Chicago Brownfields I N I T I A T I V ERECYCLING OUR PAST, INVESTING IN OUR FUTURE

City of Chicago, Richard M. Daley, MayorDepartment of Environment, N. Marcia Jiménez, CommissionerDepartment of Planning and Development, Alicia Mazur Berg, CommissionerSupport provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyJuly, 2003

THE VISIONThe Brownfields Initiativeoriginally focused onindustrial and economicredevelopment, job cre-ation, and tax revenueswhile addressing environ-mental problems. Thevision expanded toinclude the creation ofgreen and open areas,affordable and energy effi-cient housing, parking andgovernment office space,and more breathing roomfor the City’s population.

The Initiative was guidedby an interdepartmentalteam of project managersfrom the Mayor’s Officeand the City Departments

of Environment, Planningand Development, Law,and the Office ofManagement and Budget.They’re now joined bystaff from theDepartments of Buildings,Housing, Transportation,Chicago Park District andothers, all working toimprove the quality of lifefor all Chicagoansthrough the brownfieldsrevitalization.

The Chicago BrownfieldsInitiative makes brown-fields redevelopment asattractive as developingany other desirable prop-erty. "These contaminatedplaces, these eyesores in

the community, willbecome productive landthe City of Chicago hasto offer to interesteddevelopers," says DavidReynolds, First DeputyCommissioner for theDepartment of theEnvironment. Thanks tothe expertise the City hasdeveloped and shared,the marketplace is near-ing the point where rede-veloping a brownfield isjust like obtaining a build-ing permit — anothercomponent of the rede-velopment process.

success doesn't just happen. Planning, vision, hardwork and investment led to the success of the Chicago

Brownfields Initiative. The Initiative recycles neglectedproperties to invest in the City’s future; it is part of a con-tinuous process of reusing, repurposing and renewing alimited and most precious commodity — our land.

The City of Chicago has created the most aggressive pro-gram in the nation to reverse the urban blight associatedwith brownfields — abandoned, potentially contaminatedproperties — and transform them into new industrial facil-ities, green spaces, affordable housing, and technologicaland manufacturing centers.

Chicago has been successful in redeveloping properties insome of the City’s most challenging areas and economical-ly disadvantaged neighborhoods. Its efforts have openednew horizons for distressed communities and createdindustrial developments as well as healthier and saferneighborhoods where people live, work and play. TheCity has attracted not only local companies, entrepreneursand not-for-profit organizations, but also large corpora-tions and Fortune 100 companies to properties oncepassed over for redevelopment because of the stigma ofenvironmental contamination.

Chicago Brownfields I N I T I A T I V ERECYCLING OUR PAST, INVESTING IN OUR FUTURE

THE PILOT AND THESHOWCASEThe City began its brown-fields program in the mid-1990s by investing $2 mil-lion from GeneralObligation Bonds to rede-velop five brownfieldproperties. TheBrownfields Pilot was aresounding success, com-ing in well under budget,creating 239 jobs, retain-ing another 950 jobs thatChicago would have losthad the companies thatbuilt on the sites movedfrom the City as somehad planned, and produc-ing over $337,000 inannual tax revenues.

Contributing to Chicago'sability to fuel interest inredeveloping brownfieldsare the City's efforts toleverage money from fed-eral agencies. Followingthe success of itsBrownfields Pilot,Chicago secured $74 mil-lion in Section 108 loanguarantees from the U.S.Department of Housingand Urban Development(HUD). Section 108 isthe loan guarantee provi-sion of the CommunityDevelopment BlockGrant (CDBG) program.Section 108 providescommunities with asource of financing foreconomic development,

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housing rehabilitation,public facilities and large-scale physical develop-ment projects.

In 1997, Chicago was des-ignated a ShowcaseCommunity by the U.S.Environmental ProtectionAgency (U.S. EPA),which carried with it$691,000 in grants andservices, and led to othersources of funding.Chicago leveraged thesefunds to attract furtherpublic and private invest-ment in its BrownfieldsInitiative. Part of theU.S. EPA Showcase fundsfacilitated the environ-mental assessment of

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IEWGeneral Obligation Bonds

U.S. HUD Section 108 Loan Guarantee

Brownfields Showcase Community Designation U.S. EPA

U.S. EPA Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Grant

$2.0 Million

$74 Million

$691,000

$500,000

Brownfields Funding Leveraged 3

more than 30 sites, someof which are featured inthis report.

“The City of Chicago has taken leadership in addressing barriers to redevelopment of brownfields that have helped bring City sitesback into the tax rolls; and has advocated successfully for state legislation which benefits other areas as well.”

— Scott Goldstein, Vice President for Policy and Planning of Metropolitan Planning Council

Chicago Center for Green Technology's roof top gardenAbove left: New housing going up along 63rd Street

Since its inception, the Brownfields Initiative hashelped the City increase its tax base by more thanone million dollars annually, and more than threethousand jobs have been created and retained.

by directing a good dealof the money to assessmore than 30 sites, ratherthan allocating all of themoney toward assessmentand cleanup of a few sites.This resulted in theimmediate commercializa-tion of several sites thatneeded no cleanup.

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Hands On: HERE IS HOW IT WORKSBrownfield sites are eval-uated based on accessand control, cleanup costestimates and develop-mental value. If a brown-field has industrial, com-mercial or residentialdevelopment potential,the City can acquire thesite through negotiatedpurchase, lien foreclosureor tax reactivation onproperty that has beentax delinquent for twoyears or more.

Once the nature of thesite’s contamination isassessed, the City maychoose to add the proper-ty to its "investment port-folio" of acquired sites.

On occasion, the assess-ment is done during theacquisition.

After the initial assess-ment, a risk assessment isperformed if needed, andcleanup strategies andcost estimates are thendetermined. Hazardouswaste is removed immedi-ately. Remaining con-taminants can beaddressed in many ways,depending on time, fund-ing, and, primarily, onfuture development.

The City enrolls nearly allits sites in the IllinoisEPA (IEPA) SiteRemediation Program, avoluntary cleanup pro-gram that establishes

investigation and cleanupguidelines. The guide-lines consider the intend-ed use of the redevelopedsite, the potential forexposure to contaminantsand actual site conditions;the remediation objectivesfor a day care center orhousing development, forexample, are differentthan if the site were to beredeveloped as a parkinglot or industrial facility.

On successful completionof the program, the IEPAissues a "No FurtherRemediation" (NFR) let-ter stating the cleanup issatisfactory for the site'sintended use and theowner has no additionalresponsibility after com-

pleting the approvedcleanup plan. As a siteowner, the City knowsthat developers and end-users who purchase theseproperties want therelease from liability thatis provided by NFR status.

