Neighborhood Stabilization as Community Development 

IACED will present a training program called Neighborhood Stabilization as Community Development with financial support from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA).  The focus will be on Brownfield assessment and clean up to convert to new end uses. 

There are sites in every community that are vacant.  Some are lots that may be in a desirable location but the unknown and risks are simply too high because of prior uses.  Some have buildings that are dilapidated, some have environmental issues.  In any case these buildings require environmental cleanup, and possibly demolition, before new development will occur.

Community Development Corporations and local units of government are often asked to take or are left with these sites that are too risky for the market to address.  Acquisition, demolition, and environmental testing and remediation have risks for these entities as well, but there are programs that can assist.  Come learn from experts about acquiring properties, demolition (including environmental issues), and Brownfield assessment and mitigation—as well as the regulatory environment, programs, and funding sources, including insurance recovery.

This program will cover large and small sites in both entitlement communities (those with Community Development Block Grant funding of their own) and non-entitlement communities (small cities, towns, and rural areas).

About the trainers:

Steven Meyer is the Executive Director of the King Park Development Corporation in Indianapolis. Many of his current projects include property acquisition, assessment, remediation, rehabilitation, and redevelopment in an area with a high concentration of brownfield properties. Steven formerly served as the Administrator for Brownfield Redevelopment for the City of Indianapolis. In that position, he worked with non-profits, businesses, and developers to facilitate reuse of brownfield sites of all sizes across the city.

Joel Markland is the Director of Project Development for Bruce Carter Associates in Indianapolis.  Joel is a scientist, like most of BCA’s environmental consulting staff.  BCA has extensive experience working on small sites in Indiana’s small and mid-sized communities—tackling the issues of dry cleaner solvents in the soil and groundwater, gas stations’ leaking underground storage tanks, factory waste, and chemical spills.