtown Albany has served as a center for river trade, commerce and community events. However, like many communities around the nation, its downtown has deteriorated over time as shopping centers lured businesses and residents to the city’s fringes.
Over the years, ideas have ranged from preserving the downtown’s historic architecture to bulldozing it and starting over, Ebbert says. The community now wants to move forward, capitalizing on the area’s past and rejuvenating it for the future. In particular, the city is looking at a 22-block stretch that’s bordered to the east and west by two city parks.
In 2002, the Central Albany Revitalization Area (CARA), the city’s urban renewal agency, was formed to provide financial tools to implement the city’s plans and to attract new investment in the area. The agency has made some infrastructure and beautification improvements while also partnering on a few private-sector projects. For example, CARA allocated $275,000 to a private development called Iron Works. The project, which includes townhouses, office space and apartments, was fully rented before it construction started earlier this year.
With an urban renewal agency in place and a community vision coming together, the Governor’s Economic Revitalization Team, established to focus state agencies on working together to create economic development opportunities at the local level, stepped in earlier this year to offer its help. The team consists of representatives from eight state agencies, including the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department (OECDD). This is the first time the team has collaborated on a brownfields redevelopment project, says Karen Homolac of the OECDD.
The team traveled to Albany in March to meet with local leaders and business people. Among other topics, participants discussed updating city infrastructure and relocating sewer lines. The city and property owners don’t know what kind of contamination will be found in the former industrial area. And the city is working with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad to close a short rail line that runs down one side of the renewal district’s main street. The city wants the redevelopment to include a covered structure for its local farmers market as well as a home for an antique carousel gifted to the community. Some local craftsmen have carved more than 50 animals for the carousel.
Homolac sees great potential for the Albany project. “It’s a city, I think, that’s right on the cusp of moving forward with some very exciting projects,” she says. “They’re going about it in a logical, thought-out manner.”
Shortly after that initial meeting, Albany awarded a Request for Qualifications to Telos Development Company in Salem, Ore. The city went out to bid in hopes of attracting a developer with a fresh set of eyes to the project, Ebbert says.
Telos has about $30 million in urban renewal project experience, says David Glennie, company president. It has been a “trailblazer” in the creation of downtown mixed-use development for non-metropolitan areas, he says.
The company’s priority is to identify potential projects and work with the city and local property owners on a broader overview. Once individual projects are identified, Telos will determine their feasibility. There are five major property owners, besides the railroad, willing to participate or sell their property to be developed as part of a larger plan, Ebbert says. They are to gather with the city and Telos representatives in September.
This predevelopment stage is a time to do research and really come up with a clear plan of action, Glennie says. “It’s an evolving process and things change,” he says. “You have to take many hundreds or thousands of baby steps just to get to the starting line.”
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Groundwork
Brownfields marketing 101: Reduce the uncertainty
In marketing a brownfield, the key to success comes in removing the unknown.
That’s because the biggest stumbling block for a potential buyer is the uncertainty associated with brownfields, says Layne Alfonso, commercial account manager for Land America Commercial Services in Tacoma, Wash. There can be uncertainty in how long the regulatory process will take and the cost of cleanup, he explains.
You can increase the marketability of a brownfield by removing the uncertainty, whether by completing the cleanup process before beginning a marketing campaign, or by having a tool such as a consent decree in place so developers know exactly what they’re responsible for, Alfonso says.
“You have to take a certain amount of the risk out,” agrees Su Dowie, director of planning and operations at the Thea Foss Waterway in Tacoma.
The Thea Foss Waterway has found success in marketing brownfields. Along with having a consent decree with the Washington Department of Ecology, a master plan was in place before any marketing happened, Dowie says. The waterway put all its “regulatory ducks in a row” so the buyer didn’t have to, saving a developer time. And everyone in commercial real estate knows time is money, she adds.
When marketing a brownfield, sellers also need to recognize these properties are still, at their heart, real estate transactions, says Mary Hashem, a partner with Brownfield Partners LLC in Denver, Colo., a private brownfields real estate investment and acquisition company.
