Developers dig deep to transform brownfield sites into vibrant properties

What Lies Beneath: Developers dig deep to transform brownfield sites into vibrant residential and commercial properties.

by Malorie R. Medellin
Illustration by Richard Borge

Even the most seasoned of developers can be scared of brownfield sites. Why? They know cleaning up the contaminants and debris on the grounds of an abandoned manufacturing site or vacant gas station is the easy part of the redevelopment process. It’s what’s underneath that poses the greatest threats. There, toxins and chemicals can contaminate soil and groundwater. The most frightening part: You never know what you’re going to find.

It’s intimidating, but with greenfi elds in short supply, more developers are tackling sites requiring remediation. Nationally, there are about 1.7 million environmentally contaminated sites that could be developed, according to Environmental Data Resources (EDR), a Milford, Conn.-based consultant. And developers are taking notice. In the past year, EDR issued roughly 750,000 reports detailing the environmental track records for more than 200,000 real estate deals.

As brownfield redevelopments gain traction, developers are hitting the books. “In the past, developers were not understanding the magnitude of environmental cleanup needed,” says Jon Walker, managing director of EDR’s corporate and legal division. Now, firms want to understand the environmental implications of their sites and how best to handle remediation in light of stringent federal guidelines. And several government financial incentives can help ease the pain.

The following projects show what’s possible when developers roll up their sleeves and start digging.

First Time’s the Charm: A New York firm scores big with a Bronx brownfield development.

When you’re a leading affordable housing developer in the Big Apple, you’re no stranger to land constraints or thinking way outside the box.

“So much housing production is being fostered by the city [that] sites are more difficult to come by … plain land opportunities are getting thinner and thinner,” says Sol Arker, principal of New York-based The Arker Cos. “We had to start looking at sites from a different perspective.”

The end result? White Plains Courtyard, a 120,000-square-foot mixed-use development in the Bronx on the site of a former gas station that had occupied the premises since the 1950s. Arker is the first to admit his initial trepidation in undertaking this project—the company’s first attempt at brownfield redevelopment. The site had a long history of automobile contamination from previous occupation by a car dealership and a variety of gas stations. The result? Toxic groundwater, in addition to petroleum and oils that were absorbed by the soil over the course of more than 50 years.

“It was a level of work we were unaccustomed to,” says Arker, who immediately contacted John Brooks, a veteran environmental attorney with Garden City, N.Y.-based Phillips Nizer law firm.

“In the brownfield world, the role of a lawyer has changed,” Brooks says. “Traditionally, that person was the last one you wanted in the room. But now we’re no longer viewed as a hindrance.” Leaning on such legal counsel helps developers navigate the layers of guidelines— both federal and local—that dictate the appropriate steps for remediation.

Brooks played a pivotal role in the project’s development process, explaining the necessary steps to clean up the site and supervising a team of engineers and environmental consultants. With the right team in hand, The Arker Cos. successfully tackled the detoxification of the soil and groundwater through three key efforts—diversion wells to keep any new contaminated water off the property, chemical oxidation treatments of existing groundwater, and excavation and treatment of the ground.

“The Arker Cos. has a very strong sense of doing right by the community in which they’re building,” Brooks says. The hard work paid off . Th e community offers 100 residential units, a rooftop terrace, and more than 16,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space occupied by Staples. A percentage of the units are set aside for the formerly homeless as well as area residents earning no more than 55 percent of the area median income. The development also added roughly 30 full-time and part-time jobs to the region.

“We are now advocates for these types of sites,” Arker says. “We understand the process. It’s just another layer in development and construction that we are more than willing to take on.”
And Arker is putting those words into action. The project’s success prompted the firm to tackle two additional brownfield redevelopments, both of which are currently under development in New York.

[ fast facts ]
WHITE PLAINS COURTYARD
■ Location: Bronx, N.Y.
■ Size: 120,000 square feet
■ Developer: The Arker Cos.
■ Value: (before) undisclosed; (after) $27 million
■ Status: Completed 2007

 
Pushing Daisies: San Francisco developers cultivate a nursery from a toxic waste dump.

For more than a year, a 28,000-square-foot plot of land nestled between industrial sites in Bayview Hunter’s Point in San Francisco wasted away, cluttered by junk cars, razor wires, and fuel tanks. The site, which was in a historically disadvantaged section of the city, offered few promising prospects. That is, until Flora Grubb, a San Francisco-based nursery, wanted a new spot to call home.

