Public hearings on the proposed designation are scheduled during the summer. City council has to approve the idea before an application is sent to the state. For developers hesitating to tackle redevelopment projects at certain economically depressed Downtown sites, the additional state funds could provide an incentive to start a venture, Frank Billingsley, executive director, Downtown Development Board, tells GlobeSt.com.

For example, for a company considering a building expansion, the brownfield program offers a $2,500 bonus for each employee on the payroll. The bonus is on top of a $5,000 job credit the city and state already offers. "This is just another tool that will help us to level the playing field and encourage redevelopment of Downtown," Billingsley says.

He cautions, however, that the brownfield designation for Downtown is "based on a perception, not reality of contamination on any one site." Among the test sites the city already is considering for brownfield designation are the CNL Tower II next to City Hall, Church Street Station, the Jaymont Block being redeveloped by Cameron Kuhn, 55 Church Street West (formerly Church Street Market) and the Bank of America's Hughes Square location.

"For a company creating a few hundred new jobs, the tax refund and bonus money could mean a few extra million dollars" to use on the project, says a local marketing consultant not associated with the city's proposal.

The proposed 1,620-acre Downtown core would run fromLake Ivanhoe to the north, Gore Street to the south, Westmoreland Drive to the west and Summerlin Avenue to the east. Historically designated neighborhoods such as Lake Eola Heights, for instance, would not be part of the brownfield designated core.

Orlando would be following other Florida cities by designating certain Downtown pockets as brownfields. Jacksonville, Tampa and St. Petersburg already are receiving funds under the Brownfield Redevelopment Act.