The What, Why, and How of a Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment

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So, what is a Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment?

A Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment, commonly called an ESA, or Phase 1 ESA, is an assessment done to research the historical and current uses of a property as part of a Commercial Real Estate transaction.

Why do Commercial Real Estate transactions require a Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment?

Phase 1 ESA is needed to assess if historical or current property uses have impacted the soil or groundwater beneath the property. If so, this could pose a threat to human health and a major issue for the environment. If these problems exist, then a potential liability is present for the owner and/or lender. This also affects the value of the property.

If a Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment is finished pre-closure of a real estate transaction, it can be used to fulfill the requirements of CERCLA’s (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act) innocent land owner defense under All Appropriate Inquiries (AAI).

Finally, how are Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessments completed?

First, it’s important to note that Phase 1 ESA’s can be done on all types of properties; industrial, multi-family residential, commercial, vacant land, and agricultural. But all Phase I ESA’s must comply with ASTM E1527-13. (exception being properties comprised of large primarily undeveloped land, which can be researched under ASTM E2247-16).

Below are the steps commonly followed for Phase I ESA’s.
1. Completing a site visit to observe uses of the property and adjacent properties along with past and current conditions of the property.
2. Reviewing federal, state, tribal, and local regulatory databases including, but not limited to, aboveground storage tanks (ASTs), underground storage tanks (USTs), known or suspected release cases, institutional and engineering controls, and the storage of hazardous substances and disposal of hazardous wastes including petroleum products.
3. Reviewing historical records, i.e. historical aerial photographs, fire insurance maps (Sanborn maps), historical topographic maps, and historical city directories.
4. Reviewing local and state agency records including, but not limited to, state environmental agencies, Fire Departments, Health Departments, and Building Departments.
5. Interviewing past and current property owners, occupants, operators, or others well known with the property.
6. Interviewing the Report User for judicial or title records for environmental liens and activity and use limitations (AULs); specialized experience or knowledge, actual knowledge; commonly known or reasonably ascertainable information; the reason for a significantly lower purchase price; and the reason for the preparation of the Phase I ESA. It’s the User responsibility to provide this information to qualify for the innocent landowner defense.
7. Finally, the Environmental Professional (EP) evaluates all of this information to identify potential environmental risks to the property. EPs highest concerns are with properties including, but not limited to, gas stations, dry cleaners, printing operations, manufacturing, and auto/vehicle repair.
8. Once the Phase I ESA is complete, the EP will summarize what issues were identified on the property and make recommended steps to address these concerns.

In summary, Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessments identify existing or potential environmental contamination liabilities. They are done to satisfy Commercial and Residential Real Estate transactions and ensure environmentally and human safety. They are completed on all varieties of properties but all comply with ASTM E1527-13. UES Consulting Services is ready and happy to help with any and all of your Phase I and Phase II ESA needs.

 

UES Consulting and our team of inspectors would be glad to help you with your Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment.

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Important Details to Note for Phase I Environmental Site Assessments…

“While not part of ASTM requirements, Phase I ESA reports typically include a discussion of observed suspect asbestos containing materials (ACM), potential lead-based paint (LBP), and mold growth; as well as the potential for lead in drinking water and radon.  Sampling for these non-ASTM concerns is beyond the scope of a standard Phase I ESA, but can be included upon request.“
“ASTM E1527-13 provides the guidelines for a Phase I ESA report to meet industry standard, but there are other factors to consider when ordering a report.  Projects associated with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the Small Business Association (SBA) each have their own report requirements.  This is also true of other lending institutions.“
“A recognized environmental condition (REC) indicates known contamination or the potential for the subsurface to have been impacted by contamination (either from the subject property or possibly from an offsite source).  A controlled recognized environmental condition (CREC) identifies that the property has been impacted by contamination which has been investigated and remediated; however, contamination remains and would require additional work if redeveloped.  A historical recognized environmental condition (HREC) identifies a release impacted the subject property which has been investigated and remediated meeting unrestricted use criteria.“

Women who are Inspiring the Commercial Real Estate Industry

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Our Chief Marketing Director, Jamie Taylor, is a proud member of Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) which is an industry networking organization. And according to a recent study published by CREW, women are advancing in commercial real estate, especially in the C-suite, and the shrinking salary gap. However, there are still areas for improvement to get more women intrigued in CRE brokerage, less of an income gap, and leasing and sales positions.