The City maximized itsU.S. EPA Showcase funds

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H O W B R O W N F I E L D S W O R K : A n O v e r v i e wSites are evaluated based on access and control,cleanup cost estimates and developmental value.

City acquires the site through negotiated purchase,lien foreclosure or tax reactivation on property thathas been tax delinquent for two years or more.

Site is added to the city’s “investment portfolio” of sites.

Risk assessments are performed.

Any hazardous waste is removed immediately.

Cleanup strategies and cost estimates are then determined.

City enrolls all its sites in Illinois EPA’s SiteRemediation Program.

On successful completion of the program, the IEPAissues a "No Further Remediation" (NFR) Letter.

Sites are marketed for redevelopment.

Bodywork shop owner Constantinos Tsingos (left) hopes tobenefit from the new California Avenue Business ParkAbove left: Workers cleaning up a site

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5Chicago is the nation's numberone manufacturing center, interms of employment and grossregional product. But to be num-ber one is not easy. To spur pri-vate investment, the City ofChicago has identified nearly

industrial parks. Many of theproperties in these parks are for-mer brownfields, now places ofproductive industry. In additionto TIF district designation, desig-nations such as FederalEmpowerment Zone or State

two dozen Industrial Corridors,many of which have been desig-nated tax increment financing(TIF) districts.

The City has acquired large siteswithin these corridors to develop

ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY CHICAGO: C ITY o f PROSPERITY

Continued on page 6 >

Enterprise Zone may providecompanies relocating to theseareas significant additionalannual incentives.

Generating new property taxrevenue from manufacturing

The business park willtransform 37 acres of landblighted by waste andillicit behavior into avibrant and dynamic busi-ness district that willinclude a regional facilityfor Brink’s, Incorporated.

The City acquired 65 sep-arate parcels of mixed-useland and has undertakenan ambitious effort toredevelop the area inconjunction with CenterPoint Properties.Environmental assess-ments identified soil con-taining hazardous leadand chromium, andunderground storagetanks. During the clean-

up, 964 tons of contami-nated soil and 11 under-ground storage tanks wereremoved. The site’s exca-vations were backfilledwith clean crushed stonefrom another of the City’sbrownfields.

The night into day trans-formation of the businesspark, just three milesfrom downtown, broughta great deal of confidenceto the industrial corridor,the results of which willbe seen for years to come. Construction of the site’sfirst building, the 75,000-square foot Brink’s facili-ty, began in June 2003.

Future site of a vibrant business park

CALIFORNIA AVENUE BUSINESS PARK:The Crown Jewel Of The Western Ogden Corridor927 South California Avenue

A showpiece of economic development in the WesternOgden Industrial Corridor, this industrial park is expectedto generate nearly 600 jobs and annual tax revenue of$2.3 million. But the California Avenue Business Park’simpact on the area will go far beyond the creation of jobsand tax revenue.

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TOTAL AREA(Acres)

600

JOBSCREATED

964 tons ofcontaminated soil

11 USTs

CONTAMINANTSREMOVED

$1,862,800

DEMOLIT ION &REMEDIATION COSTS

$2.3 Million

ESTIMATED ANNUALTAX REVENUES

California Avenue Business Park

"If the City doesn’t takeresponsibility and investin long-term projects likethis one, who will?" saysDavid Reynolds, FirstDeputy Commissioner,about the CCGT project,once just a mountain ofconstruction and roaddebris that rose as high as70 feet in the 17-acre sitebelonging to the bankruptSacramento CrushingCorporation.

Before the visions, ideas,and inspirations for theCCGT project couldcome to life, the City hadto dispose of 250,000cubic yards of construc-tion and demolitiondebris and crush 589,000tons of concrete that hadbeen dumped on the

property. Even thesematerials had an aspect of"green" — what was cleanwas reused in City infra-structure projects.

The green design ofCCGT, or Chicago GreenTech as it is commonlyreferred to, is environ-mentally friendlythroughout. One third ofthe materials used tobuild the Center wererecycled: flooring wasmade from scrap cork andrubber, tile made fromrecycled glass. TheCenter generates about

CHICAGO CENTER FOR GREENTECHNOLOGY(CCGT):A World-class Model for Energy Efficiency and Environmentally Friendly Design445 N. Sacramento Avenue

445 North Sacramento is a place where amazing thingshave happened. A few years ago it was an environmentalmess. Today, it stands proud as one of Chicago’s models forenvironmentally sound, "green" design and a state-of-the-artbuilding. From the building’s use of vegetable oil forhydraulic fluid in the elevators, to the skylights taking advan-tage of the natural light from the smallest possible openings,the CCGT building is an inspiring project for Chicagoans.

< Continued from page 5 Economic Opportunity

20 percent of its energyfrom the sun and is nearlytwice as energy efficientas a similar-sized conven-tional building.

The building is now thehome of Spire SolarChicago, a solar panelmanufacturer; the train-ing and demonstrationfacility for GreencorpsChicago, a City commu-nity landscaping and jobskills program; and WRDEnvironmental, an eco-logical design and envi-ronmentally responsiblelandscape consulting firm.

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TOTAL AREA(Acres)

250,000 cubic yards of debris & 589 tons of concrete

CONTAMINANTSREMOVED

$9 Million

REMEDIATIONCOST

38

JOBSCREATED

Chicago Center for Green Technology

facility expansions or companyrelocations is a long-term anddirect benefit of redevelopingbrownfields. Additionally, focus-ing on urban areas for job cre-ation preserves green space,slows suburban sprawl and limitsdevelopment of productive farm-land. Since its inception, the

vate sector are taking on brown-field projects with less trepida-tion. They are using tax incen-tives and other financial toolssuch as environmental insurance,which is very reliable in quantify-ing cleanup costs. Furthermore,the private sector understandsbetter the IEPA’s Site Remediation

Brownfields Initiative has helpedthe City increase its tax base bymore than one million dollarsannually, and more than threethousand jobs have been createdand retained.

Today, developers, the bankingcommunity, and others in the pri-

Program and what is needed forliability protection from the state.In participating with the City inits Brownfields Initiative, thesegroups are gaining more experi-ence, and they will lead the mar-ketplace in privately developingbrownfields.An example of this is the Ford

Entrance to the state-of-the-art “green” building

Solar panels along the CCGT building’s roof

2002, the Chicago Centerfor Green Technology wasa winner of the presti-gious Phoenix Award forExcellence in BrownfieldRedevelopment.

