What are the environmental concerns associated with Brownfields?
There are generally two major concerns associated with a Brownfield property. First, under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund), the current owner of a contaminated property may be held liable and responsible for the cost to clean up the location. This also becomes a concern for a potential buyer because his/her usual strategy is to purchase a Brownfield inexpensively, clean up the property, redevelop the location, and ultimately sell the property for a profit. For this reason the cost of the cleanup is a crucial variable in the investment decision and has a major impact on the projected profitability of the real estate venture. In addition, when the redeveloper becomes the seller of the property he/she often must provide the prospective buyer with assurance that the property is no longer contaminated. Often these issues can become critical during the real estate transaction. The second concern is the third partys environmental