Here are 3 helpful pieces of advice to improve your professional career from respected female leaders in the Commercial Real Estate Industry.

“This type of progress comes with lessons learned early on. The first few years of a career can be pivotal to future success.  Whether it is mastering the art of negotiation, relationship building, or finding your voice, these years can make or break any career.  Three women shared what they learned that helped them reach the success they have today and make their lessons work for them.“

-Maryann Reid, Forbes Articles

1. Agree to Disagree

Advice given by Angele Robinson-Gaylord, President: IKEA Property, Inc.

  • As I began my career in commercial real estate, I had no idea how to build a career in this industry.  I did not study real estate in college or law school, had no family or personal connections to the industry, and was a female in a field that is overwhelmingly male. 
  • You have to be conversant in the language of real estate to do deals and build credibility.  
  • You have to recognize that every relationship is valuable. Your path will cross those of your peers time and again.  
  • When conducting transactions, you must be tough enough to get the deal done, yet you must learn to disagree agreeably to not gain a reputation as a deal killer.  
  • You must persevere in the face of any obstacle or naysayer to reach your goals.  In my case, it took 5 years to transition from practicing law to securing my first role on the business side of commercial real estate.  
  • Finally, I learned that you can’t do it alone.

2. Find Your Voice

Advice by Robin Kennedy, Executive Vice President, Acquisitions & Development: Montage International

  • Early in my career, I was put on the spot in a senior level meeting.  My opinion was different than many in the room, but I had a reasoned response. Granted, it was not the path that they chose, but that moment has had strong impact on me and served me well throughout my career.
  • Voicing my opinion was not always appropriate, as many times I wanted to learn from those with more experience.
  • But having this mindset has helped me to think about and become very practiced in how to make decisions.
  • It has helped me to take proactive ownership and move strategically forward.
  • At this point in my career, while the final decisions are often on my shoulders, I value those that can provide me with thoughtful opinions along the way.”

3. Trust Yourself

Lesley Horton Campbell, Associate General Counsel: Tiffany & Co.

  • Never be afraid to step up and trust that you are smart enough to handle a stretch assignment.
  • I made the mistake early on in my career of not stepping up for an assignment because I assumed that I was too junior and that naturally it would go to a more senior experienced colleague.
  • The next time the same opportunity came around, I quickly stepped up without hesitation and ended up knocking it out of the park.

Need help with environmental consulting? UES Consulting and our broad team of inspectors are skilled in the demands of commercial and multi-family transactions. We know how in-depth and time-sensitive Phase I Environmental Site Assessments and Property Condition Assessments are and we can help the process go smoothly and finish on time.

If you are looking for a company to partner with on your commercial real estate transactions of any kind, we are here to alleviate the weight of environmental issues and minimize risks. 

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CRE Investors! Here are 3 ways to quicken decisions in uncertain markets.

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“Over the last few months, news channels have been filled with stories about movements that are directly affecting the U.S. economy and real estate investments.“

-Dan Dokovic Managing Partner, Co-Founder at Bamboo Equity Partners, a leading CRE investment firm.

What are the reasons for these movements?

The first is the news of rising interest rates, trade wars dominating the airways, government shutdown all leading towards business uncertainty. Second is the quick pace of advancing technology which affecting commercial real estate space. Lastly, as seen nationwide popular retailers are quickly closing down and declaring bankruptcy forcing shopping centers to clear out or shut down at rapid rates.

“The real estate industry has become the poster child for uncertainty and anxiety.”

How to overcome this as a CRE investor?

Get ahead of the curve with 3 practical applications below that will help you stay relevant and pivot quickly in response to the shifting industry movements.

1. Fill the space.

“Real estate investment companies should reconsider their existing tenant mix. Long gone are the days of 10 to 15 year leases. With any uncertainty in the business market, corporations are often looking for a short-term lease.“

Therefore, re-evaluate your long-term leases & business model.

