Brownfields are properties where real or perceived environmental contamination can make redevelopment more difficult. They may be former industrial sites, but they can also be vacant commercial buildings, service stations, warehouses or other properties that have become difficult to reuse.
For communities, those properties can represent both a challenge and an opportunity. Addressing uncertainty around a site can unlock land for new businesses, housing, public uses and other investments while strengthening surrounding neighborhoods.
Central Pines helps local governments navigate that process. Our brownfields work brings together environmental assessment, planning, funding strategy and redevelopment expertise so communities do not have to manage a complex process alone. The regional program has supported site inventories, assessments, grant development, stakeholder engagement, training and redevelopment planning.
How Central Pines Helps
Brownfield redevelopment usually happens in stages. Central Pines can help communities understand where a property is in that process and what needs to happen next.
| Stage | How Central Pines can help |
|---|---|
| Identify | Build site inventories, identify priority properties and use community and site data to focus efforts. |
| Assess | Help communities pursue environmental assessment and reduce uncertainty around potential contamination. |
| Plan | Connect redevelopment strategy with community priorities, stakeholder outreach and available funding. |
| Move Toward Reuse | Connect communities with cleanup financing, technical resources, peer support and redevelopment tools. |
The goal is not simply to clean a site. It is to connect environmental work with a realistic path toward reinvestment.
Tools & Funding for Brownfield Projects
Central Pines provides additional capacity for communities that may not have dedicated brownfields staff or environmental-development expertise.
That can include developing site inventories, identifying priority properties, coordinating environmental assessments, pursuing state and federal funding, engaging property owners and community partners, and connecting redevelopment plans with other economic-development priorities.
The regional approach also gives communities access to lessons and tools developed through work with other municipalities. The legacy Brownfields Consortium, launched in 2019, created site databases, prioritization strategies, property-owner engagement tools, training opportunities and a redevelopment toolkit for participating communities.
Brownfields Redevelopment Toolkit
Brownfields Redevelopment Toolkit
The Brownfields Redevelopment Toolkit was developed with Fuquay-Varina, Wake Forest and Wendell to help communities understand the redevelopment process and build local strategies.
It covers common terminology, stages of redevelopment, funding, equitable redevelopment practices, case studies and other practical considerations for publicly and privately owned properties.
Brownfield Cleanup Financing
Brownfield Cleanup Financing
When a property has moved beyond assessment and needs cleanup, the Piedmont Triangle Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund may provide financing for eligible projects across portions of North Carolina and Virginia.
Have a Property That May Be a Brownfield?
A property does not need confirmed contamination before you start asking questions. Central Pines can help communities understand the site, available resources and potential next steps.