CCGT’s building becamethe third in the countryto receive the PlatiniumLEED Award. LEED,Leadership in Energy andEnvironmental Design, isa rating system from theU.S. Green BuildingCouncil, a nationalorganization of manufac-turers, design profession-als, financiers and envi-ronmental groups.

With its dozens of inno-vative features like apine-based, light-coloredparking lot, a roof top

Solar panels manufac-tured at CCGT are usedin six of the nine majorChicago museums, andmany Chicago PublicSchool buildings. TheCity is one of the leadersnationwide in its use ofsolar energy.

In redeveloping the site,the City retained 450 jobsfrom a neighboring com-pany that was planning toleave Chicago altogether.CCGT created 38 newjobs, and the entire rede-velopment has the poten-tial of creating 200 morejobs. Additionally,Greencorps Chicagoserves over 200 commu-nity groups each yearthrough workshops andgardening materials. In

Motor Company Supplier Park,privately co-developed byCenterPoint and Ford Land on a155-acre brownfield site adjacentto Ford’s Chicago Assembly Plant.The project includes four build-ings totaling 1.65 million squarefeet. The facility will open instages beginning in late 2003

and the expansion is expected tocreate up to 1,000 jobs when theplant is fully operational.

"The decision to develop abrownfield is never entered light-ly," says Ed Harrington,Development Manager,CenterPoint Properties. "The

availability of land is what drivesbrownfield development.Chicago has a long history ofindustrial associations, so com-panies that need to be close in tothe City will likely face a site thatneeds cleanup. The City ofChicago and IEPA do a goodjob, really taking the developers

and associated parties throughthe process step by step.Because we’ve all become moresophisticated in looking at risksand doing our homework to min-imize risks and liabilities associ-ated with the sites, we’ll continueto privately develop these sites —no hesitation."

garden that absorbs heatin the summer, rainwatercollection tanks and solarpanels throughout thefacility, CCGT is a world-class model for sustain-able development, energyefficiency and environ-mental stewardship.

The CCGT building is anintegral part of the City’splan to generate 20 per-cent of its electricalpower from alternativesources.

Continued on page 8 >

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Future returns notwithstanding,it’s particularly important to con-sider job creation from the outsetof a brownfield’s designation —not just in its post-developmentuse. Using a public process forselection, the City of Chicagocontracts with local companiesfor research, remediation, con-struction and other work. TheCity uses minority owned anddisadvantaged businesses asmuch as possible. This practicehelps these firms develop experi-ence and establish a financialbase to be able to further investin their own businesses and com-pete against majority firms.

The City requires participation ofat least 16.9% minority ownedbusiness enterprises (MBE) and4.5% of women owned businessenterprises (WBE) for its projects,with the goal of attaining 25%MBE and 5% WBE. TheBrownfields Initiative, surpassingthese requirements, encouragesand hires MBE and WBE compa-nies to grow with the City andthe program.

"We started with the City yearsago, mostly hauling rubble frombrownfields," says LarryHuggings, President of RitewayConstruction, a minority owned

firm. "Working with the City ofChicago is exciting and verychallenging; the City upholdsvery high standards of perform-ance. But we worked hard andproved ourselves and won morebusiness from the City. We’renow involved in many aspectsof demolition and cleanup bothon brownfield sites and otherdevelopments across the City.We’ve hired more local work-ers; we’re upgrading our fleetof haulers. Who knows if wewould have gotten to this placeotherwise?"

There is no question that redevelopingbrownfields is good business, although youhave to know whether the business hasfinancial viability. Every company has toknow where to draw the line between revi-talization and financial responsibility, butthe City provides many incentives for usto redevelop the land.”

– Jim S. CrossCenterPoint Properties, Developing brownfields for 40 years

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< Continued from page 7 Economic Opportunity

At work in StyleMaster’s manufacturing facilityAbove right: CEO Martha Williams surrounded by some of StyleMaster’s products

GATEWAY PARK INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX:Envisioning a Better Future76th and Albany Streets

Home to a 62-acre economic engine in Chicago’sSouthwest side, Gateway Park used to be covered withhundreds of tons of concrete, broken asphalt and autoparts piled four stories high, and represented one ofChicago’s most turbulent stories of economic turmoil andcorruption. But now it is a symbol of entrepreneurialsuccess, with half the site having been developed andthe remainder in the process of development.

The Greater SouthwestDevelopment Corporationand the City of Chicagodedicated themselves tofinding a private partnerfor the redevelopment ofthe site. Gateway Park,LLC, a partnershipbetween Martha Williamsof StyleMaster and otherinvestors, together withlocal and federal agencies,transformed the site into adynamic industrial park.Sites like the GatewayPark are examples of aCity government willingto invest millions to pro-vide the infrastructure and

neighborhood anchorsthat these communitiesneed and deserve.

This property had beenthe home of a drive-intheater and a flea marketafter the mid-1900s.From 1980 to the mid-1990s, 600,000 cubicyards of concrete,asphalt, construction anddemolition debris, soil,rubbish, and hazardousautomobile shredderresidue found their wayinto the site to form whatwas considered an envi-ronmental disaster.

The site had a parade ofpotential owners but theenvironmental stigma ofthe site prevented themfrom buying it or gettinginvolved. "They justcouldn’t envision the siteactually being clean,"stated Ms. Williams, whogrew up in the RobertTaylor Homes, a Cityhousing project, at thegroundbreaking ceremonyin 2000.

Good actions and goodpolicy bring good results.Williams’ company,StyleMaster, a producer ofinjection molded plasticproducts, built a 660,000

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TOTAL AREA(Acres)

250

POTENTIALNEW JOBS

600,000 cubicyards of debris

CONTAMINANTSREMOVED

$26 Million

REMEDIATIONCOST

200

JOBSCREATED

Gateway Park Industrial Complex

square-foot manufactur-ing, warehouse and distri-bution facility on a 30-acre parcel of GatewayPark, creating 300 jobs inthe process. A 740,000square-foot expansion isplanned for the nearfuture. StyleMaster’sneighbors in the industri-al corridor, includingTootsie Roll, Nabisco andSweet Heart Cup, as wellas area residents, havegreatly benefited from theredevelopment.

The ChicagoBrownfieldsInitiative demonstratesnew innovativeapproaches andsolutions nowand for thefuture.”

– Gerald J. RoperPresident and CEO ofChicagoland, Chamber of Commerce

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StyleMaster sits on a former brownfield

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at the site. The City ofChicago will help leveragethe project with $14 mil-lion in TIF assistance.

