Brownfields
Success Story
Riverside One (offices) and the Carilion Clinic (medical)
being built atop assessed brownfields in the South
Jefferson area of Roanoke.
In the late 19tN and early 20*centuries, the South Jefferson area of Roanoke,
Virginia thrived with industrial activity and enterprises. Primary businesses of
the area consisted of a Virginian Railway mechanical facility and train station,
a building material supplier, a flour mill, and a metal fabricator. As the
Roanoke economy and job market grew, so did levels of contamination in the
surrounding environment.
The soil and groundwater of the South Jefferson area were laden with
hazardous contaminants that were released from the industries. Contaminants
included polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs),
lead, arsenic, iron, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
Roanoke Railway to Reuse
Roanoke, Virginia
By the early 1960s, these larger properties were abandoned and left to
deteriorate. The building material supplier became a scrapyard and the
railway facilities became a collection of warehouses. The City of Roanoke
realized that the vacant and underutilized land became a barrier for
redevelopment and prosperity in the Jefferson Street Corridor. In May of
2000, the City of Roanoke formulated a South Jefferson Redevelopment plan
to cleanup and revitalize the area.
Paving the Way Toward Redevelopment
EPA Grant Recipient:
City of Roanoke, Virginia
Grant Types:
Community-Wide Assessment
Cleanup
Former Use:
Industrial
Current Uses:
Mixed Commercial Development and
Public/Open Space
Working alongside of developers and consultants, the City of Roanoke set out to
redevelop the South Jefferson industrial corridor. In 2006, the City of Roanoke
received its first EPA Brownfields Assessment grant. The $200,000 grant allowed
the city to perform six Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs) and six
Phase ii ESAs to identify levels of known contaminants. Knowing the levels of
contamination within a property helped developers invest in the area.
One assessment revealed that the scrapyard was in need of cleanup before
any development could occur. Therefore, in 2008, the City of Roanoke applied
for an EPA Brownfields Cleanup grant and received $200,000. After thorough
planning, the scrapyard was capped and received a certificate of completion
from the state. Following 20 years of manufacturing and more than 60 years
of being a scrapyard, the City acquired the property and cleaned it up for
potential redevelopment.
South Jefferson's 110 acres situated in the heart of Roanoke initially separated
neighborhoods and created blight. Through significant planning and effective
partnerships, the City of Roanoke was able to achieve their vision and
generate interest from developers to invest in the area.
&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
South Jefferson was once a hub of industrial activity
comprised of scrapyards and manufacturing facilities.

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" The EPA Brownfield
grants were
instrumental in
preparing a 13-acre
area for mixed use
development to
complement the
Virginia Tech and
Carilion efforts,
establishing a true
urban corridor on
this former ^
brownfield.
Ian Shaw,
Planning Administrator;
City of Roanoke, Virginia
For more information:
Visit the EPA Brownfields website at
www.epa.gov/brownfields or contact
Felicia Fred at 215-814-5524
or fred.felicia@epa.gov
South Jefferson Today
During the planning phase, the City of Roanoke and the Roanoke
Redevelopment and Housing Authority envisioned a biomedical corridor that
would also generate other complementary development in the South
Jefferson area. The first spark to successful reuse started with 25 acres
assembled through a partnership with Carilion Clinic and later Virginia Tech
to establish the Riverside Centre (an office building). The initial investment
into revitalization was able to spur additional development for housing and
other amenities.
Riverside One was the first of many successful redevelopment projects in
South Jefferson. In 2009, the Carilion Clinic was completed and it now
provides medical assistance to those in need. In 2010, the City of Roanoke
continued their success by working with developers to construct the Virginia
Tech School of Medicine and Research.
With the Carilion and Virginia Tech development underway, a private
developer acquired a 13-acre portion of the redevelopment area in 2013 for a
complementary mixed use development. This dense development along
Jefferson Street includes two new apartment buildings with over 250 dwellings
units and adaptive reuse of a historic structures that includes a restaurant,
coffee shop and microbrewery with more to come. In three years the assessed
value of these properties has increased from less than $3,000,000 to nearly
$30,000,000. South Jefferson is no longer the the abandoned and
downtrodden community that it once was, but now a vibrant area bustling with
promising development that is now valued at over $200 million.
"Without the injection of EPA brownfield funds into sites such as The Bridges,
these kind of transformational mixed use developments would never be
financially feasible and therefore would never begin. The upfront work
funded by the EPA is vital in doing sufficient remediation, and therefore
reducing uncertainty, to ensure that a viable development is even plausible."
- Richard Souter,
Partner, WVS Companies
Down the Road
The South Jefferson area of Roanoke is now a cornerstone for the economy
of the city. The revitalization of vacant and contaminated properties has
provided Roanoke with the opportunity to increase its tax base, provide jobs,
and offer affordable housing.
Roanoke and the EPA continue to work hand in hand to assess and cleanup
brownfield sites for potential redevelopment. The City of Roanoke is using
additional brownfield assessment funding to remain active in the
redevelopment of South Jefferson. New funding, strong leadership, and an
effective plan all indicate that the City of Roanoke will continue to success in
brownfield redevelopment.
Virginia Tech's Carilion School of Medicine. The school's
first class entered in the fall of 2010, only days after the
building was constructed.
EPA 560-F-17-197
August 2018

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