Brownfield Listings is an online marketplace that lists contaminated or underutilized real estate properties ("brownfields") to facilitate redevelopment. It addresses the lack of a comprehensive database for buyers, developers, and other stakeholders to search for brownfield properties and access key information. The site connects property owners, purchasers, professionals and allows them to create profiles, list properties, search for matches, and share information. This increased access and transparency helps revitalize challenging brownfield sites, especially in small and rural communities that previously struggled to attract interest and complete redevelopments.
1. Reproduced with permission from Daily Environment Report,
200 DEN B-1, 10/16/15. Copyright 2015 by The Bureau of
National Affairs, Inc. (800-372-1033) http://www.bna.com
Brownfields
Online Marketplace Offers Brownfield
Real Estate Search, Information
A
lthough some states maintain databases of regu-
lated and contaminated properties, buyers and de-
velopers evaluating that real estate still have to be
able to find that information and conduct more research
themselves, a brownfields industry expert told
Bloomberg BNA.
Aside from a few ad hoc surveys and efforts by some
cities, however, there is no comprehensive database to
search and evaluate vacant, abandoned and underuti-
lized real estate, said Dan French, founder and chief ex-
ecutive officer of Brownfield Listings, an online redevel-
opment marketplace dedicated to real estate reuse.
Unprecedented Access to Data. The new website
streamlines that process and opens this market by of-
fering a platform where relevant stakeholders can con-
nect, French said.
French, a former corporate attorney with experience
in environmental due diligence, launched the site in
July. ‘‘We realized there was no real redevelopment
channel, nothing to serve the brownfield real estate eco-
system as a whole. So, we built an off-the-shelf tool that
was available to everyone,’’ he said.
Brownfield Listings fixes a broken brownfields mar-
ket by flattening the brownfield information silos and
providing a marketplace available to all interested par-
ties.
French said he hopes the platform serves as ‘‘the me-
dium between the property owners, the purchasers,
professionals and all potential parties to a deal.’’
The online marketplace connects all sides of a deal
and gives profiles to cities, vendors and service provid-
ers. Anyone can log on, join for free and create a profile
to broadcast what it is they are looking for.
‘‘Markets trade on information, and the redevelop-
ment marketplace is starving for information,’’ French
said. ‘‘Brownfield Listings offers that. If we can lead
with substance, we can accelerate the market and reach
a much wider audience of interested parties.’’
The concept is simple, according to French. Listers of
brownfield properties upload content onto their mar-
ketplace profile—property specifications; licenses or
certifications; completed RFPs, Phase I or Phase II data;
and any other information that may be useful to other
redevelopment parties.
Brownfield Listings serves as a virtual data room,
housing all the information parties involved in brown-
field property transactions and redevelopment may
need.
Those interested in redeveloping a site can use tags
to narrow down the specific types of property or spe-
cific property conditions they’re looking for: multi-
modal, brightfields, greenfields and many more.
Similarly, redevelopers or experts in the brownfield
property market also can use skill tags to highlight dif-
ferent work they’ve done or properties with which they
are familiar.
Buyers are able to search for listers and listers can
search for buyers or redevelopers. Any party can com-
ment and post on projects, as well as create their own
pages.
Properties With ‘Extra Wrinkles.’ ‘‘We’re trying to
front-load the environmental due diligence, streamlin-
ing the process by making sure parties owning brown-
field property get real looks from buyers that know the
specific condition of the site and what’s been done so
far,’’ French said.
‘‘Brownfields is a subsector of real estate that moves
a little differently,’’ he added. ‘‘There are always extra
concerns when dealing with these old properties, al-
ways some extra wrinkles.’’
Brownfield Listings serves as a ‘‘market for misfits’’
that focuses entirely on getting to the transaction and
connecting all sides of the redevelopment market.
Howardville, Mo., is one of those ‘‘misfits’’ served by
Brownfield Listings, Vannessa Frazier, executive direc-
COPYRIGHT 2015 BY THE BUREAU OF NATIONAL AFFAIRS, INC. ISSN 1060-2976
Daily Environment
Report™
2. tor of Howardville Community Betterment, told
Bloomberg BNA.
A tiny rural town (population 383) located in the
bootheel of Missouri, Howardville was devastated by an
ice storm, and community leaders rapidly realized they
had nowhere to house residents in the event of another
emergency.
Frazier proposed a novel solution: Redevelop an old
school in Howardville into a community center.