“While short-term leases may alter financial forecasting and real estate valuation, immediate increases in net operating income will outweigh the risk of carrying the vacant space.“

A major trend is to start diversifying the tenant mixes for overall appeal of your property. An example is mall owners are lending their empty space to startup restaurants, co-working companies, or incubators in hopes it will lure more tenants into the property. These tenants don’t pay rent or nearly as much but will increase foot traffic, visibility, and popularity.

Practical First Step: Initiate partnerships with co-working companies, entice new-age tenants by enhancing your digital strategy, and enlarge your leasing capabilities.

2. Build Relationships

In uncertain times it’s important to focus on growth capital and support from partners and peers. For future stability and success it’s vital to build relationships.

“While the industry is in the growth cycle, capital is bountiful. However, as soon as the cycle turns, having capital is the difference between muddling through and controlling destiny.”


“Understanding and growing capital relationships comes in two forms: existing capital sources and new prospects with unrelated capital allocations.”

For existing capital relationships, constant communication is crucial. Banking relationships vary with the economic cycles change. Investment executives need to keep in step with bank’s directions and anticipate said direction would have on business.

Here are some examples…

  • “Banks that focus on real estate lending might concentrate on commercial and industrial loans after a merger which, in turn, might diminish the negotiating power of borrowers in a downturn.
  • In addition to current capital providers, real estate managers should focus on acquiring alternative sources of equity and debt.
  • A multitenant office owner might want to seek a partnership with a single, long-term tenant equity provider in order to mitigate the risk of short-term leases.
  • Alternatively, office asset managers might want to connect with industrial capital sources in order to diversify high-cost risks, like retenanting office buildings.”

3. Diversify your assets.

According to past data, these changes in real estate are not hitting all markets. An example is the highs and lows of employment rates may affect the office market but the industrial market could flourish due to the increased shift towards e-commerce.

During the last cycle, manufactured housing and self-storage sectors performed better than other property types.

“According to Trepp Bank Research’s April 2017 report of historical CRE losses, self-storage had the lowest average loan loss severity of all property sectors at 1.52%, while manufacturing housing loss was at 3.53%. Comparatively, in a different sector, retail had an average loss rate of 6.17% and office at 6.13%. While taking into consideration these examples, property sectors (per research completed by Nareit in December 2018) and manufactured homes provided total returns of 24.93% and 11.43% for the years 2017 and 2018, respectively.“

Gaining property sector diversity can lessen risk across your business. But be cautious in your decisions. “While diversification can provide a footing to weather storms, businesses must be prudent as diversification efforts have their own risks. “

What crucial questions do you ask before making final decisions in this ages industry?

What oversights can be pulled from current practices?

Who are the allies in this diversification process?

“To stay relevant, future real estate leaders need to continue on the path of innovation. While transformation is tough, the only way to continue growing is to advance with the times. As it was in previous cycles, great things come to those who are able to pivot during the hardest times.“

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Take Action after Big Events & Conferences

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After a major networking event or conference, it is important to take action as soon as possible to maintain the great connections you made.

Below is a 6 step guide to follow for all your Spring 2019 events.

1. Categorize and take action accordingly. 

Organize your contacts into 3 categories.

  1. Valuable leads: Contacts you believe to be an ideal client and/or that showed a high level of interest in working with you. 
  2. Qualify leads: Contacts who need to be qualified. They may be seriously interested or they might not, and even if they are you’re not sure they are qualified.
  3. Connections: Prospects you can build a relationship with. You may work together in the future, refer business to one another, or merely get together for a happy hour on the occasion.

“It’s important to follow up with “valuable leads” as soon as possible and schedule a time to meet. Show an effort to follow up with “connections” soon after — in my experience, they are the most valuable people you meet at networking events.” 

— Ryan Meghdies of Tastic Marketing

2. Follow up on Twitter.

“I’ve stopped giving (and taking) cards at networking events. Instead, I  follow entrepreneurs (or their businesses) on Twitter. I prefer this approach because it allows me to see their profile and actually remember who they are. I return from networking events with new followers instead of cards. As soon as I return, I follow up with them by sending a quick DM via Twitter. I also browse through their most recent tweets and retweet or like anything that I relate to in my industry. This allows me to connect with them, understand their brand and create a more immediate connection.”