“In San Francisco the biggest concern for them was finding a site large enough to build a nursery,” says Seth Bridges of San Francisco-based Boor Bridges Architecture, designer of the new Flora Grubb. So when the Boor Bridges firm and Matarozzi/Pelsinger Builders, also based in San Francisco, discovered the plot of land, they were more than willing to see beyond the piles of abandoned junk.

“It was amazing in comparison to the size of plots we’re used to working with,” Bridges says. “It was an opportunity to take an abused and disadvantaged industrial site and really provide something that is a nicety for that area.”

But the development team wasn’t quite prepared for what they discovered after only a week’s worth of work. “Most of [the contamination] was buried,” says Nick Zigler, operations manager for Matarozzi/Pelsinger Builders and project manager for Flora Grubb. “The deeper we got, the more saturated the sand was with diesel fuel, gasoline, and contaminants.”

What’s more, chunks of asphalt, roofing shingles, and a few hydraulic jacks were buried underground. “One of our biggest concerns was how this was going to implicate our schedule,” says Zigler, who turned to San Francisco-based Remediation Services for counsel.

Opting for encapsulation, developers removed 17 semi- and dump-trucks worth of contaminated soil from the site then compacted the remaining soil with gravel and decomposed granite. Finally, the foundation was laid as a floating mat slab of concrete 18 inches thick and 300 yards long. The result covered about one-third of the site. Fortunately, with the help of Remediation Services, the soil removal and cleanup set the development timeline back by only a month.

Built in a liquefaction zone, where the soil is often easily saturated by nearby water and softens quickly, the building was designed to move with the slab, which rested on top of the wet soil. Capitalizing on the industrial feel of nearby properties, the building design mimics that of a warehouse but adds a few breezy, barn-like touches to soften the look.

“The site was a toxic waste dump back then, and now, believe it or not, it’s a viable destination,” Zigler says.

[ fast facts ]
FLORA GRUBB
■ Location: San Francisco
■ Size: 28,000 square feet
■ Developer: Matarozzi/Pelsinger
■ Value: (before) $1.3 million; (after) $2.5 million
■ Status: Completed 2007

The Cutting Edge: A suburban Boston development brings a wildlife haven and green community to the shores of Malden River.

For John Preotle, the Rivers Edge project has been a marathon, not a sprint. The work required attention to detail, a strong vision, and, most importantly, endurance. Preotle, principal of Boston-based Preotle, Lane & Associates, spent a better part of a decade transforming the 30-acre brownfield site into a wildlife haven and mixed-use community.

“You could be 10 feet from the river and not even know it existed because there was so much trash,” says Preotle, whose development firm started the project in 2000. For 40 years, the site hosted loads of garbage and barges waiting to be pulled into the Boston Harbor for disposal. In fact, one barge never actually left. It was discovered by Preotle’s team, which found the 270-by-40-foot barge buried underground. In addition to the barge, more than 1,600 tons of debris—including 1,200 tons of steel, 176 tons of rubber, and 175 tons of tires—required removal.

“We were not aware of the magnitude of those problems in the beginning,” says Preotle of his first major brownfield remediation project. But with the collaborative efforts of the community and the Urban Renewal Authority, Preotle cleared the way for Rivers Edge’s prized focal point—a 10-acre public park. After shipping in 50,000 cubic yards of new soil for encapsulation, the developers planted 8,000 plants and more than 200 trees in order to create an expansive green space that represents a true turnaround for the property.

“This project really speaks to the story of going from brown to green,” says Doug Gensler, principal managing director of the Boston office of Gensler and lead architect for Rivers Edge. “We are going
to create a green environment both in terms of landscaping and buildings.”

In addition to the 10-acre park, Rivers Edge will host nearly 410,000 square feet of commercial and residential space. All buildings are made from recycled steel and are expected to receive LEED Gold certification. Though Rivers Edge’s commercial component isn’t expected to open for occupancy until the beginning of 2009, with residential occupancy expected to follow much later, the community already has received accolades from the Boston Society of Landscape Architects, the National Brownfields Partnership (an initiative of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency), and
the Environmental Business Council of New England.

“[For the site], we thought the underlying potential was quite good,” Preotle says. “Hopefully, people will view it as positively as we do.” So far, it’s fair to say they do.

[ fast facts ]
RIVERS EDGE
■ Location: Medford, Malden, and Everett, Mass.
■ Size: 30 acres
■ Developer: Preotle, Lane & Associates
■ Value: (before) $15 million;(after) $200 million
■ Status: Completion expected in late 2012 or early 2013