The City’s commitmentto invest $793 million tomodernize MidwayAirport was key in ATA’sdecision to invest in the$110 million trainingfacility that will stimulate

Two buildings, erected inthe 1960s, were demol-ished for the constructionof the new facilities. Theproperty has been under-going environmentalremediation. Thisincludes removal of sever-al underground storagetanks and treatment forcontaminated soil. Most ofthe cleanup expenses havebeen paid by the site’s for-mer owner and by theDepartment of Defense,which years ago oversaw amilitary aircraft enginemanufacturing operation

the economy on thesouthwest side of Chicagoand result in approximate-ly 2,000 new jobs withinfour years of the occupan-cy of the training center.As a result of this project,an additional 2,500 jobswill be retained withinthe City of Chicago.

ATA'S CHICAGO AIRLINE TRAINING CENTER: Landing Confidence72nd Street & Kostner Ave. / 7101 S. Cicero Ave.

What was once a 26-acre trucking facility near MidwayAirport will become an 188,000 square-foot training andoperations facility that will house several Boeing 737Next Generation Flight Simulators and a Boeing 757 FullFlight Simulator. The new complex, developed by ATA,will include a hotel and restaurant, aircraft-cabin simula-tors, a water-safety training pool, crew-trainer administra-tion space, and state-of-the-art training devices for pilots,flight attendants, maintenance, line, and customer servicepersonnel — all of this on a former brownfield.

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TOTAL AREA(Acres)

$110 Million

INVESTMENT INNEW FACIL ITY

more than 10 USTs

CONTAMINANTSREMOVED

JOBSCREATED

2,000

JOBSRETAINED

2,500

ATA

Underground storage tank being removed from siteAbove right: The new ATA training center will inject new lifeinto the area

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INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS LOCAL 399:Organizing Rebirth2242 S. Grove Street

The future headquarters and state-of-the-art training facility for the International Union of Operating Engineers,Local 399, will rise from what had been a large industrialprinting plant. Union members, primarily operating andstationary engineers responsible for building operationsand maintenance, will occupy the new facility on the siteof the City of Chicago’s first building implosion.

Located within the PilsenIndustrial Corridor andalong the Chicago River,the six-acre site was hometo a wholesale groceryand also a stone cuttingoperation around the turnof the previous century,but for 50 years, until1977, this was the site ofCuneo Press. When thecompany closed, the facil-ities were abandoned, andin the ensuing years, thebuildings, full of debris,sustained heavy fire andwater damage. The sitehad become an illegalwaste dump and thebuildings’ crumblingfaçade became both aneyesore and a danger to

the industrial communitysurrounding the property. Environmental assess-ments determined a hostof contaminants on site,some hazardous, somenot. The hazardousmaterials, which includeda portion of the propertycontaminated withradioactive waste, wereremoved with the assis-tance of the U.S. ArmyCorps of Engineers at acost of $1,030,000. TheCity prepared for the nextstep in clearing the prop-erty of the buildings that remained.

Rather than standarddemolition, a costly and

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TOTAL AREA(Acres)

Debris, radioactive soil,USTs and 2,990 tonsof contaminated soil

CONTAMINANTSREMOVED

$1,030,000

REMEDIATION COST (Not Inc luding Demol i t ion)

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JOBSCREATED

Operating Engineer Headquarters Local 399

Chicago’s first building implosionAbove right: Site before cleanup

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Construction on the $4million, 30,000 square-foot Operator’s Uniontraining facilities willbegin in the summer of2003. Six classrooms,office and lab space areplanned and the site willhave parking for 300 stu-dents. It is expected thatas many as 3,500 studentsof building trades willreceive training at thefacility each year. Forbusinesses in nearbyChinatown, it will be apositive development.

time consuming process,the buildings were candi-dates for implosion,essentially collapsing thebuildings onto their ownfootprints. In 1995 thebuildings were safely andefficiently demolished inan implosion that lastedless than 10 seconds at acost of $1.364 million.

In redeveloping the prop-erty, the City replacedand rebuilt the property’sinfrastructure includingwater, sewer, power and

storm water management.It also constructed a newroad and relocated therailroad tracks that cutthrough the site.

The Army Corps ofEngineers also partneredwith the City to recon-struct the retaining wallat the shoreline along theriver, replacing 300 feet ofdeteriorated wooden pil-ings to stabilize the areaalong the water’s edgeand create open spacewith plants and bushes.

Work has begun at the International Union of Operating Engineers’ site

Future headquarters of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 399

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SOUTH CHICAGO AND SOUTH WORKS: The Road to Development: From U.S. Steel to Solo Cup3333 E. 87th Street

When a steel manufacturing facility on Chicago’s lakefrontbegan to phase out operations in the 1970s and 1980s,the job loss to the local community was devastating.Encompassing an area bigger than downtown Chicago,the 573 acres where U.S. Steel stood is the largest vacantsite within City limits. Its three miles of Lake Michiganshoreline, rail lines in and out, as well as its prime dockingspace, make it one of the most appealing developmentopportunities in the country.

The site is now clear of all production facilities, but thefoundations of more than 100 structures remain justbeneath the surface, and an immense set of ore storagewalls remains. U.S. Steel voluntarily completed cleanupof the site between 1992 and 1997, and the IEPA hasdetermined that the site is remediated to residentialstandards, meeting the needs of the industrial property

Lake view of former U.S. Steel site

573

TOTAL AREA(Acres)

$143 Million

INFRASTRUCTURECOST

550

JOBSCREATED

450

JOBSRETAINED

South Chicago and South Works

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as well. The entire sitehas been issued a NFRletter from the IEPA.

The City of Chicago hasbeen very creative inredeveloping this propertyand leveraging financingdollars. The Army Corpsof Engineers traded a par-cel of land to the City inexchange for a parcel thatthe Corps could use as astonedock for large stonesneeded in lakefront stabi-lization efforts along LakeMichigan. The original

Army Corps parcel willnow become a part of thePhase I Lakefront Parkdevelopment. The entireLakefront Park will con-sist of 100 acres of theformer U. S. Steel site.

The exchange requiredthe City to clean up theArmy Corps’ parcel, whilethe Army Corps commit-ted to building a road toserve their new dockingarea.

Now the City is workingclosely with Solo CupCorporation to redevelopthis site for a major man-ufacturing and distribu-tion facility, which con-solidates three existingSolo Cup plants at thenew lakefront site. Thisnew development willretain 450 existing jobsand create 550 new jobs

at this location.The City designated the119 acres purchased bySolo Cup as a TIF districtand created a secondadjacent TIF district forthe betterment of the sur-rounding neighborhood.

The Department ofPlanning andDevelopment along withthe Chicago Park Districtwill be working with cur-rent and future develop-ers on site to develop theentire lakefront park as amajor public benefit tothe community.

