NCDEQ celebrates 750th brownfields site in North Carolina

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality on Tuesday celebrated the state's 750th brownfields site.

Brownfields are underused, abandoned or idle properties with previous environmental contamination. In 1997, a bipartisan law allowed the state to work with developers to clean and put these sites to use.

Brown School Lofts at Legacy Heights in Winston-Salem is the latest. The mixed-income housing complex opened last year. The 81-unit apartment property was formerly the site of an elementary school. The building was eventually sold and later burned down in 2016.

NCDEQ Brownfields Redevelopment Section Chief Bruce Nicholson says a collaborative effort has brought the location back to life.

"It has been, in effect, recycled," he says. "Recycled from a burned-down and abandoned eyesore into beautiful and affordable housing, something that all of our growing cities need very badly."

Nicholson says out of the 750 properties statewide, there are more than 30 in Winston-Salem.