Real Estate on a Superfund site?

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May 14, 2021

by a searcher from University of Virginia-Darden - Darden School of Business in Richmond, VA, USA

Does anyone have any experience with acquiring real estate that is part of an EPA Superfund site? Or more precisely, acquiring a business who happens to be located on a Superfund site? I am currently looking at a business where this applies, though thankfully the business was not responsible for the initial pollution (in the '80s).

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Reply by a searcher
from Texas A&M University in Johnson City, TN, USA
Not a deal breaker. Budget for more involved RE DD, Phase 1 maybe Phase 2 environmental. Seller may even have this to provide, if you trust their third party.

Consider breaking up into OpCo and PropCo, consult with legal expert on this to do it right. Have you considered leasing the RE with right to buy?

There is a lot of this type of land around Oak Ridge area. If it's remediated, you might feel better knowing the effort that went into dealing with it, and that your site is certified clean. Regular brownfield or other industrial sites could always have environmental issues discovered later.

If not remediated... Negotiate this, force seller to deal with it. Or, you could possibly offer to take business (I assume profitable) for cost of assuming the cleanup, risk on the site. I know one story of this that worked out amazing for the buyer that took the risk.

If radiological site, message me if you want to discuss.
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Reply by a searcher
from Columbia University in New York, NY, USA
This sounds like a massive headache. I don't think you can do anything with the real estate until the site is remediated. Getting it remediated would take a lot of time, effort, and probably money. These clean-ups can go on for years...
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