BUILD Act

What the BUILD Act could build: Harrison Commons in New Jersey

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Harrison Commons in Harrison, NJ.

The redevelopment of Harrison, NJ’s waterfront from abandoned industrial buildings into a viable mixed-use development seemed inconceivable only a few years ago.

Strategically located along several rail lines, on the Passaic River and only a few miles from New York City, Harrison once boomed with factories and manufacturing in the first half of the 20th century. In 1912, President William Howard Taft nicknamed Harrison the “Beehive of Industry.”

The town still keeps Taft’s catchphrase as it’s motto, but much of the manufacturers that once called Harrison home have long since closed their doors, leaving behind abandoned factories and large swaths of vacant – and in some places contaminated, land.

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Why today is the day to speak out for the BUILD Act

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Every day is a good day to clean up a brownfield.

Cleaning up brownfields benefits everyone – parents, professionals, business owners, local leaders and more.

Land that was once contaminated and abandoned can be transformed into parks, community centers, concert venues or any number of other ideas. There’s never a bad day to start these projects.

Today in particular is special, though.

Smart Growth America is on Capitol Hill today, along with our national coalition of allied non-profits. We’re there in person to ask Congress to support the BUILD Act.

Add your voice to our call for action: tell your senators to support the BUILD Act.

In our meetings today, we’ll be talking about places like Harrison, NJ, which is turning an abandoned industrial area into a walkable, mixed-use neighborhood served by transit.

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What the BUILD Act could build: The Mayo Hotel in Tulsa, OK

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The Mayo Hotel. Via.

Once the jewel of the City of Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Mayo Hotel fell into neglect and disrepair in the late 20th century. With the help of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfield program, the Mayo Hotel has now reclaimed its title as the “Grand Lady of Tulsa.”

In 1925, John and Cass Mayo completed construction of what would become a destination for many notable guests throughout the hotel’s first life, including President John F. Kennedy, Babe Ruth and Elvis Presley. The 18-story, 600 room hotel exemplified modern luxury during Oklahoma’s oil renaissance; ceiling fans were outfitted in every room and the hotel boasted Tulsa’s first running ice water. 

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What could we do with an extra 4,570 square miles?

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In Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Railyards project turned an abandoned rail depot into a shopping, dining and event space destination.

In Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Mayo Hotel turned a deteriorating building into luxury accommodations and loft apartments in the heart of downtown.

These are just some of the ways cities have redeveloped brownfield sites — contaminated land which takes up an estimated 4,570 square miles in the United States.

Earlier this month four senators introduced a bill that would give communities crucial tools to clean up and reuse this land. Now we need your help to see this bill through.

Voice your support for the BUILD Act: send a message to your senators now.

The Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development (BUILD) Act of 2013 would help towns and cities across the country clean up brownfield sites and put them back into productive use.

Brownfields redevelopment creates great places on land that was once unusable, and the BUILD Act would give communities a crucial tool to reinvest in their neighborhoods.

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What the BUILD Act could build: The Santa Fe Railyard, New Mexico

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Railyard Park in Santa Fe, a former brownfield site. Image by Sacker Foto via Flickr.

“In New Mexico, we have a great history of turning brownfields around, like the Santa Fe Railyard.”

– Senator Tom Udall, NM

The Santa Fe Railyard in Santa Fe, NM has played an important role in the city’s history. With the help of the EPA’s brownfield program, the Railyard will be part of life in Santa Fe for years to come.

Built in 1880, the railroad connected New Mexico’s rugged desertscapes to the country’s westward expansion. The Railyard, a 50-acre depot located in the southwest corner of today’s downtown, became a hub of activity and a cultural center. But as interstate highway and air travel became popular, the once-proud Railyard began to fall into obsolescence and disrepair. By 1987, the Railyard was a blighted site in need of redevelopment, and contaminated from years of industrial use.

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What the BUILD Act could build: The Linen Building in Boise, Idaho

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The Linen Building in Boise, ID. Photo by David Hale.

Later this month, the Treefort Music Festival will showcase hundreds of musicians in Boise, ID, and one of the festival’s central venues is a building that not long ago was a contaminated brownfield.

The Linen Building in downtown Boise was a vacant and blighted former laundry facility less than a decade ago, and posed a potential threat to the surrounding area due to environmental contamination. The building was a “brownfield”—a site formerly home to a factory, gas station or other industrial facility left polluted and hazardous, and requiring environmental remediation to be used again.

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How Congress Could Help Create the Next Great Neighborhood

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The following article is a cross-post from The Atlantic Cities.


East River State Park in Brooklyn was once a rail-to-barge shipping facility, a use that left the site contaminated. A brownfields grant from the EPA helped clean up the site. Photo courtesy of Graham Coreil-Allen/Flickr.

In Brooklyn, you don’t have to look far to see a hip neighborhood spot that was once a contaminated empty lot.

The East River State Park in Williamsburg was built on the site of a former rail-to-barge shipping terminal. A Whole Foods is under construction in Gowanus on a site previously vacant and contaminated with benzene*. 15 Dunham is a new residential building near the Williamsburg Bridge with affordable housing built atop a former gas station. A high-end design studio for race car engines sits on a cleaned-up site in Williamsburg that stood vacant for nearly 25 years. And plans are under way to turn the massive Domino Sugar Factory site, currently decaying on the Williamsburg waterfront, into park space, offices, apartments and retail.

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Details of the Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development (BUILD) Act

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The Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development (BUILD) Act of 2013, introduced today by Senators Lautenberg, Inhofe, Udall and Crapo, would improve the way the federal government supports brownfields redevelopment in the United States. Here’s how.

The Act reauthorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Brownfields Program, and improves the program’s ability to support local economic development. If passed, the bill would modernize and improve key elements of the program, and would provide additional tools and resources to communities working to redevelop brownfields. It makes a number of improvements recommended by the National Brownfields Coalition, which is comprised of a broad set of stakeholders, including local governments, developers, and community redevelopment organizations.

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A new bill in Congress is great news for America's neighborhoods

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Yards Park in Washington, DC was built on the site of a former brownfield. Photo via Flickr.

Cleaning up contaminated land benefits the environment and the economy, and a new bill introduced today in Congress would make it easier for towns and cities to do just that.

Senators Lautenberg (D-NJ), Inhofe (R-OK), Crapo (R-ID) and Udall (D-NM) introduced today the Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development (BUILD) Act of 2013. If passed, the bill will help communities across the country clean up contaminated and abandoned land and put it back into productive use.

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