‘‘The storm and its effects really kick-started interest
in redeveloping the school for community use,’’ Frazier
said. She immediately encountered difficulties with the
property, however.
The school, built in 1958 but abandoned for decades,
was contaminated with mold, suspected asbestos-
containing materials and suspected lead-based paint.
The city previously had considered tearing down the
school and renovating the site, but further investigation
revealed that demolition would cost more than remedia-
tion and redevelopment.
Realizing the city couldn’t tackle such an immense
undertaking on its own, Frazier led an effort to obtain
an Environmental Protection Agency brownfields grant.
Her efforts resulted in a $200,000 grant from the EPA to
remediate and redevelop the school.
Little did Frazier realize, the real battle had just be-
gun.
Struggling for Exposure. As Frazier learned, smaller
rural communities often find it difficult to get on the
brownfields radar.
Adding to the complications was the fact that the
property itself wasn’t for sale. The original owner of the
land bought the lot specifically to build a school; when
it was deeded to the city of Howardville, the citizens
owned the property in perpetuity under the stipulation
that the land never be sold.
‘‘We sent out [a request for proposal] three times and
got zero proposals,’’ Frazier said.
She found the hardest part was simply getting in con-
tact with other professionals in the redevelopment field.
‘‘It’s usually easy for smaller communities to reach out
but hard for other people to reach in,’’ Frazier said.
‘‘What we needed was exposure,’’ she said—a tool
that could help tell Howardville’s story and attract inter-
est. She needed a forum where property redevelopment
professionals from all sides could interact.
While preparing to participate in a deal room presen-
tation at the 2015 Brownfields Conference in Chicago,
Frazier met French, a fellow panelist, who introduced
her to Brownfield Listings.
Thus far, the results have been promising.
‘Gold Mine’ for Rural Communities. Since being listed
on the website and featured as a spotlight project,
‘‘we’ve gotten so much interest from developers all over
the nation. They’re excited about the project and have
offered all kinds of resources,’’ Frazier said.
The Howardville school site has since received six re-
sponses to its most recent RFP. ‘‘Now we’re moving to-
ward developing a rural community with an urban de-
sign,’’ Frazier said.
‘‘Brownfield Listings is a gold mine for struggling ru-
ral communities like ours all over the country—to me,
this project, a pilot for our area, is a testimony for rural
communities that are struggling,’’ she added.
Those smaller communities were a major focus of
building the site, French said. ‘‘Working on the second-
ary and tertiary markets was very important to us,’’ he
said.
Sites not located in a major market (i.e., the majority
of brownfield sites) often struggle to receive the expo-
sure and funding necessary to remediate and redevelop.
‘‘But they’re the ones that really need that redevelop-
ment and economic input,’’ French said.
Brownfield Listings makes that marketplace avail-
able for free to all entities, especially those who often
find themselves locked out of the traditional real estate
channels.
‘‘We’re really working on developing and reanimat-
ing the smaller markets that might not have received
national interest before Brownfield Listings,’’ French
said.
‘Brownfields 2.0.’ Frazier remains amazed at the
amount of publicity they have generated for the How-
ardville site directly because of Brownfield Listings.
‘‘Now, we’ve established a dedicated checking ac-
count for redevelopment of the site, we’ve being seen
all over the country, and work is ongoing,’’ she said.
‘‘Brownfield Listings gave us the exposure we needed
as a small, rural community and has connected us with
all kinds of partners who really do want to help these
smaller sites.’’
‘‘The biggest thing is moving past the status quo to a
new, improved ‘Brownfields 2.0,’ ’’ French said. ‘‘In the
past few decades, we’ve really learned how to get these
types of deals done, from a legal perspective, from a
technical perspective, and from a real estate perspec-
tive.’’
Now, according to French, we’re on the second gen-
eration of understanding; one in which the marketplace
has the technology and expertise to understand better
than ever before the unique challenges inherent to
working on legacy properties.
Brownfield Listings is mainstreaming redevelopment
by getting these projects on the minds, and in the
hands, of parties with the experience and desire to re-
develop these brownfield and greyfield sites.
‘‘Everyone in the marketplace is ready to work,’’
French said. ‘‘Brownfield Listings is the platform to
host that work,’’ he said. By ‘‘daylighting the market
space,’’ the site allows brownfield professionals to pick
up previously unnoticed or underrepresented projects
and run with them.
Leveraging Opportunities Difficult. That opportunity for
a broader reach is particularly attractive to rural sites,
said Logan B. Smith, program manager with the Sis-
kiyou County Economic Development Council in Yreka,
Calif.
