Chris Magill, a managing director of Vista Site Selection, was quoted in a Columbus Business First story titled “Ohio renews brownfield remediation and building demo grant programs. Here's what to expect.”
According to the story, Ohio's brownfield remediation and building demolition programs will continue. The programs, which started in 2021, have half a billion dollars set aside fiscal years 2022 and 2023 in the new Ohio budget that was signed in early July.
The story states:
Chris Magill, managing director of Vista Site Selection, said that the brownfield remediation program and the demolition program can help make more expensive projects feasible.
"'The Columbus region... has a lot to gain from the continuation of this program. And that doesn't even factor in the other things that are important, like rising construction costs, the additional headache developers have to tear down a building. Ohio benefits because these buildings are torn down and the site stock increases for projects,' Magill said. 'Columbus can use this to kind of level up.'
Central Ohio is growing faster than any region in the state, according to U.S. Census data. Magill said that means the region has more of a need to get rid of challenge sites, like those polluted from chemicals.
'People developing projects are working in a very tight lending environment and are working with high, high construction costs,' Magill said. 'So having money to deal with these kind of headache issues with sites can go a long way in financing the project.'"
To read this article on the Columbus Business First website, click here. (Subscription may be required).