February 9 Wednesday Lecture Series: Brian Goray of Cherokee Investments

This event is co-sponsored by Owl Productions and Florida Atlantic Planning Society

As cities and localities of all sizes continue to grow and available property becomes more and more scarce, the rehabilitation of contaminated lands will be growing element of community redevelopment in the twenty-first century.

On February 9 th, 2005 Brian Goray of Cherokee Investments will discuss rehabilitation of such lands, how his company achieves this and their role in revitalizing a local economy. The lecture will be held at FAU Downtown Campus, HEC Room 1110 from 5:30PM-6: 45PM. Refreshments will be served.

Cherokee acquires environmentally impaired assets, or "brownfields," engineers their clean-up remediation and finally, redevelops them. An interesting aspect of this work is that Cherokee also protects sellers from the associated risks and liabilities that often hamper the cleaning up of contaminated sites. Based on their track record, the number of assets they have acquired, the amount spent on remediation and committed capital; they are the largest and most-active brownfield investment firm in the world.

In conjunction with placing capital and generating returns for their investors, they provide solutions for sellers and the communities affected by their contaminated sites. Typically, Cherokee acquires an asset or portfolio of assets for cash and indemnifies the seller from environmental liability through the use of insurance policies and other customized risk transfer methods. Portfolios can contain both "clean" and environmentally impaired properties; after acquisition, they remediate and reposition the property for reuse.

Cherokee believes in the viability of sustainable business practices. A complete overview of their environmental policy can be found at: http://www.cherokeefund.com/ourfirm/environmental.html

Cherokee has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to restoring and protecting our natural resources, and in 2004 was awarded the North Carolina Sustainability Award for their brownfields work. This award was given by “Sustainable North Carolina” - a Raleigh-based nonprofit that works to promote sustainable growth and natural resource conservation.

Cherokee Investments was the developer for much of the New Jersey Meadowlands as well numerous other large-scale projects throughout the United States and Europe. Project details for the Meadowlands redevelopment can be found at: http://www.mactec.com/Projects/EnCap_Meadowlands.aspx

This lecture will have something for everybody interested in the environmental viability of his or her community and cutting-edge options available for responsible land reuse.

For further info on Cherokee visit: www.cherokeefund.com