Viridian Partners News & Events

Viridian is the cover story of Brownfield Renewal

Brownfield Renewal Magazine
6/1/2009

By Elizabeth Brewster

With apologies to Charles Dickens, the year ahead is shaping up to be both the best of times and the worst of times for the business of brownfields.

On the one hand, “brownfield financing has always been difficult, and now it’s even more so,” says Craig Carbrey, president and chief credit officer of EnviroFinance Group in Sacramento, Calif., which specializes in brownfield lending. “There just isn’t that much activity. . . . There will be ripple effects from the [federal government] stimulus plan, but you won’t see the impact of that for some time.”

David Lloyd, director of the Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization at the Environmental Protection Agency, agrees that “although there’s no concrete data on how the economic turmoil is affecting brownfield projects, there is a slowing down right now of any project relying on private lending capital—it’s just not flowing as freely.”

On the other hand, state programs for cleanup approvals “are very strong,” says Lloyd, “a good indicator that even though things have slowed, at least on the pre-development side they’re moving along quite well.”

This is an excellent time to reposition properties,” adds Sven-Erik Kaiser, policy team leader for the EPA brownfields office. “Brownfield redevelopment often finds itself at the core of economic recovery. . . . Now is the time to do the predevelopment work of assessing properties and cleaning them up. As the economy recovers, these will be the properties that are ready to go…”

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Viridian wins Creative Deal of the Year award

NJ BIZ News
5/25/2009

By Evelyn Lee

Viridian Partners announced last week that it won the 2009 Creative Deal of the Year award from the New Jersey Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties. The Highlands Ranch, Colo.-based brownfield redeveloper received the award for the cleanup and repositioning of a 130-acre former chemical plant site in Burlington Township.

The property was sold during the first quarter to Dallas-based Lion Industrial Trust, which is close to executing an agreement with a local developer to construct the park.

The property — which Viridian acquired from Hercules Inc. in September 2005 — was the location of a chemical plant operated by the company from 1947 to 1992, according to the developer. Viridian said all active remediation on the site is now complete. The developer has secured the entitlements for a 1.69 million-square foot distribution and warehouse park; completed the site work and has pad sites ready for three of the four buildings in the park.

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Viridian wins Burlington County Chamber of Commerce
"Economic Development Award"

On April 20, 2009, Viridian Partners was awarded the “Economic Development Award” by the Burlington County Chamber of Commerce for the redevelopment of the 130 acre former Hercules, Inc. chemical manufacturing site. The award recognizes an individual, company, organization, or business association that has demonstrated proactive involvement in promoting business and community growth or revitalization in Burlington County. The recipient has further demonstrated a significant commitment in supporting the Burlington County business community.