TerraSure Enabled Developers to Transform Environmental Blight into Real Estate Asset for New York City Community

July 5, 2005/ Staten Island, N.Y.: TerraSure Development LLC has successfully completed the site remediation for the Ardenwood Estates property in Staten Island, N.Y., a former privately owned, non-engineered, and unregulated drum and waste storage facility disposal site. TerraSure specializes in providing guaranteed fixed-price remediation (GFPR) services to owners, buyers, and sellers of environmentally impaired real estate.

More than 900 drums containing a wide variety of chemical compounds in the form of liquids and sludge material had been removed from the Ardenwood Estates property by contractors from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) more than 10 years ago. The property was subsequently added to NYSDEC’s Registry of Inactive Hazardous Waste Sites. Since this time, until recently, the site had remained vacant.

The Equitable Group, a respected real estate development firm based in Chicago, Ill., realized an opportunity to turn the land from a non-productive blight into a multi-family residential development complex. TerraSure’s GFPR services ensured that this transition would occur in an expeditious and cost-effective manner.

“TerraSure made the entire property remediation process seamless for us,” said Joshua Silverglade, president of the Equitable Group. “We were very confident moving ahead with the Ardenwood Estates project because of TerraSure’s guaranteed fixed-price remediation. The firm delivered to us exactly what it promised, on time and on schedule.”

TerraSure completed all necessary site work required to restore the property and guaranteed compliance with the regulatory requirements for residential use. TerraSure also assumed the risk for making certain that the cleanup cost would not exceed the Equitable Group’s projected costs. TerraSure’s guarantee, which is transferable to new owners, not only helped to give investors in this venture a high degree of comfort, but it also provided added value to the property.

TerraSure faced several challenges while completing remediation of the Ardenwood Estates property. For example, the site is located in a densely populated residential community. Therefore, TerraSure made it a priority to work with members of the community to address their concerns and provide assurance that the work was being performed in a safe manner. Despite this challenge, the project ran smoothly and seamlessly to the owner. TerraSure was able to complete the remediation on schedule within one year and deliver a property back to the community in which it can now take pride.

The NYSDEC issued a “No Further Action” letter in June 2004 stating that the project is complete and “no further remediation or groundwater monitoring is required.” Today, design and planning have begun on the Ardenwood Estates multi-family residential development complex, with construction to be completed in two years.