Because the buyer will generally either cleanup the property, or at least obtain government assurance that no further action is required, the seller is unlikely to have to cleanup the property itself. It can therefore turn a perceived liability into an asset. For these reasons, owners of contaminated lands generally welcome brownfields investors. In announcing federal brownfields grants to 20 cities in June, Scott Oki's Golf Club at Newcastle is one of several high profile brownfileds redevelopments in theis area. Taxes are also a consideration to the government.
Idle land produces little tax revenue.
Indeed, property owners of contaminated land often succeed in convincing the assessor to lower the assessed value of their land. By encouraging re-use of contaminated property, local and state governments generate not only additional property tax based on higher assessed values, but sales and business taxes as well. Frequently, the assessed values of nearby properties will also be increased. Brownfields redevelopment is also attractive to government because it leads to cleanups that would otherwise not happen, or would happen much later. Brownfields redevelopment allows the government to leverage public dollars with private investment.