Since the Center for Creative Land Recycling (CCLR or “See-Clear”) was founded in 1998, the world of land recycling has changed dramatically. During the first twenty years of the Brownfield Act, many of the nation’s more prominent and desirable sites were cleaned up and put back into productive use. Today, many of the sites that remain available for reuse often require greater expertise, funding and creativity to make redevelopment a reality. The private sector has become more comfortable working with environmentally complex projects, but capacity in the public sector continues to lag, which can make it difficult for communities to bring their toughest properties to market and work productively with development partners.
Land reuse has become increasingly intertwined with equity, climate resilience, renewable energy, housing, and economic development – increasing the time and attention given to reuse projects especially in the planning and community engagement phases. The Center for Creative Land Recycling (CCLR) works as a prime and subcontractor on many public and private funded land revitalization contracts. The diversity of our projects reflects the range of expertise and specialized knowledge of our talented staff and consultants.
CCLR champions the beneficial reuse of underutilized and contaminated properties because people deserve clean, healthy, and safe neighborhoods to live, work and play in. CCLR is dedicated to helping you create a community-driven agenda for investment, to meet your community’s need for resilience, sustainable growth and vibrant diversity. We work with public entities, tribes, nonprofits, and for-profit clients to grow their capacity and help position their sites for productive reuse.
How CCLR Helps
- Prepare property marketing sheets and funding matrices
- Conduct site inventory and site prioritization
- GIS modeling, drone footage & site photography, property sheet development
- Interpret environmental reports to plan next steps
- Manage grants and support funding applications
- Facilitate community visioning and land reuse planning
- Support acquisitions and deal negotiations
- Research chain of ownership/liability
- Plan events and workshops
What We Do
CCLR and the Counselors of Real Estate (CRE) Consulting Corps partnered to provide the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde with a reuse roadmap for the sprawling reclamation and reuse of an expansive 23-acre brownfield at Willamette Falls on the Willamette River. The project known as Tumwawa Village will restore the Tribe’s stewardship of this ancestral lands, and bring lasting economic opportunity.
Niagara County had identified 500+ sites to be included in the County’s brownfield inventory. The County utilized an EPA Revolving Loan Fund to contract with CCLR for assistance with its inventory. CCLR has created a GIS inventory, property maps, and captured drone footage to help the County find buyers for its varied sites.
CCLR works as a subcontractor with LaBella Associates on the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) Build-Ready program, an initiative to identify and prepare sites for utility scale solar.
CCLR supports brownfield reuse efforts across the country through its partnerships with federal and state agencies and like minded nonprofits.
The Technical Assistance to Brownfield Communities (TAB) program provides technical assistance to communities and stakeholders to help address brownfield sites.an.
Read more about our expert staff, contractors and board members.
