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SERVICES


Brownfield Management Associates, LLC (BMA) offers a wide range of analytic, financial and strategic advisory services tailored to the needs of impacted site owners, developers, banks and other financial institutions, investors, and related service providers who are dealing with any environmentally challenged properties or portfolios.

BMA helps its clients make optimal decisions on properties with known or suspected environmental problems. To that end, BMA helps its clients:

  • Understand the real legal and financial significance of environmental issues to avoid over- or under-reaction and pursue the best strategy for resolving/addressing identified concerns
  • Implement the most effective, efficient and consistent environmental due diligence process
  • Perform quantitative analysis of project costs and schedule for forecasting and negotiating purposes
  • Acquire, divest or otherwise reposition real estate assets to maximize value while appropriately managing legal and financial risks

BMA’s specialized consulting team includes seasoned environmental attorneys and real estate and financial advisors who have worked on hundreds of transactions for corporate owners, developers, lenders and other property stakeholders. BMA offers unparalleled services to its clients at a fraction of others’ fees. BMA efficiently and effectively provides environmental, real estate, financial and related risk management advisory services for lower fees than more narrowly-focused professionals (law firms, traditional environmental consultants and others). BMA offers a unique blend of advisory capabilities and experience, and can work with existing internal and external teams (legal, risk management and others) to identify and execute the most effective solutions for the full range of concerns related to environmentally challenged properties.

Value Recovery & Risk Mitigation


BMA’s service model has three main components: (1) identifying, analyzing and implementing reuse and repositioning options (2) mitigating risk through proven strategies with reliable long-term protections, and (3) utilizing propriety Information Management (IM) and Information Technology (IT) systems to deliver efficient, consistent, and scalable results.

Repositioning/Reuse Services


The BMA team reviews properties from multiple perspectives to identify and evaluate the full range of value recovery options for individual properties or portfolios of properties. Its full-spectrum analysis assesses the viability of a range of repositioning and reuse options, helping clients better select and execute optimal value recovery strategies.

BMA provides owners of surplus properties a full range of value recovery services for the repositioning and reuse of surplus properties. Repositioning and reuse services include:

  • Identifying and evaluating a full range of potential end-uses based on property characteristics, limitations (physical and legal/zoning) and the realities of local real estate markets;
  • Evaluating potential government incentives and other financial enhancements for divestment in connection with site remediation or alternative end-use developments (renewable energy and efficiency, ecological asset credits, etc.);
  • Developing model reuse scenarios to facilitate protective sale and/or better match qualified buyers
  • Preparing and implementing sales and marketing plans appropriate for each property, focusing on appropriate purchasers for properties with environmental or other impairments.


Interim and alternative end use analysis


Because immediate sale/auction is not always the best solution for challenged surplus properties, BMA looks for interim uses that can maximize value while long-term solutions are developed, sites are remediated, or basic market conditions reorient to better support a sale of the property. BMA further looks at alternatives to traditional divestment/redevelopment scenarios. Interim and alternative end use services include:

  • Identifying options for short-term use during or before site remediation can be completed, consistent with the restrictions appropriate for such a property;
  • Analyzing potential ecological asset credit monetization opportunities, including bank and trade systems, tax incentives, wetland and conservation banking, Natural Resource Damages (NRD) credits, creative property easements, green infrastructure, greenhouse gas and carbon sequestration, sustainable development, public recreation and conservation planning;
  • Reviewing potential options for renewable energy generation projects, including solar, geothermal, wind, biofuels, etc.;
  • Developing planning and management strategies for freshwater supply and quality, designing habitat improvement and restoration projects, including drought management, enhanced groundwater recharge, irrigation water supply alternatives, aquifer storage and recovery, groundwater storage, groundwater alternative supply assessment, surface-groundwater alternatives analysis;
  • Identifying options for sustainable agricultural uses, including urban agriculture; and
  • Identifying other options for repurposing a facility on an interim basis until an optimal, permanent solution can be implemented.


Real estate market research



Whether deciding when/how to divest, or how long to hold a property and pursue interim uses, BMA’s Principals and Senior Analysts provide real estate market analysis that is key to making informed decisions. This market research and analysis includes:

  • Analyzing local markets to identify potential future uses of the property;
  • Preparing development models coupled with review of land use restrictions to determine the financial viability of different reuse scenarios;
  • Working with local planning authorities to identify zoning restrictions and discuss potential reuse options;
  • Researching available public incentives, grants, TIF districts and other sources of incentives for particular developments; and
  • Identifying potential developers, investors and users for a particular sites/uses.


Community and economic development



BMA’s Senior Analysts include two experts in community and economic development, who are able to reconcile local “wants” with economic “needs,” integrating them with available capacity and capability. This analysis includes:

  • Working with local and state governmental authorities to identify and implement financial incentives such as TIF, grants and loans;
  • Creating and helping to implement economic development platforms and strategies for restoration of industrial and commercial activity and associated jobs in a community;
  • Securing project investment to retain or expand existing businesses and workforces, including regional economic development and green industry employment opportunities; and
  • Liaising with environmental, economic development and other government agencies to facilitate communications and support cooperative stakeholder interactions.

Risk Mitigation


As an owner-side advisor, BMA’s primary objective is to ensure the end use of the client’s property minimizes future risk and costs for the owner – whether that end use includes divestment, retention, donation or other reuse options.

Protective divestment of properties


Where appropriate and where the owner seeks an exit from ownership, protective divestment is the first path BMA investigates for its clients. “Protective divestment” means divestment only to qualified parties with the experience, capabilities and financial ability to undertake ownership of distressed and contaminated properties. Divestment services include:

  • Reviewing and evaluating the effect of environmental impacts on the property value and potential opportunities to divest (including risk of “liability boomerangs” and need for long-term stewardship)
  • Analyzing external stakeholder concerns and, where necessary or desirable, engaging with community and/or government representatives to ensure compatibility of property end-uses with stakeholder objectives, avoiding potential objections, challenges, bottlenecks or other obstacles to divestment
  • Developing a range of options consistent with the owner’s own goals and objectives for the property, from maximum value recovery to liability protection assurance to corporate responsibility and community acceptance concerns
  • Performing comprehensive, protective and creative site reuse planning to minimize future liability exposure
  • Developing multi-layered contractual protections to shift risk and responsibility (e.g. remediation covenants, long-term indemnities)
  • Tailoring risk-transfer mechanisms (cost modeling, fixed-based cleanup, insurance)
  • Qualifying prospective purchasers with specific brownfield focused criteria
  • Ensuring protective divestment of properties and portfolios