New roads are also beingdeveloped as part of theredevelopment strategy ofthe U.S. Steel site. 87thStreet has been extendedon site to reach the lake-front park parcels,Avenue O and HarborDrive have been rebuiltas industrial access roadsto serve the Solo Cuptruck traffic, and newramps on the ChicagoSkyway at 92nd St. pro-vide better access to thesite and to the communi-ty overall. The most visi-ble road improvementwill be the relocation ofU.S. Route 41. The route

currently travels souththrough a very active resi-dential community. Therelocation of the route at79th Street onto the U.S.Steel site will provide aboulevard style roadwaythrough the site and willcreate access on the

Prime docking space at the former U.S. Steel site

north that has neverexisted at this location.

The total cost of this public infrastructure willbe approximately $143 million.

The notion of leveraging private sectorcapital with public infrastructureinvestment is a win-win situation forthe community, the employers, theemployees, and the City.”

– Carolyn D. NordstromPresident of Chicago United

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Former Ingersoll Products office building on 120th St. in the West Pullman Business Park

This 200-acre site has a his-tory of industrial use datingback to the 1850s. Thedecentralization of industryand disinvestment hasresulted in vacant land,vacant or underutilizedbuildings and deterioratedpublic infrastructure, contributing to the environ-mental contamination.

The City's effort in the area,beginning in 1996, hasincluded several thousandtons of soil remediation andthe demolition of a numberof major building complexes,covering approximately 70

acres, at a cost of approxi-mately $5 million. In addi-tion, the city did a marketstudy of the area, andobtained designations forTIF District, RedevelopmentProject Area, and IllinoisEnterprise Zone, togetherwith $20 million in HUDSection 108 Loan funds forland acquisition, environ-mental testing and remedia-tion, and infrastructureimprovements.

To date the City hasacquired 85 acres of landand is currently processingand evaluating proposals forthe industrial developmentof an additional 53 acres. Inaddition, the City has com-pleted the reconstruction of

WEST PULLMAN BUSINESS PARK:From Blight to Opportunity120th and South Halsted Street Area

The West Pullman Business Park, located 15 miles southof Chicago's central business district, is currently beingdeveloped as an accessible, secure and attractive location for industrial and related business investment.

200

TOTAL AREA(Acres)

$7 Million

INFRASTRUCTURECOST

$5 Million

REMEDIATIONCOST

JOBSCREATED

105

JOBSRETAINED

40

West Pullman Business Park

2 miles of roadway, includ-ing the replacement andupgrade of water and sewerlines, new street lights, side-walks and trees at a cost of$7 million. A Chicago busi-ness will build and relocateinto a new facility on a 9-acre site in West Pullman,retaining 40 jobs and creat-ing 105 jobs in the process.

The City is in the process ofenrolling the properties itowns into the IEPA SiteRemediation Program. Todate the City has receivedan NFR letter for one prop-erty and has draft NFR let-ters pending for two other sites.

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Brownfields are as much a real estate transaction and economic development issue as they are an environmental issue.”

– William J. TrumbullDeputy Commissioner, City of Chicago, Department of Planning and Development

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ing parcels, and eventual-ly transferred the propertyback to LCDC for $1.

"This is a great story ofCity departments workingtogether and with publicand private entities," said

Development Corporation(LCDC), a communityorganization focused oneconomic developmentand housing improvementin the North Lawndalearea, had plans for achildcare center, but itsvacant land was presum-ably contaminated.

The LCDC teamed withIllinois Facilities Fund(IFF), a not-for-profitorganization that offeredfinancing and technicalexpertise and the CaroleRobertson Center, a not-for-profit social servicesagency.

Together, they approachedthe City with plans forthe Center to be built onLCDC’s brownfield prop-erty. The City embracedthe opportunity. The Cityacquired the LCDC sites,along with several adjoin-

NEIGHBORHOOD REVITALIZATION CHICAGO: C ITY o f RENEWALChicago’s revitalization efforts have been especially successful in reinvigorating neighborhoods and restoring once thriving communities. Even rundownresidential areas surrounding commercial and industrial districts are being transformed into desirable housing that is safe, affordable, and close toshopping, entertainment, transportation and workplaces.

The winner is the NorthLawndale community,and the prize is theJubilee Family ResourceCenter/Carole RobertsonCenter for Learning. Ona former one-acre brown-field stands a 20,000square-foot childcare cen-ter. Thirty-eight new jobswere created at theCenter, which providesfull day/full year childcare, and Head Start,Infant Toddler, and YouthAlternatives programs toover 200 children.

In the mid 1990s, theLawndale Christian

One

TOTAL AREA(Acres)

2 USTs, 3,700 tons of soil and 22 hydraulic

lifts removed

REMEDIATION

$238,244

REMEDIATIONCOST

38 Employees Serving

200 Children

JOBSCREATED

Jubilee Family Resource Center/Carole Robertson Center for Learning

JUBILEE FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER/CAROLE ROBERTSON CENTER FORLEARNING: Creating a Brighter Future3701 W. Ogden Avenue

First came a priority; then a partnership and a plan.Next was process — practiced and repeatable — allleading to the prize.

Two of the 200 children being served at the Carole Robertson Center for Learning with their mother

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The community providedfeedback on redevelop-ment plans and the facili-ty itself. The facility’sprograms address neigh-borhood needs, whichinclude those of Latinoand African-Americanfamilies.

The initial funding wasleveraged to secure $1.5million in EmpowermentZone funding; a $653,000commercial bank loan; a$550,000 IFF loan; a$326,000 Department ofHousing no interest loan;a $315,000 Departmentof Human Services grant;and the rest through IFFfundraising efforts.

Gabriella Defilipio, proj-ect manager, IllinoisFacilities Fund. "TheDepartment of Planningand Development con-tributed cleanup funding,and the Department ofEnvironment (DOE) didthe initial environmentalassessment with EPAShowcase Funds andmanaged the entire reme-diation process. TheDOE helped map out astrategy and a timelinethat unfolded exactly asthey said — these are thebenefits of working withexperts."

The environmentalassessments on the prop-erty that was once thesite of an auto repair shop

pointed to soil and possi-ble groundwater contami-nation from undergroundstorage tanks. Whenremediation began, whatwas thought to be sixhydraulic lifts turned outto be 22, and there weretwo underground storagetanks, not one. The Cityspent $238,244 on reme-diation activities, includ-ing excavating andremoving 3,700 tons ofcontaminated soil. Therest of redevelopmentcost $3.7 million.

