What If the Funding Was There…But You Didn’t Know Where to Start?

Your Challenges. Our Expertise. One Vision.

Ohio’s latest investment in brownfield redevelopment creates an exciting opportunity: approximately $120 million in new funding to help address brownfield properties and move them toward productive reuse.

For communities, developers, property owners, and organizations with a challenging site, an announcement like this can immediately raise possibilities. A vacant industrial property could become developable. An underutilized site could have a new purpose. A property that has been sitting on the sidelines because of environmental concerns could finally have a path forward.

But identifying an opportunity and being ready to pursue it are two different things.

A Grant Application Starts Before the Application

One of the first questions may be, Could our property be a candidate for funding?

Answering that question requires more than knowing a grant program exists. It means understanding the property, its history, known or potential environmental conditions, what work may be needed, and ultimately what you hope the property can become.

That technical groundwork can play an important role in developing a strong brownfield project.

Environmental assessments and investigations may be needed to better define site conditions. Existing environmental information may need to be reviewed. Potential remediation approaches and costs may need to be evaluated. The scope of work must make sense not only from an environmental standpoint, but also in the context of the property’s future use.

In other words, the grant application may be one step in the process, but understanding the project comes first.

Look Beyond the Environmental Problem

It’s easy to look at a brownfield and see what is wrong with it.

Contamination. An abandoned building. An old industrial use. Years of uncertainty.

But successful redevelopment starts by looking beyond what a property was and having a vision of what it could become.

A brownfield may represent an opportunity for new development, jobs, housing, commercial activity, community investment, or a productive new use for land that already has infrastructure around it.

Funding can help make those possibilities a reality. But dollars alone don’t create a successful redevelopment project. Good information, realistic planning, and a clear understanding of the environmental challenges are equally important.

Build the Project Before You Build the Application

Before pursuing funding, there are practical questions worth considering:

What do we already know about the property?
Are there gaps in the environmental information?
Is additional assessment or investigation needed?
What other environmental work may be necessary?
What could that work cost?
How does the environmental strategy support the proposed redevelopment?
Do we have the technical information needed to support the funding request?

You don’t necessarily need every answer on day one, but you do need to know which questions should be answered next.

And starting that conversation early can make a significant difference when application deadlines begin approaching.

From Possibility to Project

For more than 30 years, Cox-Colvin has helped communities, developers, property owners, attorneys, and other stakeholders navigate environmental challenges associated with brownfield properties.

Our team can help evaluate existing environmental information, identify data gaps, perform assessments and investigations, develop remediation strategies and cost estimates, and provide the technical support needed as clients pursue funding and move projects toward redevelopment.

The goal isn’t simply to help prepare an application.

It’s to help build a technically sound project behind it.

Because when funding opportunities become available, the organizations best positioned to take advantage of them are often the ones that already understand where they want to go and what it will take to get there.

Could Your Brownfield Be an Opportunity?

If you have a vacant, underutilized, or environmentally challenged property, Ohio’s latest brownfield funding announcement may be a good reason to take another look. But don’t wait, applications are due by September 11, 2026.

Whether you are just beginning to evaluate a property or already preparing to pursue funding, contact the Cox-Colvin team to discuss your project. We can help you understand the environmental challenges, identify practical next steps, and develop the technical foundation needed to move from possibility to project.

Your Challenges. Our Expertise. One Vision.

What If the Funding Was There…But You Didn’t Know Where to Start?