Brownfields | City of Norfolk, Virginia

"Brownfields" are areas within a city that are not in use or have not been fully-developed because of constraining circumstances. Often, these areas are entirely vacant, underutilized, or simply not targeted for development because of previous industrial uses, or because of their remote geographic location. Sites that were once centers of industrial use are often environmentally impacted which makes redevelopment difficult because of the need for extensive testing, site analysis, and remediation required to make them safe for reuse. For more information, please view our Brownfields Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

The City of Norfolk has been an industrial port-city for the past 400 years. It is home to many areas that have been identified as brownfields and has been awarded five grants which will allow for the safe redevelopment of these areas – a vital step for sustainable economic development.

These grants, with a combined worth of over $1 million include:

Grantor: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

The Technical Assistance to Brownfields Communities Program provides technical assistance to communities, states, Tribal Nations and other public entities to help address their brownfield sites and to increase their understanding and involvement in brownfields cleanup, revitalization and reuse. The program supplements other efforts under the Brownfields Program.

TAB is available at no cost to communities.  EPA funds regionally based expert organizations to support communities in each of its 10 regions. TAB grant recipients, also known as TAB providers, serve as an independent resource and can provide expert technical assistance and guidance to help communities, among other things, understand how to:

• Prepare brownfields grant applications.
• Perform site inventories.
• Review historical information.
• Design site investigations, sampling and field analysis.
• Plan cleanup and redevelopment.

The City of Norfolk was awarded Technical Assistance in April 2022 to help implement the recommendations of the Broad Creek Refresh Plan pertaining to the Globe Iron Site. The Reuse Recommendations Report was completed in July 2023. It details three redevelopment scenarios for the site. Additionally, a Funding and Financing Report was completed October 2023. It includes an analysis of funding resources best suited to support the redevelopment of the sites and the creation of development and operating proformas. Redevelopment Alternative 1 from the Reuse Recommendations Report was chosen for the funding and financing analysis because it includes the greatest variety of potential land uses and accompanying funding and financing tools to support each use, thus providing the City with the most information with which to make future policy decisions on the appropriate mixture of future land uses. 

Grantor: Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP)

The purpose of the Site Assessment & Planning Grant is to provide grants or loans to local governments to promotes the restoration and redevelopment of identified brownfields and to solve problems associated with environmental issues and obstacles to reuse and redevelopment of identified sites.

This grant assists with the costs of:

This grant is awarded based upon the following priorities:

Eligible applicants for the grant include only political subdivisions of the Commonwealth of Virginia to include: counties, cities, towns, industrial/economic development authorities, and redevelopment and housing authorities.

The City of Norfolk was awarded Site Assessment and Planning Grants in 2021 and 2022 to help implement the recommendations of the Broad Creek Refresh Plan pertaining to the Globe Iron Site. The grants were used to conduct additional site sampling and to develop a report characterizing environmental contaminants, associated risks, and options to remediate the former Globe Iron Steel Manufacturing sites at 1525 Saint Julian Avenue, 1416 Cary Avenue, and 1401 & 1445 Maltby Avenue. 

Grantor: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

This assessment grant affords states, communities, and other stakeholders an opportunity to coordinate timely efforts to prevent, assess, clean up, and reuse brownfields in a safe and sustainable manner. Grant goals include protecting human health, sustaining the reuse effort, promoting essential partnerships, and strengthening local markets.

EPA Assessment Grants provide recipients with funding for wide-ranging brownfield redevelopment steps including:

For more information on Brownfields and current efforts, please view our EPA Assessment Grant Information Sheet and EPA Assessment Grant Project Updates website.

Grantor: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

This grant assists localities with their response to the challenges posed by brownfields particularly when sites:

• Are connected to one another in terms of proximity and infrastructure
• Place significant limitations on economic, social, and environmental development and sustainability

The goals of the grant program are meant to be reflective of the community-vision of the area and are centered on the sustained protection of public health and the safe redevelopment of brownfields sites into hubs of economic viability.

These goals are accomplished by adhering to core elements of Area-Wide Planning to include:

This grant program empowers communities to conduct the research and evaluations necessary for brownfield restoration project success while also making sound and informed policy decisions related to resource allocation as related to economic development, environmental improvements, and environmental justice.

Click here to view the Area Wide Plan

Grantor: Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP)

This grant is part of an effort to support brownfield redevelopment in the state of Virginia and is the result of a partnership forged between the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The goal of the grant program is to revive brownfields into new and marketable economic development prospects. To accomplish this, Site Remediation Grants cover efforts related to:

Award selection for this grant was based on the meeting of at least one of the following criteria:

With this grant the City created Water Street Open Space in Harbor Park. Water Street Open Space is an interim use design featuring native plantings, stormwater elements to include bioretention meadows, bioretention soils, and vegetated meadow areas, along with repurposing the existing slab remaining from a demolished former storage building into a plaza/gathering area. To learn more about the project, please check out a video of the site here.