ridc olympics

In the News

March 3, 2020

National Real Estate Investor: How to Ensure Your Brownfield Project Is a Successful, Worthwhile Undertaking

Check out the article “How to Ensure Your Brownfield Project Is a Successful, Worthwhile Undertaking” written by RIDC President Donald Smith for National Real Estate Investor.

Excerpt:

For developers willing to rise to the challenge, the recipe for success is this: have the tenacity, patience and balance sheet that will support you for extended periods of time. Be willing and financially able to continue to invest in these sites, market them, and stick with them over time, even when faced with challenges. And ensure that you have good community partners at the table with you.

Tips for managing project costs and timeframes and attracting future tenants:

• Chip away at it; remediate and build in phases, and for one tenant at a time.

• Offer attractive prices and amenity-rich spaces to draw companies in burgeoning industries out of central business centers. As the urban core gets more and more dense and expensive, the urban fringe in which many of these sites sit becomes a cost-effective alternative.

• Market to new, tech-based industries, including additive manufacturing, artificial intelligence and automation, which need a lot of space that accommodates manufacturing and tinkering activities—of which brownfield sites have plenty. Companies that require outdoor testing or laydown spaces are also candidates, as they are prohibitively expensive features in the urban core.