PRESS
RELEASE: June 11, 2015
THIRD ANNUAL NORTHWEST FLORIDA BROWNFIELDS REDEVELOPMENT FORUM HELD IN CALLAWAY
~Forum educated participants on the economic and environmental benefits of brownfield redevelopment~
Northwest District Director Shawn Hamilton giving opening remarks.
CALLAWAY, Fla. – The Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s
Northwest District, in partnership with the Northwest Florida and Apalachee
Regional Planning Councils, educated more than 70 attendees today about the
environmental and economic benefits of brownfields redevelopment. The Annual
Northwest Florida Brownfields Forum is designed to expand knowledge of Florida’s
Brownfields Program, which facilitates redevelopment and job creation by empowering
communities, local governments and other stakeholders to work together to
assess, clean up and re-use sites previously impacted by pollutants.
This
year’s agenda included breakout panel discussion sessions featuring local
government and technical and private-sector, subject-matter experts answering
questions and discussing personal experiences with brownfields redevelopment.
The event also included a grant writing workshop that offered tips for applying
for a grant for a brownfields redevelopment project.
"The Brownfields Program
provides incentives to revitalize communities and foster economic development,”
said Shawn Hamilton, director of DEP’s Northwest District. “Utilizing these
incentives, our local communities can redevelop properties to meet local needs.
We have already seen many successful brownfields redevelopment projects in
Northwest Florida and I hope this annual forum helps create even more success.”
The program focuses on the cleanup
of contaminated sites and economic redevelopment of those sites. To make the
program's incentives available to a community, a local government must
designate a brownfields area by resolution.
Utilizing
economic and regulatory incentives, the program encourages the use of private
revenue to restore and redevelop sites, create new jobs and boost the local
economy. Along Main Street on the Pensacola Bay waterfront is an area that was
historically filled in for cargo docks. After revitalization, the property is
now occupied by Baskerville-Donovan, Inc. and Nick’s Boathouse Restaurant. The
combined value of the property is now over $3.2 million compared to the
predevelopment value of $463,000.
In Tallahassee,
Gaines Street Corridor is a historically industrial area located near the heart
of downtown. The property was known to be contaminated due to these prior industrial uses. After cleanup and redevelopment, the Marriott Residence Inn was
constructed. The Marriott now employs 32 full-time and nine part-time staff.
The property is valued at more than $10 million, after a predevelopment value
of $588,000.
To learn more about the Brownfields Redevelopment Program,
click here.
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