‘‘Smaller communities like ours are really good at
marketing to ourselves, but not that good at marketing
outside our region,’’ Smith told Bloomberg BNA.
‘‘The hardest thing is often trying to leverage oppor-
tunities to make sure we’re being heard by others out-
side our defined area.’’
Smith led a redevelopment project in Mt. Shasta, Ca-
lif., and listed the project on Brownfield Listings after
meeting French.
‘‘The website is an excellent resource for getting the
basic information and specific details of a site out to
people who might be interested,’’ Smith said.
The Mt. Shasta site, an old timber mill, had been va-
cant for 30 years as the area slowly transitioned from a
2
10-16-15 COPYRIGHT 2015 BY THE BUREAU OF NATIONAL AFFAIRS, INC. DEN ISSN 1060-2976
3. resource extraction—based on economy to one focused
on tourism and outdoor recreation.
Petroleum contamination and fungicides left over
from treating lumber presented difficult barriers to re-
development, but the site long has been viewed by the
city of Mt. Shasta as having positive redevelopment po-
tential.
The problem, Smith said, was moving from a local fo-
cus to a regional and national focus in terms of attract-
ing redevelopers and interested businesses.
‘‘Brownfield Listings allows a real estate market
where we are able to reach out to a much broader audi-
ence, including experienced professionals who want to
be a part of the revitalization,’’ he said.
Since posting the Mt. Shasta site on Brownfield List-
ings, the project has received renewed interest from de-
velopers, and numerous contractors have contacted
Smith with interest in redevelopment projects.
Inexpensive Way to Redevelop. ‘‘Brownfield Listings is
an excellent professional opportunity for those in the
brownfields realm, allowing parties to present assets
not as ‘hidden gems’ but as viable investment opportu-
nities,’’ Smith said.
Such opportunities are incredibly beneficial to rural
areas and communities facing difficulty generating in-
terest in redevelopment.
He also praised the depth and breadth of information
offered on the site.
‘‘People that are seeing your site acknowledge the
brownfields history and know that they’re getting a deal
that’s already been evaluated. A lot of these sites al-
ready have the infrastructure in place, and the redevel-
opers are seasoned—they aren’t scared off by the
brownfield label,’’ Smith said.
It’s an audience that sites located in smaller markets
often have struggled to reach.
In the end, French said, it all comes down to expo-
sure and availability of information. ‘‘Brownfield List-
ings allows anyone to find interesting redevelopment
opportunities much more easily, find the information
they need in the listing, and have direct contact with the
owner,’’ he said.
Smith agreed. ‘‘Brownfield Listings offers exposure.
It offers an educated clientele, as far as knowing what
brownfields are. And it offers a relatively inexpensive
way for rural areas to redevelop and pursue their sus-
tainable economic goals.’’
BY LOGAN L. HOLLERS
To contact the reporter on this story: Logan L. Hol-
lers in Washington, D.C. at lhollers@bna.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mary
Ann Grena Manley at mgrena@bna.com
For more information on Brownfield Listings, contact
Dan French at dan@brownfieldlistings.com or visit
https://brownfieldlistings.com/blhome.
3
DAILY ENVIRONMENT REPORT ISSN 1060-2976 BNA 10-16-15
![tor of Howardville Community Betterment, told
Bloomberg BNA.
A tiny rural town (population 383) located in the
bootheel of Missouri, Howardville was devastated by an
ice storm, and community leaders rapidly realized they
had nowhere to house residents in the event of another
emergency.
Frazier proposed a novel solution: Redevelop an old
school in Howardville into a community center.
‘‘The storm and its effects really kick-started interest
in redeveloping the school for community use,’’ Frazier
said. She immediately encountered difficulties with the
property, however.
The school, built in 1958 but abandoned for decades,
was contaminated with mold, suspected asbestos-
containing materials and suspected lead-based paint.
The city previously had considered tearing down the
school and renovating the site, but further investigation
revealed that demolition would cost more than remedia-
tion and redevelopment.
Realizing the city couldn’t tackle such an immense
undertaking on its own, Frazier led an effort to obtain
an Environmental Protection Agency brownfields grant.
Her efforts resulted in a $200,000 grant from the EPA to
remediate and redevelop the school.
Little did Frazier realize, the real battle had just be-
gun.
Struggling for Exposure. As Frazier learned, smaller
rural communities often find it difficult to get on the
brownfields radar.
