[CPEO-BIF] "The obscure tax break behind some of Charlotte’s biggest new developments," North Carolina

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

The obscure tax break behind some of Charlotte’s biggest new developments

BY ELY PORTILLO
Charlotte Observer (NC)
November 16

When you think about new luxury apartments, gleaming office towers and industrial-chic shops, you probably don’t picture leaky underground storage tanks, contaminated soil and groundwater mixing with old dry cleaning chemicals. 

But that’s the state many of the prime sites for redevelopment – close to the city’s center, near the light rail – have been left in, a reminder of the area’s former status as an industrial hub. Much of the most attractive land is contaminated, and subject to costly cleanup requirements before anything can be built there.

To encourage both redevelopment and cleanup, the state’s “brownfields” program offers developers big tax breaks and legal protection from liability if they stick to a state-approved cleanup plan. Although it’s not discussed much, the brownfields program is driving some of the most prominent redevelopment efforts in Charlotte, including at the former Charlotte Observer site on South Tryon Street, the former Radiator Specialty site on Wilkinson Boulevard and most of the apartments and retail developments along the Blue Line.


Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article184940108.html#storylink=cpy

…

For the entire article, see
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article184940108.html

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650/961-8918 
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

_______________________________________________
Brownfields mailing list
Brownfields@lists.cpeo.org
http://lists.cpeo.org/listinfo.cgi/brownfields-cpeo.org