Recent Due Diligence Projects

Braintree, Massachusetts: AGA conducted a site contamination investigation of an industrial property, on behalf of the landlord owner, that had been under the control of the primary industrial tenant and their subtenants for more than thirty years. AGA conducted the environmental investigation as part of the client's environmental asset management program, and in response to a notification that the tenant would be terminating its lease. AGA identified halogenated volatile organic compound contamination of the groundwater and determined that the contamination was of a dense, non aqueous phase liquid nature, which would make site remediation an expensive and time-consuming effort. Working with the site owner, AGA provided information to the tenant that encouraged them to maintain their long-term lease of the property while they initiated remedial activities. AGA continues to monitor site progress and interacts with the tenants and their consultants to ensure an adequate remediation of the property.

Seattle, Washington: AGA conducted a Phase I environmental assessment for a property proposed as the site for two high rise residential condominium complexes located in the heart of an old portion of the city. The assessment resulted in the identification of possible asbestos containing demolition debris and abandoned underground storage tanks on the property. AGA's identification of these issues allowed the site developer and his excavation contractor to be on the lookout for these issues which resulted in minimum construction delay when some of these materials were found.

Miami, Florida: AGA conducted a Phase I environmental assessment of a large waterfront property proposed for a large condominium development located in Miami, Florida. The assessment determined that the site contained numerous historical and archeological resources as well as sensitive environments and species. AGA subsequently worked with the developer to ensure that the site development plans and the project planning accounted for the potential delays and additional expenses of addressing these issues.

Orange County, Florida: AGA conducted a Phase I environmental assessment of a 1,200 acre proposed golf course community in central Florida. The assessment included an evaluation of habitat for rare, threatened and endangered species and the potential for wetlands to be located on the subject site. AGA's evaluation determined that some of these environmental issues were present and would likely have an adverse impact on the total acreage available for the proposed development project. The information provided in our analysis was subsequently used by the proposed site purchaser to re-negotiate the sale price of the project.

La Jolla, California: AGA conducted a Phase I Environmental Assessment for 16 discontinuous parcels of land within a Planned Scientific R&D Industrial Development. The combination of these properties comprised over 90% of the development land area. The environmental investigation evaluated issues involving the prior land use for research of nuclear energy sources, petroleum storage, and hazardous material use within the development and in the surrounding area. The site investigation resulted in further sampling for radioactive materials that may have been buried as waste. Sampling for petroleum hydrocarbon and halogenated volatile organic compounds was also conducted. Low levels of contaminants detected by the sampling indicated that further investigation was not warranted; however, Management Plans were developed by AGA for parcels that have been developed and are currently in use.

Framingham, Massachusetts: As part of a client's environmental assets management program, AGA conducted a review of previous environmental investigations conducted on a tenant occupied industrial property. The tenant had given notice of its intent to terminate its long term lease of the site. AGA's evaluation of the existing environmental investigation documents led us to believe that further investigation of the site was warranted. Subsequent discussions with the tenant resulted in a decision to renew the lease for another five year term and conduct the investigations and other required work during this time.

Annapolis, Maryland; Working on behalf of a financially distressed property owner, AGA developed and executed a broad based Phase I and Phase II environmental assessment program which facilitated the quantified evaluation of contamination on this prime, commercial real estate. The property had an extensive history of automobile sales and maintenance as well as fuel oil distribution. The property owners had an option for a partnership to redevelop the property, however, the suspicion of environmental liabilities was preventing the partnership from going forward. The approach developed by AGA resulted in a quick assessment of conditions and determined that no significant environmental contamination issues were associated with the property. The data collection and evaluation portion of the effort was completed within three weeks of initiation with the final report being delivered within six weeks.

South San Francisco, California; AGA conducted a due diligence environmental assessment on behalf of a conservative investor which was considering joining the partnership proposed to own and develop the Subject Site. The Subject Site had been subdivided from two former CERCLIS sites which had been closed by the Federal and State regulatory agencies with deed restrictions in place. The deed restrictions resulted from the residual contamination left in place on the site. During remediation of the site, the developer determined that it would not be economically feasible to remove all of the contamination from the property. They also were able to determine that the contaminants remaining on the property were of low mobility and therefore, could be managed on-site through deed restrictions. A primary component of the deed restrictions is the presence of a clean soil cap over the entire property to prevent direct contact with the contaminated soils. The "build to suit" lease for the property was with a biomedical R&D/manufacturing facility which uses a range of small quantities of hazardous materials in their work including solvents, acids, and radioactive isotopes. AGA's due diligence environmental assessment of the property included an evaluation of on-site health and safety measures to ensure worker protection during excavation and other site development activities that had the potential to put workers in direct contact with contaminated soils, and a review of the facilities health and safety and hazardous materials management plans.

Baltimore, Maryland; On behalf of the proposed purchaser of an urban industrial property, AGA conducted a third-party peer review of a documented Phase I and Phase II Environmental Assessment. The Subject Site had been a natural gas compressor station since the early 1900's. The investigations of the site identified concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons at elevated levels in the soils. The risk assessment presented identified no direct exposure pathways to these contaminants. AGA's efforts involved an evaluation of sampling methodologies, analytical, and investigative parameters. AGA identified some additional site materials management needs, but found no reason to contradict the documented opinion regarding the risk presented by the property Brentwood, Maryland; On behalf the Maryland Department of Community Development, AGA prepared an ASTM Transaction Screen for a real property transaction, in which an office furniture company was preparing to purchase a facility owned by the adjacent office supply company. Both on-site businesses conducted operations related to furniture finishing, repair, and storage. The purchaser had leased a portion of the property from the seller and was now purchasing this leased property and all operations from the seller. The transaction screen was conducted as part of a larger economic revitalization effort by the MDCD in this economically challenged portion of Prince George's County.

Brentwood, Maryland; On behalf the Maryland Department of Community Development, AGA prepared an ASTM Transaction Screen for a real property transaction, in which an office furniture company was preparing to purchase a facility owned by the adjacent office supply company. Both on-site businesses conducted operations related to furniture finishing, repair, and storage. The purchaser had leased a portion of the property from the seller and was now purchasing this leased property and all operations from the seller. The transaction screen was conducted as part of a larger economic revitalization effort by the MDCD in this economically challenged portion of Prince George's County.

Annapolis, Maryland; AGA was retained by the owner of a shopping center and itÕs counsel to provide technical planning and oversight as well as closure with environmental regulatory agencies for the Environmental Site Assessment of a former underground storage tank (UST) and an associated release to surface waters. The excavation and removal of the UST resulted in the rupturing of both a water main and a storm sewer line. This caused water to enter the excavation site and mobilize petroleum contaminants into the storm sewer which discharged to a nearby creek. This release required notification to the US Coast Guard. AGA was retained to conduct the Environmental Site Assessment required by Maryland's Department of the Environment (MDE) and, upon completion, obtain closure from both MDE and the US Coast Guard. AGA was able to obtain closure for the UST case based on a PID reading of soils from a boring advanced beside the tank pit. AGAs final report included documentation of the clean-up of the surface water body and precipitated closure of this issue with the US Coast Guard. The entire effort was completed and documented within 10 calendar days allowing the sale of the shopping center to go forward.