The City of Chicagoworked hand in handwith the partners, helpingthem work throughIEPA’s Site RemediationProgram and cleanup

processes, including theconcept of engineeredbarriers. They demon-strated to the organiza-tions as well as the keyfinancier of the redevel-opment that they couldclose on the loan with theplan in place but beforehaving the IEPA NoFurther Remediation let-ter in hand.

This first brownfieldundertaking was a learn-ing process, certainly, butthe IFF has since com-pleted two more, one inChicago and one in westsuburban Elgin, each easi-er than the previous one.

The City hopes the suc-cess of this project willspur other communitygroups and not-for-profitorganizations to look tobrownfield redevelopment.

We a r e impr e s s ed w i th t h e C i t y o f Ch i cago ’ s c ommi tmen t t o b r own f i e l d s r ed eve l opmen tand i t s u s e o f i nnova t i v e and coope ra t i v e app roache s w i th o t h e r i n s t i t u t i on s , ag enc i e sand c ommun i t i e s .”— Edward Mensah, Ph.D., Health Economics and Information Management, University of Illinois at Chicago

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Being marketed as "AProud Past. A BrightFuture," the ColumbiaPointe Housing project isthe result of four neigh-borhood organizationscoming together to builda place to live for localneighbors in need of ahome. The first phase ofconstruction of 32 units isalmost complete, and thehouses are already beingsold. Phase Two willbegin soon and will see 27homes constructed.

The City of Chicago hasinvested close to$480,000 to research andremedy the environmen-

tal damage in the site.Approximately 245 tonsof lead-impacted soil andan underground, 1500-gallon heating oil tankwere removed from thesite of what had been alaundromat, hardwarestore, public library, andother commercial shops.An additional 2,000 tonsof soil with a high level ofchemicals typically foundin the Chicago area

COLUMBIA POINTE:A Proud Past. A Bright Future63rd and Woodlawn Avenue

On a warm afternoon, yellow daffodils at ground levelare complemented by yellow hard hats at roof level as agroup of construction workers busily shingle a row of just-built houses along 63rd Street. (polynuclear aromatic

hydrocarbon compounds,or PNAs) were removedbefore plans for develop-ment could commence.

Today the smell of freshwood and paint is in theair around the newhomes. What once was aneglected commercialproperty, long vacant andan eyesore, has blossomedwith the community.

5.5

TOTAL AREA(Acres)

59

FAMIL IES INNEW HOMES

2,245 tons of contaminated soil and an underground,

1500 - gallon tank removed

REMEDIATION

$480,000

REMEDIATIONCOST

Columbia Pointe

View of 63rd Street at Columbia Pointe; Bottom: Theodore Baughn and Kendall Cunningham, new residents of Columbia Pointe

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PARNELL PLACE/SAFE HOMES FOR KIDS:Embracing Chicago's Children76th and Parnell

This abandoned, blighted property sat mostly vacant andin poor condition for years. The site has been used forindustrial and commercial purposes since before 1895.Historical operations included a carriage and automobilemanufacturer and warehouse, and a painting and metalrefinishing company. The site was contaminated by chem-icals associated with these historical activities. But uponthis site, the City is creating a community, and it will be ajewel when completed.

Never before residential,yet located within a lowdensity residential neigh-borhood, the seven-acreproperty called ParnellPlace is the site of new,affordable homes for com-munity residents, them-selves first time homebuyers. The New Homesfor Chicago program pro-vides ownership opportu-nities for Chicagoans withmoderately-priced, owner-occupied one and twofamily homes. Whencompleted, six single-family and 18 two-flathomes will be available.

The new community willalso embrace theChicago's Safe Homes forKids program. This pro-gram is an innovativeeffort to keep siblingstogether with a fosterfamily in a single family asopposed to living in grouphomes or being placed

with different families.At Parnell Place, 12 singlefamily foster care homesand four two-flats will bemixed in the larger devel-opment of single familyhomes, giving foster fami-lies a greater sense of com-munity. S.O.S. Children'sVillage, a Nobel Prize -nominated not-for-profitgroup, will provide long-term management andsupport services for thefamilies in the SafeHomes for Kids program.

In a monumental effortassisted by numerous Citydepartments, the projectmoved remarkably quickly— less than a year to takethe project from planningto reality. The depart-ments found creativesolutions to a variety ofredevelopment issues.

This project is a wonder-ful example of local, state

7

TOTAL AREA(Acres)

42

FAMIL IES INNEW HOMES

2,300 tons ofcontaminated soil

removed

REMEDIATION

$8,240,000

CONSTRUCTIONCOST

Parnell Place/Safe Homes for Kids

Neighbors welcome similar new construction in the area

non-commercial property.Parnell Place will alsohave a community centerthat could provide daycare, after-school pro-gramming, education andfamily oriented activitiesto the greater community.

Infrastructure workonthesite will begin in thesummer of 2003 andhome construction willbegin in the fall. Familieswill take ownership thefollowing spring. Thedevelopment will be completed in the springof 2005.

and federal agenciesworking together. TheU.S. EPA EmergencyResponse Section playedan important role duringthe investigation processby evaluating (and subse-quently removing)approximately 15 drumsleft on site in a previouslyheavily wooded area. Inaddition, they aided inthe remediation processto remove 2,300 tons ofhazardous lead-contami-nated soil from the site.At the state level, theIEPA is working in tan-dem with City depart-ments on the voluntary

Site RemediationProgram, ensuring appro-priate completion of theproject timelines.

Because the City hadcompleted the environ-mental investigation onthe north portion of theproperty, it applied forNFR status for that por-tion first. This was animportant decisionbecause it resulted in theability to speed the con-struction process byalmost five months. Thedecision made sense sincethe south portion of thesite was designated for

open green space andwould contain almost noinfrastructure with theexception of a very smallportion of the site.

As part of the site's reme-dial approach, a three-foot barrier is beinginstalled to eliminateexposure to contaminatedsoil, which is allowed toremain on-site. Since thesite lacked water andsewer lines, this engi-neered barrier hasreduced the time andresources that would beexpended on excavatingfor the infrastructure, asit will be installed aboveground and subsequentlycovered by the barrier.The fact that the contam-inated soil will stay onsite also reduces the over-all redevelopment cost ofthe site, since there areno expenditures for exca-vation, transportationand disposal.

Clearly, the community isthe largest stakeholder inthis redevelopment.Neighbors are enthusias-tic that the site is beingreturned as a useful and

It gives me enormous pride, having beenraised in this neighborhood, gone to college and come back, to contribute tothe development of the area. By doingbusiness with my company the City hasgiven me a golden opportunity to helprebuild the community and hire workersfrom the area.”

