Chicago Lofts Bulletin

Chicago lofts are typically old industrial spaces, gutted and restored to make fashionable living spaces. But Chicago lofts are not the only things that can sprout up in former industrial sites.

Many old sites like this are simply too contaminated to be turned into living spaces. Unless the government was willing to foot the bill, they were abandoned as "brownfield" sites with no hope of a future life.

Now, however, as people flock back to cities as the most fashionable place to live, abandoned brownfields are some of the only undeveloped lands left. Organizations like the National Brownfield Association in Chicago, with the help of some government grants, have sprung up to clean up these sites and make them useful again.

Government grants for clean-up projects help organizations to secure commercial funding. In the past, some lenders have been skittish about financing these kinds of projects.

If this passion for rescuing old industrial sites from abandonment continues, soon Chicago lofts may not be the only real estate goldmines to crop up from the city's industrial past.