Keeping TABs on all things brownfield: April 2025
April 25, 2025
This month: Upcoming Events, Brownfield News, Successes and More
1. Upcoming Events
- Mohawk Valley Brownfields Developer Summit 2025 | 4.29.25 | Herkimer, NY
- Planning for a Successful Fall EPA Brownfield Grant Application | 5.1.25 | 12:00pm EST | Virtual
- Save-the-Date! Caribbean Brownfields Week: Reimagine, Rebuild, and Revitalize | 5.12-16.25 | Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands
- Grant or No Grant: Let's Navigate Your Next Move! | 5.22.25 | 12:00pm EST | Virtual
- TAB Talks: Give Me the Dirt: What Local Governments and Nonprofits Need to Know About Phase I ESAs | 5.20.25 | 12:00pm EST | Virtual
2. Brownfield News
- In March, lawmakers held a hearing on “Maximizing Opportunities for Redeveloping Brownfield Sites: Assessing the Potential for New American Innovation.” Representatives from across the country discussed how important the EPA Brownfields grants have been in reusing former industrial sites as new industrial sites, in urban and rural areas alike. The committee heard testimony from brownfield community champions, including Mayor Bollwage from Elizabeth, NJ and Christa Stoneham from the Houston Land Bank. This hearing follows the unanimous passing of the Brownfields Reauthorization Act of 2025 in the Senate committee in February. This bill is currently on the Senate Legislative Calendar.
- Struggling with reuse inspiration for a suburban brownfield? Read up on some trends to consider.
- Brownfield communities in transition can have complex relationships with outside forces that drive change in the neighborhood. Facilitating communication between community groups, the city, and potential developers can give agency to the residents that dream of better things for the area. Check out this piece with local perspectives from the Park Hill neighborhood in Louisville, KY.
- The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development provides insight on “Distressed to Success: Real Examples of Economic Growth in Rural Tennessee” with some out-of-the-box thinking, including transforming a former vacant penitentiary into a distillery and concert venue.
- How did Chattanooga go from “Dirtiest City in America” to the “National Park City”? Check out the story of revitalization.
3. Celebrating Successes
- The City of Natchez, MS approved redevelopment plans for a struggling shopping center. The city assessed this property, along with 12 others, as part of its FY21 EPA Brownfields Assessment Grant. The developer is pursuing incentives from the MS Development Authority as well as approvals from the MS Department of Environmental Quality.
- The NJDEP and City of Atlanta are transforming former industrial sites into public parks and trails. As featured in March's NJIT "TAB Talks: From Brownfields to Greenways", these projects—like New Jersey’s 140-acre rail-to-park and Atlanta’s Chattahoochee Riverlands—highlight how brownfields can fuel regional recreation and connectivity.
4. Opportunities
Request For Proposal: Tennessee
The City of Memphis and Shelby County Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) is requesting proposals/interest for multiple development projects in various parts of the Memphis and Shelby County area.
The request for interest forms and subsequent proposals for the over 80 vacant lots located in the Uptown Redevelopment Area and Binghampton Redevelopment Area will be accepted on a rolling basis. The CRA will begin reviewing proposals in early spring and construction will begin on new homes by summer 2025. Another two (2) projects are still open for submission with the following deadlines.
The request for proposal deadline for the Second Street and Chelsea Avenue project is no later than 5PM CT on Friday, April 25, 2025.
The proposals for the Porter Leath Campus project are due no later than 5PM CT on Friday, May 30, 2025.
View more information and full RFI/RFPs here.
Request For Proposal: New York
The City of Syracuse Department of Neighborhood and Business Development (NBD) is seeking qualified firms to develop and complete two Brownfield Opportunity Area (BOA) plans to submit to New York State Department of State (NYSDOS) for formal designation.
NBD secured funding from NYSDOS Environmental Protection Fund to prepare plans for
South Salina / East Adams and Erie Boulevard East. The submitted proposals may be from a consultant or team of consultants. The selected consultant will be responsible for the completion of both BOA Plans.
Applications are due to Neighborhood and Business Development by 2:30PM on Thursday May 1, 2025. Request for Proposal (RFP) documents can be accessed and submitted through OpenGov, the City’s new online procurement portal: View RFP# 25-232.
City staff will hold a non-mandatory webinar on Thursday, April 3, 2025 from 10 to 11AM. Applicants looking for assistance in completing the RFP or who need help with the new OpenGov portal are invited to attend.
5. NJIT TAB Team Member Highlight
Meet Cailyn Bruno: Environmental Scientist, Community Advocate…and the Team’s Most Prepared Member!
When it comes to navigating environmental challenges, Cailyn Bruno, PG, LSRP, is the expert you want in your corner. As Director of Environmental Services at NJIT TAB, she’s spent 16+ years helping communities tackle contamination, remediation, and redevelopment with clarity and precision. She’s also the team’s unofficial emergency preparedness expert—the one we all suspect has a go-bag, a stockpile of seeds, and a well-documented contingency plan for any scenario.
Cailyn’s passion for environmental work started young, after a contaminated well at her family’s farm made their water unsafe to drink. That experience drove her to study geology and dedicate her career to making sure communities have access to safe, clean land and water. She first connected with NJIT TAB while on maternity leave, mapping brownfields during nap-time drives. Now, she leads the technical side of our team, ensuring communities have the knowledge and resources to make informed redevelopment decisions.
And if the world ever turns upside down? The team has already agreed—Cailyn is in charge.