– Cortez A. CarterManaging Member, Quest Development, LLC

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Cortez A. Carter, Managing Member, Quest Development, LLC

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BRONZEVILLE:A Neighborhood Reborn707-755 East 40th Street

Forty years ago, M.C. Johnson came to Chicago fromMississippi and lived in Bronzeville, an African-Americancommunity known for its rich culture. Years later, Johnson,like many others, left the neighborhood due to its stagna-tion and lack of reinvestment.

Today, Johnson, a retiredteacher, and his wife andthree children make theirhome in Bronzevilleagain. For the last fortyyears, Mr. Johnson livedin different parts of theCity and today he ishappy to return to thisneighborhood. Of the 33families who will reside inthis development, 16 for-merly lived in Bronzeville.The new construction isbacked by the GenesisHousing DevelopingCorporation (GHDC).

A faith-based organiza-tion, GHDC is composed

of the Holy Angels andSt. Elizabeth CatholicChurches, St. JamesUnited Methodist Churchand Blackwell AME ZionChurch. Holy AngelsChurch and its school,which Marence, Mr.Johnson’s 12-year old sonattends, is right across thestreet from their house.

Rev. Robert Miller,GHDC’s Chairman of theBoard, and DonnieBrown, its ExecutiveDirector, are well knownin their community fortheir dedication to build-ing affordable housing for

local residents. Theorganization also providesjob training and financialliteracy seminars.

"Developing thesebrownfields is a greatidea," says 4th WardAlderman ToniPreckwinkle from herbusy office on 47thStreet. "It providesresources for unproduc-tive land like this lot thathad been vacant for anumber of years." TheCity of Chicago investedapproximately $264,000to remove 5,900 tons ofsoil from the site that had

been contaminated witharsenic and other danger-ous chemicals. Becausethe redevelopment will bea residential community,additional cleanup activi-ties were required.Housing constructionbegan once the NFR let-ter was received.

These homes are also partof the City’s New Homesfor Chicago Program.The development has 27homes, of which 21 aresingle-family houses andsix are two-flat buildings.

1.5

TOTAL AREA(Acres)

33

FAMIL IES INNEW HOMES

5,900 tons ofcontaminated soil

removed

REMEDIATION

$264,000

REMEDIATIONCOST

707-755 East 40th Street

33 families will live in this new development on 40th Street

MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAMSAND PARTNERSHIPS Participation and collaborationfrom a variety of City depart-ments is a crucial success factor.Brownfield redevelopmentinvolves difficult real estate trans-actions and economic develop-

INTERNATIONAL AMPHITHEATERA Place of Nostalgia4160-4244 South Halsted

The City acquired this 12-acre site in 1999 and demol-ished the deteriorated International Amphitheater in 2000.The site is located within Chicago’s famous Stockyards,now an industrial corridor. The International Amphitheaterhosted the 1968 Democratic National Convention, and theBeatles once played there. The International Amphitheaterwas a place of nostalgia and history.

BROWNFIELD FORUMEarly on, with the financial sup-port of the MacArthurFoundation, Chicago convened atask force, The BrownfieldsForum, to review the public andprivate policy process and out-line the barriers to brownfield

development. The Forum wascomprised of more than 100 rep-resentatives from government,business, finance, environmental,community and civic organiza-tions. The group made morethan 50 recommendations forimprovement, many of which

have been implemented by theCity of Chicago and other partic-ipating departments and agen-cies and incorporated in the con-cept of the voluntary IEPAcleanup program as well.

STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS CHICAGO: C ITY o f OPPORTUNITY

Lessons LearnedWith nearly 50 sites under development at any given time, the experience and insights gained from theCity of Chicago Brownfields Initiative is invaluable to cities and municipalities with brownfield redevelop-ment programs. The following are key elements Chicago has used in mastering the program.

Today, it’s a place ofopportunity where 90new jobs will be createdand 217 jobs will beretained. This site is thefuture home of Aramark,a company that will builda 125,000 square footmanufacturing and ware-house facility. This rede- Construction has begun at the new Aramark manufacturing facility

Architectural rendering of the new Aramark facility

ment issues as well as addressingenvironmental concerns.Successful projects require multi-ple resources from a range ofparticipating City departments.Additionally, the City has fos-tered partnerships with state andfederal agencies including theIEPA and U.S. EPA, Army Corpsof Engineers, the GeneralServices Administration, theDepartments of Commerce,Defense, Health and HumanServices, Justice, and Labor,

NOAA, and USDA, as well asChicagoland YMCA, TheUniversity of Chicago and TheUniversity of Illinois.

COMMUNITYINVOLVEMENTCommunity support and involve-ment are vital to the success ofongoing brownfield redevelop-ment. Communities are identify-ing brownfield sites as well aspotential development activities.

"The City encourages communi-ties to advise and comment onthese local issues," said 10thWard Alderman John Pope."We’ve had the most success inpartnering, truly working as ateam, with the property owner,developer, and representativesfrom the City. Redevelopmentplans need to benefit everyone,so it becomes imperative that thepeople who will be directlyaffected are involved. Thismeans residents, the local labor

THE CHICAGO JOB CORPS CENTERDeveloping Skilled Workers3350 S. Kedzie Avenue

The Chicago Job Corps Center, a job training facilityand residence, sits upon this 17.5-acre campus, once aparcel of undeveloped but contaminated land along theChicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. A $2 million publicinvestment by the City of Chicago led to a $25 millionvocational school built by the U.S. Department ofLabor, which runs the Job Corps facility.

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Continued on page 24 >

A partnership between the City of Chicago and the U.S. Department of Labor led to the creation of the Chicago Job Corps Center

force, store owners, schools,every voice that makes up aneighborhood."

Another example of communityinvolvement is Local IndustrialRetention Initiative (LIRI) organi-zations. They are communitydevelopment professionals work-ing across the City in close col-laboration with manufacturingcompanies and the City to pre-pare specific improvement plans.

velopment is an exampleof how environmentalinsurance is being appliedto brownfield sites to easethe uncertainty of theremediation and revital-ization process. The sitehad a transformer thatwas leaking oil and 520linear feet of asbestos-containing pipes. Underthe environmental insur-ance policy, the companywill pay the first $500,000for the cleanup, the Citywill pay anything above

that up to $1,500,000 andthe insurance will coverthe remediation costs inexcess of this amount.Aramark chose the siteover two others in theregion and will work withlocal schools and theChicago Park District toimprove the area.

ENVIRONMENTALINSURANCEThis is a new tool that principallybenefits the private sector — theCity has never bought it, but somedeals have hinged on it. Theinsurance protects in two ways,offering a cost cap if cleanupexceeds estimates, and offeringprotection against unexpectedconditions — if an undergroundstorage tank is found where itwasn’t expected, for example.

