&EPA
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-00-186
May 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Brownfields Success Stories
Charlotte Maintains Redevelopment
Momentum
CHARLOTTE, NC
hen the City of Charlotte was awarded a National
Brownfields Assessment Pilot in 1996, the city's goal was to rede-
velop two or three properties. That number was increased to five
targeted sites, of which two have been cleaned up and redeveloped,
while the remaining three have cleanup and/or redevelopment ac-
tivities underway. To date, the Charlotte Pilot has leveraged $203,938
in cleanup and $60,438 in assessment funding from public and pri-
vate sources, as well as nearly $ 14 million in redevelopment funding
— a total expected to reach $15 million once all five projects are
completed.
The Charlotte Pilot targets brownfields in the city's Wilmore neigh-
borhood and South End business district. The Pilot's first major
success was the Camden Square Project, which has created space
for planned restaurants, shops, and design-related businesses.
Camden Square was also the first project to fall under the state's
new Brownfields Property Reuse Act, which uses land use restric-
tions, risk-based cleanup standards, and liability protections to pro-
mote the redevelopment of brownfields.
The Pilot's latest success is the Gaines Brown Design Project, which
focuses on a brownfields property located in Charlotte's Wilmore
neighborhood. The operator of a exhibit design business in the
Wilmore neighborhood had been looking to purchase this adjacent
cont.
JUST THE FACTS:
1 In Charlotte's Wilmore neighborhood, the
operator of an exhibit design business had
been looking to purchase an adjacent property
to renovate and lease.
1 $25,000 in Pilot funding was used to conduct a
Phase II environmental assessment and design
a cleanup plan.
1 A restaurant or upscale food store is now
being considered for the site; twelve jobs are
expected to be retained and six to eight jobs
created.
A
The Pilot has leveraged $203,938
in cleanup funding and $60,438 in
assessment funding from public
and private sources, as well as
nearly $14 million in redevelop-
ment funding—a total expected to
reach $15 million once all five
projects are completed.
ERA'S Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders in
economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A
brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. EPA
is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to
test cleanup and redevelopment models; job training pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for
residents of communities affected by brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in
the environmental field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds
to make loans for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states, tribes, municipalities,
and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods to promote a unified approach to site
assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
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property to renovate and lease to design-related businesses. The parcel he
chose is located on the site of a former radiator shop, which had been vacant
for more than ten years due, in part, to unknown levels of lead contamina-
tion in the soil. $25,000 in Pilot funding was used to conduct a Phase II
environmental assessment and design a cleanup plan. The assessment
revealed that a portion of the site was in fact clean, enabling the opera-
tor to purchase that area of the property. A restaurant or upscale food
store is being considered for the site; twelve jobs are expected to be
retained and six to eight additional jobs created as a result of this project.
The operator has since purchased the remaining portion of the parcel,
demolished the existing radiator shop, and removed the contaminated
soil.
CONTACTS:
City of Charlotte
(704) 336-4522
U.S. EPA-Region 4
(404) 562-8661
Visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Previous successes for the Charlotte Brownfields Pilot include the Thomas
Construction Company property, which also housed a radiator shop that left the
soil contaminated with lead. The Pilot performed assessments and created a plan for site
cleanup that allowed Thomas Construction to remove contaminated soil and renovate an
existing building for its own use. This brownfield was restored to productive use with a
mere $7,500 in assessment funding from the EPA Pilot; the project expects to retain
fourteen jobs while creating nine new positions.
Thanks to EPA's Brownfields Initiative, Charlotte has returned these formerly idle sites to
tax-base enhancements for the city, and provided much-needed employment opportunities
in an area where 27 percent of residents live below the poverty line. As word of these
successes has spread to the real estate and redevelopment communities, there has been a
dramatic increase in the Wilmore neighborhood's marketability. Residents are now being
inundated with offers to sell their properties. Local City Council member Patrick Cannon
pointed out that "It's a great sign that outsiders are realizing what the potential is...my
concern is that a lot of folks might sell without knowing what a gold mine they're sitting
on." (The Charlotte Observer, 7/12/98)
Brownfields Success Story
May 2000
Charlotte, NC
EPA 500-F-00-186
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