Hashem helped coordinate the brownfields transaction forum for the Brownfields 2005 national conference in Denver and has created a marketing training program for sellers. The transaction forum brings together sellers and buyers interested in brownfields. This year’s third annual forum will be held Nov. 13 at the national conference in Boston.
At the first transaction forum in 2004, Hashem saw many cases of municipalities sharing technical environmental data but not giving an overall picture of the property for sale. She created a marketing storyboard that serves as a good starting point for newcomers. Still used by the transaction forum, it can be found at http://www.brownfields2006.org/documentupload/storyboard%20template.pdf.
To begin with, a seller should have a good idea what the property will be used for because its use and design affects the cleanup and its costs. According to Hashem, your marketing material should include information on the property’s location and acreage, zoning regulations, highest and best use, existing structures and infrastructure, access, environmental conditions, land values, absorption rates, market demand versus competing properties, and demographics. Ideally you should also include vicinity and site maps, aerial maps and photos, and photos of the site and the surrounding area.
When explaining environmental conditions, be precise about the contamination and its extent. List any land-use restrictions and where remediation is needed or has been done. Include contact information about lead regulatory agencies. And list any financial incentives available, such as state tax credits, tax increment financing, brownfields-related grants or Community Development Block Grants.
For the buyer, it’s also important to have a timeline in relation to any grants or Prospective Purchaser Agreements that will be utilized, Alfonso says. A buyer needs a realistic picture of how long it could take for a state environmental agency to sign off on the project.
Alfonso also tells clients that they don’t want the environmental issues to become a negotiating point. That means sellers must know everything about the property. A mistake some sellers make is not understanding the property; the seller is at a disadvantage when the buyer has more information than the seller, he says.
Who a seller markets to varies with the due diligence. The farther you can go through that cleanup process with the state environmental agencies, the broader your range of potential buyers will be, Alfonso says. After all, you can market a clean site to anybody. However, if little remediation is done, you’ll be marketing to developers familiar with the cleanup process, Alfonso says.
Officials at the Thea Foss Waterway typically advertise in newspapers and publications targeting developers. They also maintain a list of developers and talk to other communities about their lists, Dowie says. There is a network among the development community. Once you get pipelined into that, you’re going to make connections, she adds.
At the start of its project, the Thea Foss Waterway had 14 building sites. Seven of those sites are constructed, under construction or under agreement and in the process of permitting. There’s about $335 million in private investments in those seven properties, Dowie says. She expects another two sites to be marketed this year and the remaining next year.
Marketing these properties may not always be easy, Dowie says. But in the end, it’s worth it. “Stick to it,” she says. “I think the rewards to a community are huge.”
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News and Events
The 2006 Phoenix Award winners have been announced. The winners represent outstanding brownfields projects in each of the 10 EPA regions. The winner for Region 10 is the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. All winners will be featured at an awards ceremony in November during the Brownfields 2006 national conference. See the complete list of winners at http://www.brownfields2006.org/en/Article.63.aspx.
Oct. 16-17 in Nashville: Strategies for Job Development and Training in Brownfields Communities workshop for anyone interested in developing a brownfields job training program or applying for an EPA brownfields job training grant. For more information, contact: Glo Hanne, 563.441.4081.
Oct. 18-19 in Tacoma: Northwest Environmental Summit and Tradeshow at the Tacoma Convention and Trade Center. Register at http://www.ecwashington.org/.
Nov. 13-15 in Boston: Now in its 11th year, the national brownfields conference is the premier annual event on the remediation, redesign and redevelopment of potentially contaminated properties. This year’s conference is titled “Revolution in Redevelopment.” Register at www.brownfields2006.org.
Dec. 7-8 in Portland: The Northwest Environmental Conference and Tradeshow at the Red Lion on the River – Jantzen Beach. Register at www.nwec.org.
Oregon has begun planning for its 2007 Brownfields Conference, to be held March 1-2, 2007, at the Salem Conference Center in Salem, Ore. Sponsorship opportunities are available. Those interested should contact Karen Homolac of the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department at 503-986-0191, or Karen.Homolac@state.or.us.
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