Attendees at this week’s annual Pennsylvania Brownfields Conference held in King of Prussia, Montgomery County, expressed optimism about the state’s economy and improving business climate.

The theme of this year’s conference, “Positioning for the Future,” highlighted building community partnerships, incorporating sustainable design into projects, accessing financial assistance and keeping abreast of regulatory changes.

Brian O’Neill, chairman, CEO and founder of O’Neill Properties Group of King of Prussia, delivered the opening plenary session on the real estate forecast for brownfields.  He spoke about what he called “new urbanism,” the construction of full-featured communities where residents can live, work, and play.

O’Neill Properties is a leading privately owned real estate development company specializing in identifying and acquiring abandoned or underutilized industrial sites, remediating and transforming them into high-quality, Class A commercial space or luxury multifamily communities. 

The company currently is building over $2 billion of projects in the Northeast.  O’Neill’s Pennsylvania projects include The Lofts at Valley Forge, a luxury residential development and Uptown Worthington in Malvern, a 1.6 million square foot mixed use development featuring luxury residential, retail and office space.

This was DEP’s ninth Pennsylvania Brownfields Conference, and the second that involved a partnership with the Engineers’ Society of Western Pennsylvania.  It featured nearly two dozen educational sessions and two mobile workshops.   Conference content is developed with input from an advisory panel of industry experts.

For more information, visit the PA Brownfields Conference and DEP’s Environmental Cleanup and Brownfields webpages.

(Reprinted from the December 12 issue of DEP News)

12/16/2013