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Category Archives: Commercial Real Estate Finance

Commercial Real Estate Finance

Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessments – A Comprehensive Overview

A comprehensive overview of Phase I ESAs, their use and purpose, and the various types of Phase 1s required by different entities.

Environmental Due Diligence: Phase I ESAs and Other Options

If you are buying a commercial property, you need to do environmental due diligence.  The gold standard for due diligence is the Phase I Environmental Site Assessment.   The Phase I ESA is basically a research project into the properties current and past use and how these uses could potentially affect the environment.   As a buyer,…

Fannie Mae Inspections

A property inspection, also known as a Physical Needs Assessment (PNA), is one of the first steps in an equity or transfer of ownership lending transaction involving Fannie Mae as the insurer of the loan.  Partner Engineering and Science, Inc. specializes in transactions that Fannie Mae consider their “small loans” division. These are loans that are less…

The Importance of Erosion Control Inspections During Collateral Analysis

In order to quantify potential liabilities, it is important to make sure that erosion/stormwater inspections are completed as part of the collateral analysis process.

Real Estate Secured Lending – Gas Stations

Typically, when a lender is considering a real estate secured loan collateralized by a gas station, the environmental risk associated with the real estate can be a major factor in the lending decision.

The Misunderstood User Questionnaire

There are many adjectives that you can use to describe the User Questionnaire established by AAI…..under -appreciated, neglected, forgotten, and misunderstood to name a few.   How did six little questions manage to become so dreaded? Some clients have made it a policy not to fill out this questionnaire and other clients require a dissertation on…

Are Gas Stations Taboo for lenders

My previous experience with gas stations comes from a regulatory standpoint where the focus for evaluating the USTs was compliance. Currently, as an environmental professional, the evaluation of a gas station for a lender, involves more than just compliance when performing a Phase I ESA on gas station. The Energy Act of 2005 required that…

Risk Classification: Standard Practices?

As I mentioned in my first posting, I took a survey of the Environmental Bankers Association Membership as to what is and is not a recognized environmental condition.  The results were presented at the Environmental Bankers Association Conference in Utah on June 9th.   The survey results are posted on the EBA’s Website and my website…