Tommy DobczykOpportunity Zone Advisor, OZ Wizard · Director of Development | Certified Opportunity Zone Advisor

Financing Contaminated Land? Banks Say NO! EPA Says MAYBE! #shorts

8 Jun 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:46

In this short YouTube discussion, Tommy Dobczyk and several speakers examine the challenges of obtaining financing for a contaminated (brownfield) property. Tommy asserts that no traditional bank will fund such a site, while Speaker C notes that financing is possible only with a carefully structured deal, not through standard lenders. Speaker D emphasizes that the project would require grants and a cleanup program, and that without these, the money will not be raised. The conversation concludes that, given the contamination and financing hurdles, the site is unlikely ever to be developed into a multi‑family housing project, despite advertising suggesting otherwise.

Are you in the deal room?
Click that button down there. Here's another thing. With the site being contaminated as it is, is it possible to get financing on it through the EPA's rules about financing property with dirty soil? Now we just went through this, but I'm pretty darn sure that there's not one bank in the world that'll finance it.
But the way that most people— hm— financing from anyone, but you must structure it correctly. Traditional lenders alone usually won't do it.
Oh, I could mess them up right there. I could declare that a brownfield site and they'll never be able to build on it.
So we'd need to get grants, have cleanup program. We would never get the money for this.
They would never raise the money for this.
That's, that's— so this will never—
this site will never be—
it will never be—
it will never be a multi-family development ever, ever.
So wow, wow. And the advertising everywhere is multi-family, multi-family ready. Yep, yep, yep.