Adding to the complications was the fact that the
property itself wasn’t for sale. The original owner of the
land bought the lot specifically to build a school; when
it was deeded to the city of Howardville, the citizens
owned the property in perpetuity under the stipulation
that the land never be sold.
‘‘We sent out [a request for proposal] three times and
got zero proposals,’’ Frazier said.
She found the hardest part was simply getting in con-
tact with other professionals in the redevelopment field.
‘‘It’s usually easy for smaller communities to reach out
but hard for other people to reach in,’’ Frazier said.
‘‘What we needed was exposure,’’ she said—a tool
that could help tell Howardville’s story and attract inter-
est. She needed a forum where property redevelopment
professionals from all sides could interact.
While preparing to participate in a deal room presen-
tation at the 2015 Brownfields Conference in Chicago,
Frazier met French, a fellow panelist, who introduced
her to Brownfield Listings.
Thus far, the results have been promising.
‘Gold Mine’ for Rural Communities. Since being listed
on the website and featured as a spotlight project,
‘‘we’ve gotten so much interest from developers all over
the nation. They’re excited about the project and have
offered all kinds of resources,’’ Frazier said.
The Howardville school site has since received six re-
sponses to its most recent RFP. ‘‘Now we’re moving to-
ward developing a rural community with an urban de-
sign,’’ Frazier said.
‘‘Brownfield Listings is a gold mine for struggling ru-
ral communities like ours all over the country—to me,
this project, a pilot for our area, is a testimony for rural
communities that are struggling,’’ she added.
Those smaller communities were a major focus of
building the site, French said. ‘‘Working on the second-
ary and tertiary markets was very important to us,’’ he
said.
Sites not located in a major market (i.e., the majority
of brownfield sites) often struggle to receive the expo-
sure and funding necessary to remediate and redevelop.
‘‘But they’re the ones that really need that redevelop-
ment and economic input,’’ French said.
Brownfield Listings makes that marketplace avail-
able for free to all entities, especially those who often
find themselves locked out of the traditional real estate
channels.
‘‘We’re really working on developing and reanimat-
ing the smaller markets that might not have received
national interest before Brownfield Listings,’’ French
said.
‘Brownfields 2.0.’ Frazier remains amazed at the
amount of publicity they have generated for the How-
ardville site directly because of Brownfield Listings.
‘‘Now, we’ve established a dedicated checking ac-
count for redevelopment of the site, we’ve being seen
all over the country, and work is ongoing,’’ she said.
‘‘Brownfield Listings gave us the exposure we needed
as a small, rural community and has connected us with
all kinds of partners who really do want to help these
smaller sites.’’
‘‘The biggest thing is moving past the status quo to a
new, improved ‘Brownfields 2.0,’ ’’ French said. ‘‘In the
past few decades, we’ve really learned how to get these
types of deals done, from a legal perspective, from a
technical perspective, and from a real estate perspec-
tive.’’
Now, according to French, we’re on the second gen-
eration of understanding; one in which the marketplace
has the technology and expertise to understand better
than ever before the unique challenges inherent to
working on legacy properties.
Brownfield Listings is mainstreaming redevelopment
by getting these projects on the minds, and in the
hands, of parties with the experience and desire to re-
develop these brownfield and greyfield sites.
‘‘Everyone in the marketplace is ready to work,’’
French said. ‘‘Brownfield Listings is the platform to
host that work,’’ he said. By ‘‘daylighting the market
space,’’ the site allows brownfield professionals to pick
up previously unnoticed or underrepresented projects
and run with them.
Leveraging Opportunities Difficult. That opportunity for
a broader reach is particularly attractive to rural sites,
said Logan B. Smith, program manager with the Sis-
kiyou County Economic Development Council in Yreka,
Calif.
‘‘Smaller communities like ours are really good at
marketing to ourselves, but not that good at marketing
outside our region,’’ Smith told Bloomberg BNA.
‘‘The hardest thing is often trying to leverage oppor-
tunities to make sure we’re being heard by others out-
side our defined area.’’
Smith led a redevelopment project in Mt. Shasta, Ca-
lif., and listed the project on Brownfield Listings after
meeting French.
‘‘The website is an excellent resource for getting the
basic information and specific details of a site out to
people who might be interested,’’ Smith said.
The Mt. Shasta site, an old timber mill, had been va-
cant for 30 years as the area slowly transitioned from a
2
10-16-15 COPYRIGHT 2015 BY THE BUREAU OF NATIONAL AFFAIRS, INC. DEN ISSN 1060-2976](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)