Robert A. Simons

How Many Urban Brownfields are Out There?: An Economic Base Contraction Analysis of 31 U.S. Cities

How many brownfield sites are there in the United States? Although numerous federal and state lists of contaminated lands are known—totaling more than 380,000 sites—there is no comprehensive estimate of unlisted or total brownfield sites. This article uses economic base contraction analysis to provide an estimate of the number and acreage of brownfield sites, by type and as a percentage of the land, in 31 large cities in the United States. This approach recognizes that brownfields are the outcome of years of decline in central-city manufacturing, trade, transportation, and residential uses. Using a moderately restrictive definition of brownfield, there are an estimated 75,000 formerly industrial brownfield sites in these U.S. central cities, on 93,000 acres. This is about 5% of the land area in these communities. Another 20,000 acres are present in these same cities in the form of residential brownfields. These findings imply that the overall number of nonresidential brownfields sites in the United States is at least 500,000 to 600,000 or more.

Quantitative and Research Methods in Planning: Are Schools Teaching What Practitioners Practice?

This paper offers a framework for reexamining the set of skills and techniques included in the quantitative and research methods curricula of American graduate planning programs. These offerings, viewed as the supply of skills, are compared to the demand—skills and techniques used by U.S. planning practitioners. The analysis explores the match between supply, current demand, and skills and techniques practitioners claim they intend to use in the future. Results of the analysis are linked with 1986 work by Contant and Forkenbrock. The quantitative curricular offerings of planning programs are found to be relatively unresponsive to current and future practitioner demand for skills. Directions for possible curriculum changes are suggested.

Regulation of Leaking Underground Storage Tanks: Policy Enforcement and Unintended Consequences

Public and private developers and planners often encounter environmental contamination caused by leaking underground storage tanks (LUSTs) when redeveloping previously used urban lands (brownfields). This article addresses the process by which underground storage tanks (USTs) are regulated, how leaks are discovered, and the proportion of serious leak incidents with groundwater contamination. Empirical case-study evidence of 429 leaking tank sites in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, describes the severity of leaks, how they were discovered, and the effect of a No Further Action status, which was minimal. Programmatic failure of the state regulatory agency may be partly responsible for this lower transaction rate and may partially contribute to many closed tank locations and inadvertent loss of jobs. Trends in liability reduction for USTs may change this in the near future.

Tracking remediation and redevelopment trends of brownfield clean‐up programmes: the Cook County experience

This study provides evidence on the clean‐up and development of properties in Cook County that have completed the two Illinois brownfield voluntary clean‐up programmes (VCPs) since 1989. Real estate and environmental databases are merged to allow analysis of development trends for a sample of several hundred entering sites, which are followed through the programme and into the marketplace. Results show that over half of the sites entering the programme received a closure letter, and that a quarter used a residential standard when remediating property. One‐third used caps or other engineering controls, and about 20% have received financing since obtaining the closure letter. These promising outcomes demonstrate the return of these properties to productive use.

Jump‐starting Cleveland's new urban housing markets: Do the potential fiscal benefits justify the public subsidy costs?

This article presents an analysis of subsidizing new inner-city housing in Cleveland, OH. It focuses on the fiscal costs and benefits to the city and assesses the effectiveness of current subsidy programs. Costs include land, site cleanup, infrastructure, tax abatement, and subsidized first and second mortgages. Fiscal benefits include property tax revenues (for both the new housing development and the resulting positive neighborhood externalities) and income tax revenues. The case study examines 10 new housing projects (40 percent of new projects) started in Cleveland between 1990 and 1993. The city subsidy per unit was

A meta-analysis of the effect of environmental contamination on non-residential real estate values

25,600, and average benefits were

Affordable and middle-class housing on Johannesburg's mining sites: a cost–benefit analysis

12,800. Most costs were realized from lot preparation. Large subsidies connected to jump-starting were associated with a substantial increase in housing starts despite a two- to three-year lag time. Policy recommendations for more efficient subsidies include having local planners prepare and market lots and reducing tax abatement time.

Industrial Real Estate Mortgage Default Experience of the New York State Job Development Authority Second Loan Program: A Preliminary Investigation

Purpose – This paper seeks to reduce the lack of quantitative research by addressing diminution in value to non‐residential property resulting from environmental contamination.Design/methodology/approach – This meta‐analysis extracts data from approximately a dozen peer‐reviewed articles and 100 case studies from real estate appraisers in the USA. A dataset containing 106 contaminated non‐residential observations is examined using Regression (OLS). Forward (stepwise) and backward selection was performed. The dependent variable included percentage loss and dollar amount. The independent variables were contamination type, US region, land use type, distance from the source (mostly contaminated subjects), passage of time, year, urban or rural, market conditions, litigation, and indemnification.Findings – The model adjusted R squares range from 37 percent to 66 percent. Approximately a third of cases had no loss. This research used petroleum case studies as the reference category for comparison with other type...

Chinese Investment in U.S. Real Estate Markets Using the EB-5 Program

This paper examines the redevelopment of former gold mining land close to the downtown area of Johannesburg for affordable and middle-income housing. This could provide savings for out-of-pocket costs, time saving for commuting costs and better property appreciation. However, the properties may be costly to remediate and may still pose some health risks from exposure to radon. A cost–benefit analysis examined these issues from the perspective of the home occupant. The present value of the net benefits over a 20-year study period indicated very positive cost–benefit ratios, in excess of five units of benefit for each unit of cost, suggesting that the affordable and middle-income housing markets would see the area as desirable, could price the additional risk and would accept housing modified to reduce the potential health risks. The policy implications supported the release of former mining land for housing on a careful case-by-case basis.This paper examines the redevelopment of former gold mining land close to the downtown area of Johannesburg for affordable and middle-income housing. This could provide savings for out-of-pocket costs, time saving for commuting costs and better property appreciation. However, the properties may be costly to remediate and may still pose some health risks from exposure to radon. A cost-benefit analysis examined these issues from the perspective of the home occupant. The present value of the net benefits over a 20-year study period indicated very positive cost-benefit ratios, in excess of five units of benefit for each unit of cost, suggesting that the affordable and middle-income housing markets would see the area as desirable, could price the additional risk and would accept housing modified to reduce the potential health risks. The policy implications supported the release of former mining land for housing on a careful case-by-case basis.

Indigenous Land Claims in Canada: A Retrospective Analysis

This paper explores the loan loss experience of a public industrial lending authority, employing contemporaneous borrower net equity as a link to mortgage loan default. The relationship between default, net equity and bankruptcy is tested on a small longitudinal data set of loans using nonparametric statistics and a proportional hazard model. Results show that negative net equity and firm bankruptcy are strongly associated with default among the study population. Further, the borrowers studied did not exercise the put option promptly, suggesting potential benefits from monitoring net equity one year or more prior to default. Copyright American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.