Environmental due diligence by property type
Every kind of building has its own usual suspects. Here is what tends to turn up on each, what to ask the seller, and when a full Phase I is worth it.
- Self storage facilityStorage buildings are clean to run, but they are often built on old industrial and trucking land, and next door to it.
- RV parkRV parks are mostly open land, but they bundle a small fuel stop, a wastewater system and a water supply into one property, often next to a river.
- Gas stationAssume a gas station has had a release. The questions are when, how big, and whether the state closed the case.
- Car washModern car washes are fairly clean, but many sit on old gas station lots and all of them send oily water somewhere.
- Auto repair shopRepair shops handle oil, solvents and antifreeze every day, and older shops often let them go down a floor drain.
- Dry cleanerOne former dry cleaner can turn a simple retail purchase into a years-long solvent cleanup.
- Strip centerA strip center is only as clean as its worst past tenant.
- Apartment buildingApartments are a low-risk use, but people sleep there, so any vapor or flood problem matters more.
- Mobile home parkMany parks run their own water and sewer, which makes the owner a small utility with permits and testing duties.
- WarehouseA warehouse is only as clean as the most hazardous tenant it ever had, and industrial buildings change tenants often.
- Office buildingOffices are among the cleanest property types, so a pre-screen is often enough to confirm there is nothing to chase.
- HotelHotels run a laundry, a boiler room and a pool, and highway motels often share an exit with truck stops.
- Restaurant buildingThe restaurant is rarely the problem. The gas station that stood on the corner before it often is.
- Vacant landEmpty land is not the same as clean land. You are buying everything that was ever buried there.
- FarmlandFarms are big and mostly open, so findings tend to cluster around the barn, the fuel tank and the old dump.
- Manufacturing buildingBuying an old plant means buying its process history. Know it before you spend on a full study.
Pre-screen a property before you spend on a Phase I
A desk review of one address: past uses from historical photos and maps, federal and state environmental records, and flood risk, ready usually within the hour. $100 for one report, or $100/month for 3.