4-26-19

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Real Estate Journal

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By Joseph Galley, CHMM, LSRP and John Oberer, LSRP, GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. Redevelopment of brownfield sites in New Jersey

or developers and in- vestors considering the redevelopment of brown- field sites in New Jersey, t h e n e x t t w o y e a r s should bring some long- needed clar- i ty around which sites may be suit- able for new projects—and at what cost. May 2021 is the deadline un- der the state’s 2009 Site Reme- diation Reform Act (SRRA) for owners of sites where cleanup began prior to 1999 either to complete remediation and have a Response Action Outcome (RAO) issued, or face Direct Oversight by the the New Jersey Department of Environ- mental Protection (NJDEP). Developers can enter into a Pre-Purchase Administrative Consent Order with NJDEP, which allows sufficient time to remediate. Purchases from F Joseph Galley to an Apple Store may result directly in future modifications to the customer service train- ing, product enhancement or study at a company think tank. For some members of this com- munity, this is enough to drive them to these beta stores on a daily basis. The Retailidential Center is a lifestyle center that com- bines, you guessed it, retail, residential and possibly of- fice. These developers have “designed” communities cater- ing to the hipster millennial, Eastern District of Missouri, District of NJ, Southern Dis- trict of NY, District of Dela- ware, District of Minnesota and the Western and Eastern Districts of Pennsylvania re- garding a variety of issues. Most recently, our Group has continued from page 5C Should you wish to change your look you simply resurface new film over the old! The Most Important Choice for Your Project No matter which way you choose, you will want to ensure you choose the right service company to perform the work. Finding the right company continued from page 13C

ment teams with brownfield remediation and construction projects throughout NJ. We’ve also served as the Licensed Site Remediation Profession- als overseeing dozens of New Jersey remediation projects under SRRA over the last de- cade through our offices in Fair- field, Hammonton, and South Bound Brook, NJ; Philadelphia, PA; and Manhattan. GZA and Melick-Tully also have experi- ence with a wide range of com- mercial, industrial, retail, and residential clients in providing site feasibility studies, due dili- gence evaluations, subsurface investigations, and construc- tion observation services. The work required to put a brownfield property back into productive use can range wide- ly. In some cases, owners may face a large bill for the remedia- tion of soil and/or groundwater. In some locations, long term use restrictions and monitor- ing while maximizing the us- ability of the site with durable capping and containment may capital available. An opera- tor reinventing the shopping mall who best envisions and incorporates the constantly evolving desires for which we gather as a community has an opportunity for success limited only by their imagination. The suburban shopping mall may be changing dramatically, but it’s far from dead. M. Erin Lavelle is manag- ing director of Real Prop- erty Capital, Inc., a full-ser- vice commercial mortgage banking firm based in the Philadelphia suburbs.  Tom Onder is a share- holder and Chair of the Shopping Center & Retail Development Group, as well as a member of the Real Es- tate, Litigation, and Bank- ruptcy & Creditors’ Rights Groups of Stark & Stark.  certified film applicators since 1984, Glas-Tint can provide you with a wide range of the best products and services that will make your project a success. At Glas-Tint, LLC, we’ve got you covered. Give your business the new look and upgrade it needs. Hank Weiss is owner of Glas-Tint, LLC.  and Sports Authority chapter 11 bankruptcy cases.

prove the optimal solution for contaminated soil. In any case, a critical initial step is environ- mental due diligence, which in New Jersey includes conduct- ing a Preliminary Assessment of the property. This step will help a prospective purchaser/ developer to identify where the environmental problem areas may be and to evaluate whether further investigation is war- ranted before moving forward. What’s critical is for everyone involved in one of these proj- ects to understand they have to work as a team, from the environmental and geotechni- cal engineers to the financial, legal, and real-estate experts. Agreeing on how to set clear ex- pectations for the project owner around what can be done, how, and what timeline is a crucial first step. Two of the smartest questions we’ve seen brokers ask owners looking for sites are: What’s the level of financial and legal risk you are willing to take around the cleanup? And what’s your timeline for break- family units, and many of the aging communities have seen a surge in new development as a result. Demand seems to be keeping up with supply, however, because New York City is making only small in- creases to rent, NJ cities that are lower cost alternatives to NYC (Jersey City, Hoboken, etc.) are feeling the pressure to stop increasing rent as well to stay competitive. Challenges Facing New Jersey New Jersey has not made the state very friendly for taxpayers of any kind. In 2018, New Jersey instituted its millionaires’ tax which taxes income over $5 million at 10.75%. The state also raised the corporate business tax to 11.5% which is the second highest corporate busi- ness tax in the country. Some recent statistics also indicate that over 3 billion dollars in tax is paid annually from NJ residents to NY because they work in NY. While this benefits New York greatly, it continues to be a challenge for New Jersey as it tries to raise more tax revenue through means like legalizing sports betting and pending legisla- tion to legalize cannabis. While there are many fac- tors impacting real estate and

