Program Updates

State now accepting applications for the Building Demolition & Site Revitalization Program

$150 million in grant funding available to communities throughout Ohio to support the razing of dilapidated commercial and residential buildings and the revitalization of surrounding properties.

October 31, 2023: The Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) is now accepting applications for the Ohio Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program. Earlier this month, ODOD published revised guidelines for the Ohio Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program for Fiscal Year 2024. The Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program is designed to provide grants for the demolition of commercial and residential buildings and revitalization of surrounding properties on sites that are not brownfields.

Similar to the previous demolition program, the Demolition program reserves $150 million, with each county in the state designated to receive $500,000. The remaining funds will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis until June 30, 2024. After that, any remaining funds in the county set-aside will be added to the general fund and made available for grants through the first-come, first-served model. 

Click below to learn more and apply for grant funding through the Ohio Department of Development.

Third Ohio Building Demolition & Site Revitalization Program Grants Announced

599 additional structures in 15 counties will be demolished with support from the program, bringing the total number of blighted structures to nearly 3700 in 87 of Ohio’s 88 counties.

January 27, 2023: Today, the Ohio Department of Development announced the third round of grant recipients under the Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program. The program, created in 2021 to help local communities demolish dilapidates commercial and residential buildings, will lead to the removal of 3,699 structures in 87 counties. This third announcements follows the awarding of 825 grants in October of 2022, and a further 2,275 projects announced in early December 2022.

The full list of grant recipients and project sites from all three rounds can be found on the links below.

Second, Third Round of Brownfield Remediation Fund Grants Announced

$88 million in state support for 123 brownfield remediation project grants announced to help clean up hazardous and underutilized sites across the state of Ohio.

December 16, 2022: Today, the Ohio Department of Development released the final list of awards for the Brownfield Remediation Fund, which is designed to clean up and prepare hazardous brownfield sites for redevelopment. The projects announced today can be found in 35 counties.

This brings the total number of awards announced across three rounds of applications to nearly $350 million, the full allocation of funding for the program created by the Ohio General Assembly in 2021 as part of the state budget. A total of 313 Assessment and Clean Up Grants have been awarded to 83 of the 88 counties in the state (the five counties which did not receive any funds submitted no requests for funding).

The full list of grants awarded in the three rounds can be found at the links below.

Greater Ohio Policy Center (GOPC) has been the leading organization advocating for the investment in brownfield remediation by the State of Ohio, championing the issue since the end of the Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund in 2013. We applaud the work of the State of Ohio to commit this funding towards brownfield identification and remediation, and look forward to continuing to work with lawmakers in the next legislative session to ensure we continue to eradicate these blighted properties across the State of Ohio.

Second Ohio Building Demolition & Site Revitalization Program Grants Announced

2,277 blighted and vacant structures in 42 counties will be demolished to pave the way for new economic development and housing opportunities across the state.

December 6, 2022: Today, the Ohio Department of Development announced the second round of competitive grant awards for the Ohio Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program. A total of $35,386,080 in grants were announced today, on top of the previously announced grants totaling $22,696,642.00 which was announced in October. In July, ODOD announced the distribution of county set-aside funds to 87 of Ohio’s 88 counties, totaling $42,198,924.00. All together, a total of $100,281,646 out of a total appropriation of $150,000,000 has been announced. A total of $49,718,354 still remains to be announced, with 15 counties yet to be announced.

First Ohio Building Demolition & Site Revitalization Program Grants Announced

825 structures will be demolished in 30 counties utilizing $22.6 million in grants (with 127.4 million more in grant funds to be announced at a later date.

October 28, 2023: Earlier today, the Ohio Department of Development announced the first recipients of grants from the Ohio Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program, the concurrent program to the brownfield fund. 30 counties received grants totaling $22.6 million. A total of $150 million was made available for the program in the state budget in 2021.

These funds, along with those available through the brownfield remediation fund, are critical to community redevelopment efforts across Ohio. We look forward to seeing future awards announcements from both programs. GOPC is already looking ahead to the next budget and look forward to working with policymakers to ensure these two programs receive additional support to continue the work already underway to remediate and revitalize these sites, as well as to unlock new opportunity through their redevelopment.

First BRF Recipients Announced in Mansfield

Following an announcement by Governor Mike DeWine, Greater Ohio Policy Center (GOPC) released the following statement in reaction of the first announced recipients of Brownfield Remediation Fund (BRF) grants.

April 26, 2023: "As one of the leading advocates for the investment in brownfield revitalization, Greater Ohio Policy Center is thrilled to see that the first recipients of Brownfield Remediation Fund grants have been announced," said Jason Warner, Director of Strategic Engagement at Greater Ohio Policy Center.

"This program, when fully executed, will provide millions of dollars to communities throughout Ohio, and along with millions more in leveraged funds from the local governments and the private sector, we can begin the process of eliminating these scourges of economic progress across the state of Ohio," said Warner.

Today, Governor DeWine announced the first 78 projects to receive grants from the Brownfield Remediation Fund (BRF). The announcement included $5.5 million for 41 assessments and $54.8 million for 37 clean-up projects in 35 counties.

"By seizing the opportunity to remediate the thousands of environmentally contaminated brownfield sites across the state, Ohio has now has the potential to generate millions of dollars in additional tax revenue, provide jobs, create new housing options, and unlock new endeavors in economic development" said Aaron Clapper, Senior Manager of Outreach and Projects at Greater Ohio Policy Center. “These former factories, drycleaners, and hospitals that once discouraged investment and created barriers to development, will instead become opportunities for progress and renewal across the state.”

"Thanks to the leadership of Governor DeWine, the Ohio Department of Development, and leading advocates from both parties in the Ohio General Assembly, Ohio has asserted its brownfields leadership role through the state’s significant investment in the Brownfield Remediation Fund," said Warner. “GOPC and brownfield stakeholders across the state look forward to a continued investment in brownfields redevelopment.”

The Brownfield Remediation Fund is a one-time, $350 million grant program created in the 2021 state budget to fund the clean-up and redevelopment of brownfield sites across the state of Ohio. Greater Ohio Policy Center (GOPC) has been the leading advocate for dedicated funding for brownfield clean-up since the end of the Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund (CORF) in 2013.

The full list of projects receiving grants from the first round announced on April 26 is below.