Turning brownfields green
The executive director of the Long Island chapter of The Nature Conservancy is moving on to try some different.
Here's how Newsday puts it.....
Paul Rabinovich resigned last week as executive director of the Long Island chapter of the Nature Conservancy, but what struck us most was where he's going, not where he's been: to start a real estate company focused on redeveloping brownfields and other sites that could revitalize downtowns.
"I have always been aware in doing this work that while the Nature Conservancy works on one side of that sprawl equation - saving the land before it can be developed - there is another side that I think is equally a strong remedy for sprawling development, and that is to redevelop our downtown areas," Rabinovich told us shortly after he resigned.
For Rabinovich - who spent 11 years at the Nature Conservancy, the last six as its executive director - the move is a return to his roots. His new company, TerraCycle, will be affiliated with the family real estate business founded by his mother. But he's also getting in on what may be the next great movement in real estate: recycling and revitalizing land.
"There are a lot of existing real estate companies that are realizing that there is an untapped market," said Sarah Lansdale, executive director of the nonprofit group Sustainable Long Island, which is putting together a survey of the local brownfields industry. "There are some new national real estate developers that are specifically focused on brownfields redevelopment, some are trying to break into Long Island."
Rabinovich plans offices in Philadelphia - home of the family business - Montclair, N.J., and probably on the East End. About his decision to leave, he said, "It's just the right time personally, but I also think that we need to open a new frontier for environmental action. If we're actually going to have a chance of getting through the next generation on Long Island with a healthy environment, a part of that has to be developing attractive vibrant, affordable downtown areas. ... I'm equally driven by the promise of that as I am by the challenge."
Here's how Newsday puts it.....
Paul Rabinovich resigned last week as executive director of the Long Island chapter of the Nature Conservancy, but what struck us most was where he's going, not where he's been: to start a real estate company focused on redeveloping brownfields and other sites that could revitalize downtowns.
"I have always been aware in doing this work that while the Nature Conservancy works on one side of that sprawl equation - saving the land before it can be developed - there is another side that I think is equally a strong remedy for sprawling development, and that is to redevelop our downtown areas," Rabinovich told us shortly after he resigned.
For Rabinovich - who spent 11 years at the Nature Conservancy, the last six as its executive director - the move is a return to his roots. His new company, TerraCycle, will be affiliated with the family real estate business founded by his mother. But he's also getting in on what may be the next great movement in real estate: recycling and revitalizing land.
"There are a lot of existing real estate companies that are realizing that there is an untapped market," said Sarah Lansdale, executive director of the nonprofit group Sustainable Long Island, which is putting together a survey of the local brownfields industry. "There are some new national real estate developers that are specifically focused on brownfields redevelopment, some are trying to break into Long Island."
Rabinovich plans offices in Philadelphia - home of the family business - Montclair, N.J., and probably on the East End. About his decision to leave, he said, "It's just the right time personally, but I also think that we need to open a new frontier for environmental action. If we're actually going to have a chance of getting through the next generation on Long Island with a healthy environment, a part of that has to be developing attractive vibrant, affordable downtown areas. ... I'm equally driven by the promise of that as I am by the challenge."
posted by Pat Burns | 7:10 AM
2 Comments:
He's right -- those are two sides of the same coin, and there are ample opportunities, especially here in the northeast. What he didn't mention -- or what Newsday didn't report -- is that when you move from the non-profit sector to the real estate business, you also do it for the money! Which is not a criticism. TNC's LI chapter has done great work and everyone needs a change once in a while.
Not that there's anything wrong with that!
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