delinquent owners, or munici- pal sites, may have more flex- ibility, but an agreement may

ing ground on a new build? Having clear answers to those questions provides invaluable guidance to your team as they begin the process of identifying and recommending candidate sites. Everyone involved needs to be prepared to provide hard, reliable numbers when they are needed, and if possible to agree on ranges for costs of “known unknowns.” Brownfield redevelopment is an endeavor in which you simply cannot afford to have any weak links in the team. At the end of the day, what we as geotechnical and environmental engineers, lawyers, bankers, brokers, and realty professionals all work- ing together have to deliver the client is a site ready for redevelopment--with no ques- tion marks of liability hanging over it. Joseph Galley, CHMM, LSRP is vice president and John Oberer, LSRP is VP at GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc.  the NJ economy in general, the ability to grow job op- portunities in the state may have the greatest impact. Gov. Phil Murphy recently signed a bill that pushed a historic increase to the state’s minimum hourly wage. New Jersey will now see a $1.15 increase this July, which will increase each year until 2024 when the hourly minimum wage will hit $15. Opposers of the law argue this mandate will put stress on small busi- nesses already struggling to make ends meet, while labor advocates argue the current minimum wage of $8.85 it too little to afford even basic needs. Looking ahead in 2019, New Jersey needs to focus on controlling the cost of doing business, managing its tax structure and allowing for an easier process to obtain development approval. Dur- ing this time, Real Estate professionals such as I will continue to forecast the effects of change within our industry and focus on new opportuni- ties to capture the competitive advantage. Stuart Berger is a part- ner in Sax’s Real Estate Practice. For more than 30 years he has provided industry-specific tax and advisory services. 

still need to be brokered. Put anoth- er way: Over the next two years, every- one who owns or is market- ing or broker- ing a site in

John Oberer

New Jersey requiring environ- mental remediation will finally have a number for how much it will cost to complete that work. More certainty around costs will clarify which projects make the most economic sense and can secure lenders and inves- tors. The NJDEP has strong legal levers to push cleanups through, including the ability to assess fines, and is highly motivated to get owners to meet the 2021 deadline. GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. and Melick-Tully & Associates, which GZA acquired in January 2018, have assisted develop- single professional or senior empty nester. The King of Prussia Town Center, the 263,423 s/f retail component of the Village at Valley Forge, sold for 183MM prior to the completion of the remainder of the 122-acre master planned development which also fea- tures 3,000 residential apart- ments. Wanting to belong to some- thing bigger is a sustainable concept that can be the corner stone of a scalable investment redevelopment plan for which there is plenty of opportunistic represented landlords and trade creditors in the Shopko, Toys R Us, Payless, Mattress Firm, Gymboree, Eastern Out- fitters (EMS Part 2), EMS, Golfsmith, RadioShack, Gen- eral Wireless (RadioShack 2), Gander Mountain, A&P, Joyce Leslie, rue21, Central Grocers to professionally install the architectural film that will upgrade the appearance of your business is every bit as important as finding the right remodeling crew. (After all, you wouldn’t hire just anyone with a sledgeham- mer and some power tools to remodel.) As one of the area’s leading

continued from page 3C The Death Of A Shopping Mall…

continued from page 10C 2019 real estate industry forecast . . .

Leasing tools to protect payments from an impending . . .

Resurface - rather than replace . . .

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