Environmental insurance isanother tool that makes theseprojects more certain by helpinga developer better quantify costs,as was the case with theCalifornia Avenue Business Parkdevelopment. And although noEPA Showcase funds were spenton The InternationalAmphitheater/Aramark site,development was contingentupon the availability of environ-mental insurance.

FINANCINGChicago has taken on someambitious brownfield projectsand some ambitious financing,notably the $50 million HUDSection 108 loan. Borrowingagainst development can be abigger financial risk than theenvironmental one. The clockimmediately starts ticking on thetime to develop and create jobs,generate property tax, and repaythe loans. Indeed, some siteshave big risk profiles, but theCity views these cleanup anddevelopment efforts as the rightthing to do. Following Chicago’slead, other cities have exploredthe use of HUD Section 108 LoanGuarantees to fund brownfieldprojects or restore wetlands andecosystems adjacent to brown-field sites.

Brownfield developers can takeadvantage of a number of incen-tives enacted to reduce the finan-cial burden of remediation andredevelopment:

Property Tax Abatements. TheCity's assertive use of targetedproperty tax abatements hasallowed developers to financedeals that otherwise would havebeen cost-prohibitive.

Federal Tax Initiative. TheFederal Tax Initiative is a deduc-tion against taxable incomeapplicable to remediation costs.

Illinois Tax Incentive. The IllinoisTax Incentive is a transferable taxcredit of 25 percent against eligi-ble remediation costs.

Cook County Property TaxIncentive. Cook County has aproperty tax incentive thatreduces the assessment rates ofbrownfield redevelopment to 16percent of the market value forup to five years resulting in a 55percent annual tax savings. Thiscounty incentive can be extendedfor an additional 10-year periodif combined with other programs.

Tax Increment Financing (TIF).TIF is a method of funding publicand private investment in blight-ed areas in need of municipalintervention. In order to stimu-late new development in theseareas, TIF allows for the capture(for a period of 23 years) of allnew tax increment revenues gen-erated by that new developmentto fund public improvements orto repay, over time, the munici-pal commitment made to privatedevelopments.

As new private investments addnew tax increment to the area,these revenues are placed in aspecial fund that can only beused for public and private pur-poses as permitted by the TIF Act(State legislation). TIF is a toolmunicipalities can use to gener-ate new private investment inareas where it would not likelyoccur in the current marketplace.TIF does not, as a direct result ofthis new private investment, raisethe taxes of other adjacent prop-erties as a result.

< Lessons Learned: Continued from page 23 Strategies for Success

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LEGISLATIONChicago’s experience has had adirect impact on legislation: stateand local laws and economicincentives have been developedto encourage brownfield redevel-opment. For example, environ-mental, water and demolition lienstatutes are used in judicial sales,and the City’s eminent domainreform, used in the majority ofnegotiated sales, makes siteacquisition less difficult.

A 1995 state law that changesliability standards for redevelop-ing Illinois' contaminated siteshas sparked developers’ interestin brownfields. The law limitstheir liability for pollution theydid not cause.

The role of local officials is alsoimportant in the redeveloping ofsites. Aldermen contribute tochanges in legislation for theacquisition authority of theparcels. They also help with thecreation of new zoning and,

oftentimes, with the designationof developers and the negotiationof contracts for development.

Contracts between the City ofChicago and developers alwayscontain "clawback" provisions —contingency clauses under whichthe entity developing the landmay not back out of the dealunless it compensates the City forthe expenses made to accommo-date its needs. These provisionshave teeth to hold companies,developers and the City account-able to one another.

PRIORITIZATION OF SITESCities must prioritize which sitesto proceed with based on a num-ber of factors, including ease ofacquisition, availability of fund-ing, complexity of cleanup, rede-velopment potential and timing.Of course, a major considerationis the contamination itself —depending on the type of con-tamination, the environmentalcondition of a site often worsensover time.

SIMULTANEOUSENVIRONMENTALASSESSMENTS Chicago’s large brownfield port-folio didn’t limit its developmentprogress. By conducting initialenvironmental assessments simul-taneously on numerous sites, theCity quickly had an overall viewof sites that would require furtheraction. This method also allowedfor assessment of the scale ofcontamination in numerous sites.As a result, the sites that didn’trequire cleaning could moveright from assessment to develop-ment. The benefit of such amethod is that while some proj-ects had to follow the establishedpace of sampling, risk assess-ments and remediation, otherscould fast-track to marketing andredevelopment.

COORDINATED, INNOVATIVE CLEANUP TECHNOLOGIESLike most cities, Chicago employsthe standard cleanup methods ofexcavation, landfilling and cap-ping. Through the matching ofremediation to industrial usestandards and the use of engi-neered barriers and institutionalcontrols which direct the redevel-opment restrictions the Cityplaces on a site, cleanup costsare minimized. In addition, theCity has explored a number ofnew technologies including in-place oxidation, bioremediationand phyto-remediation. Thesemethods take longer, so they arenot always practical, but they areless costly.

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The BrownfieldsInitiative’s next steps areto increase the effective-ness of land use; toencourage our communi-ties to take an active role,becoming even moreinvolved in revitalizingtheir neighborhoods; andto attract more develop-ers to see what investingin the future is all about.

Chicago is on its way tobecoming the greenestcity in the nation. This

means a constant renewalof its land and resources.Every dollar going into abrownfield site is aninvestment that will bringa return not only of morejobs, neighborhood revi-talization and increasedtax revenue, but of amore livable city with abrighter future as well.

THE FUTURE OF BROWNFIELDSThe return on our efforts and investments in Chicago canbe measured not only in dollars, but also in the pride,confidence and spirit of its residents. The ChicagoBrownfields Program is an investment that will continue tocontribute toward making this beautiful place the City ofyet another century.

The City of Chicago has led the brownfield movement byexample. In 2000, Mayor Richard M. Daley, whilePresident of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, made brown-fields a national priority. The innovations and successesdeveloped here can be transferred to other cities ormunicipalities.

Future site of the California Avenue Business Park

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

The Chicago Brownfields Initiative report was producedthanks to the support of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Thanks also to the City of Chicago Departments ofEnvironment, Planning and Development, Housing, Law, andAviation; and to all the other brownfield redevelopmentstakeholders — Aldermen, construction companies, personnelfrom corporations mentioned here, community organizationsrepresentatives and City residents — who took the time tocontribute to this report.

This report was prepared by Cultural Communications, LLCGraphic Design: www.wmdesigngroup.comPhotography: Ted Lacey Photography

July, 2003

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