Urban regeneration by converting brownfield sites can make a real difference in the development of Romanian cities. This fact, which has proved effective and sustainable in Western countries (preventing the decline of urban centers), is all the more important in Romania, where the model of development of cities from the period before 1990 envisaged the construction of industrial areas around those with residential offices, commercial, etc. De-industrialization has been a real challenge for Romanian cities, in a situation where the factories providing jobs have, in turn, started to stop working. With this process, the areas where the factories were built, the so-called industrial areas, have entered a wide-ranging and rapid process of destruction. Moreover, the legal vacuum in the protection of industrial heritage has led to irreparable losses of the industrial architecture. This study aims to analyze the use of brownfield sites in the city of Iasi, whose industry has been severely affected by the profound trends over the last 30 years. The results showed the predominant use of former industrial areas for real estate purposes, without concern to preserve buildings with real architectural value. Three case studies (one from the heavy industry and two from the light industry) underline the above. We conclude that in Romania (with some notable exceptions), and especially in the city of Iasi, there is no clear desire/tendency to preserve the urban industrial heritage, rather, it is to transform the premises of former factories into residential and office neighborhoods, i.e. an easy, fast and financially profitable recovery without new projects preserving/capitalizing heritage buildings.