Navigating the types of abandoned buildings and vacant land can be like navigating a sea of colors – extremely confusing. Whether you’re looking for an untouched plot of land or an empty retail space that just needs a little love, you’ll want to understand the differences between colorfully named landscapes.
Greenfields – refers to any piece of undeveloped land. These plots may be rural in nature, such as an open field, park, forest or agricultural area, or urban, such as a plot of dirt on the outskirts of town. This type of land is usually located along the periphery of a major metropolitan or suburban area, where urban sprawl is likely to continue. Greenfields can be ideal for development because they typically require little environmental clean up or prep work, thereby reducing an investor’s upfront costs.
Redfields – refers to a property that, for one reason or another, fell on financial hardship and is now non-operational or vacant. The distressed building may have been underperforming, or the owner may simply have been unable to pay the mortgage, thereby placing the property underwater and into foreclosure. These properties can be salvaged, redeveloped, or torn down completely and turned into green spaces in a trend called redfields-to-greenfields.
Brownfields – refers to abandoned industrial sites that can be repurposed but require significant clean-up to rid the land of pollution and contaminants that would make the area unsafe for new residents. Old factories, dry cleaning businesses and gas stations are common brownfield sites due to the pollutants that were produced on site. These contaminants can remain in buildings and land long after the business ceases operation. Developers wishing to redevelop a brownfield must work with the Environmental Protection Agency and local government agencies to clean up all chemicals and pollutants, including asbestos, lead and pesticides.
Greyfields – refers to empty retail properties that suffered from underutilization or poor maintenance, which have made them unpopular and unattractive to tenants and consumers. A property may become a greyfield if a larger, nicer, comparable facility lures business away, thereby increasing vacancies and making the original property undesirable. Once vacant, these sites and their ample parking lots look like large, empty squares of grey-colored cement and asphalt, which is where the term greyfrield comes from. Greyfields can be attractive investments because their infrastructures are usually sound.