The Role of Public-Private Partnerships
The key component to Brownfield redevelopment is a strong public-private partnership. Partnerships are vital to a sustainable redevelopment program because they foster communications and the building of cooperation and trust between relevant stakeholders. Public-private partnerships also provide the mechanism to identify and apply available financial resources to meet the needs of brownfield redevelopment efforts – either broadly or site specific. By their nature, successful brownfield public-private partnerships are closely linked to community involvement and state and federal program participation, which also play a vital part in brownfield revitalization strategies. Therefore, initiating such partnerships as early in the process as possible – recognizing the characteristics of the particular brownfield situation – can contribute to the achievement of other critical components and provide the framework that addresses the barriers that can impede local brownfields activities. Most important, these partnerships will ensure that the interests and concerns of the involved stakeholders will be identified – and ultimately met.
A successful local brownfields redevelopment effort will involve a variety of stakeholders, each of whom has specific interests and capabilities which can contribute to project and process achievements. The stakeholders in a brownfields context include bankers, elected officials, investors, developers, (both private and non-profit), private business owners, lawyers, environmental professionals, local agency staff and private practitioners in several areas (such as economic development, engineering, or technology services), insurance providers, state and federal government officials, community representatives, and university experts – basically, anyone with an interest in reviving a distressed area.
In addition, groups of these stakeholders – such as community development organizations, chambers of commerce, or business councils – can contribute to the process. For example, in some places, civic improvement associations or area improvement councils serve as coordinating entities or informational focal points, and can serve as a recognized "rallying point" for diverse stakeholders as local plans evolve. Such broader partnerships, however, need “teeth” to be more effective – they need adequate funding and technical resources to operate. Brownfield redevelopment partnerships must both be pursued according to the particular local situation and also supported by the state and federal government with process and/or financial resources. Partnerships are important because they foster communications and build bridges between the relevant stakeholders.
They can assure a cooperative effort that can provide an effective mechanism for achieving other critical strategic redevelopment components. Initiating such partnerships as early in the brownfield reuse process as possible is a valuable step to the successful completion of a project or strategic plan. They are critical to the successful development of trust among the various players, which can often break a project financing log jam. Public-private partnerships can help in the establishment of priorities, especially for committing financial resources made available through a stronger federal and state role.
They can also identify ways to streamline the reuse process, and provide an opportunity for positive connections between private and public sector resources that can serve as incentives for redevelopment. It is important to remember that public-private partnerships need not only have a financial relationship; effective partnerships can have economic impacts that go beyond the transfer of cash. Partnerships can be developed at different levels, between different stakeholders (as indicated earlier), and according to the specific redevelopment strategy (such as site specific, neighborhood-wide, or city-wide), by anticipated barriers, different agendas, marketability, financial requirements, environmental concerns, and so forth.