 – Uchechi Kalu Jacobson of Linking Arts Web Design & Development

3. Add them to a CRM then connect on LinkedIn.

  1. Input all the contacts into my CRM and tag appropriately. Now I can send tailored communications to them in the future.
  2. Send connection requests to every connection on LinkedIn.
  3. When connecting, include a personalized message, to remind them of how you met and try to include a memorable section of your conversation.

“When messaging and connecting on LinkedIn, another tip is to ask them how you can be of help. This could mean connecting them to someone, answering a question they mentioned, sending a resource, etc. You have to give to get.“

 – Zack Hanebrink of HookLead

4. Send a gratitude email.

After entering the new contacts into your CRM, email a reintroduction to the contact thanking them for their time. If the prospect shows interest, then provide them with more information as requested.

5. Make notes immediately.

While at a networking event immediately (after the conversation has ended) write on the back of their card a few notes about the conversation. 

6. Check them out & connect on social media.

“Check them out on social media to learn more about who they are. What kind of content do they post? Which platforms are important to them?”

– Stephanie Cartin, Socialfly

Summarized from Forbes Article

UES Consulting Services offers and our team of are well-versed in the demands of commercial and multi-family transactions and how thorough, time-sensitive Phase I Environmental Site Assessments and Property Condition Assessments can help the process run smoothly and close on time. If you are looking for a company to partner with on your commercial real estate transactions of any kind, turn to our in-house engineers and environmental consultants to alleviate the burden of environmental issues and mitigate risks. 

Contact UES!Connect with UES on LinkedIn!

Multifamily Housing Market in 2019

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Checkout a summary of 2019 trends in Multifamily Housing Markets…

In Freddie Mac’s Multifamily research, they found that “performance in the multifamily market remained healthy during 2018, despite high levels of new supply entering the market. We expect this trend to continue into 2019, but with more modest growth in comparison to recent years.”

2018 ended up with solid rent growth and only modest increases in vacancy rates despite an elevated level of new supply. There are some weakness’s in individual markets and submarkets.

“New supply will remain elevated through 2019 and into 2020 but rents and vacancies will continue outperforming historical averages due to robust demand related to the rising cost of homeownership, changing demographics and consumer preferences.”

Cap rates have slightly fallen over the past couple quarters but they expect cap rates to rise in 2019 if Treasury rates increase.

“Multifamily origination volume is projected to grow to $317 billion in 2019 driven by solid market fundamentals and strong investor demand for multifamily properties.” This figure exceeds 2018’s statistic by 3.9 percent.In conclusion, “we expect 2019 to be another strong year for the multifamily industry. Homeownership affordability constraints and consumer trends will continue to drive demand, while strong rent growth will support property price growth.”

For full analysis click here.

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Commercial Real Estate Industry Booming

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Qualified Opportunity Zones in Kansas City

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Did you know that 52 million Americans (1 in 6) live in economically distressed communities? This is a major problem that Congress recently took a step to fix. Thus, Opportunity Zones were created in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

Opportunity Zones are an innovative, flexible, and bipartisan solution for catalyzing private sector-led economic growth. In addition, they aim to connect low-income communities with much-needed capital.

In exchange, investors get a graduated series of federal tax incentives tied to long-term holdings.

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Lastly, information provided by Ruben Alonso President of AltCap and Korb Maxwell with Polsinelli. 

UES Consulting and our team are experts in Phase I Environmental Site Assessments and Property Condition Assessments and can help your projects run smoothly and close on time. If you are looking for a company to join together with on your commercial real estate transactions of any type, look to our in-house engineers and environmental consultants.

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End of the Year Swing is Here! We’re Ready…

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You’re feeling it, because we are too. It’s the race to the finish line, the final cut of 2018 and, it’s HERE!

While you may not be ready for Christmas yet (*cough* 49 days), or the start of a new year (Hello 2019 in 56 days), the calendar says it’s time to finish those real estate deals. Close on the projects that need completion. And, if you’re like many of your colleagues, you may find yourself in need of an environmental assessment report (Phase I) or a property condition assessment (PCA).

The silver lining in the fast pace to the end of the year? UES is here… and, we’re ready for you. We have your environmental reporting and PCA needs covered. We specialize in quick turn-around times and like Santa’s elves, we work great under a strict deadline!

Don’t hesitate to take some of the pressure off by contacting us to help you close out 2018 strong!

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