Phase I Environmental Site Assessment in Cherry Hill, NJ

Cherry Hill sits within Resource Renewal’s standard service region. Field crews mobilize from our Mount Holly, NJ HQ to Cherry Hill and Camden County projects. We staff Phase I ESA, Phase II investigation, remediation, and brownfield redevelopment work for clients across Cherry Hill, Voorhees, Marlton, Haddonfield, Mount Laurel, and the surrounding Camden County communities.

A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment is a documented review of a property’s environmental history, current condition, and surrounding land use following ASTM E1527-21. For Cherry Hill properties — office park redevelopment along Route 70 and Route 38, medical campus expansion, retail center conversions, mixed-use infill in the Garden State Park district, and former service stations across the township — a Phase I is typically required by lenders, buyers, and counsel before acquisition or refinancing and to qualify for CERCLA Landowner Liability Protections.

A typical Phase I ESA runs two to three weeks from authorization to draft delivery, depending on environmental database turnaround, depth of historical research, agency file review timing, and site access. RCC can accelerate timelines for time-sensitive transactions when scope and access permit. Layered NJDEP Preliminary Assessment work is coordinated within the same engagement. Under ASTM E1527-21, a Phase I ESA is valid for 180 days, with extensions of up to one year possible if specific components are refreshed.

When Recognized Environmental Conditions are identified, the natural next step is a Phase II Site Investigation: a defined sampling plan, certified laboratory analysis, and data evaluation against NJDEP standards. If contamination is confirmed, RCC develops a Remedial Investigation and a Remedial Action Workplan, pursuing a Response Action Outcome under LSRP oversight. For owners who prefer to exit the property rather than carry it through closure, DSR brownfield acquisition and environmental liability transfer are available as an alternative path.

DSR is Resource Renewal’s brownfield redevelopment company, with experience across more than 100 brownfield sites in NJ, NY, PA, MA, and OH. DSR services include site evaluation, environmental liability transfer, and full redevelopment. DSR is a member of the EPA Landfill Methane Outreach Program and the Brownfield Coalition of the Northeast, and applies its Turn Brown to Green™ (TB2G™) model for landfill closure and beneficial reuse. EPA Brownfields Program grants and incentives may apply to qualifying Cherry Hill and Camden County sites.

Under the NJ Site Remediation Reform Act of 2009, contaminated sites are remediated under Licensed Site Remediation Professional oversight rather than direct NJDEP case management. The LSRP defines the technical approach, files key submissions, and issues a Response Action Outcome when site conditions meet applicable remediation standards. Typical sequencing is Preliminary Assessment, Site Investigation, Remedial Investigation, Remedial Action, and final RAO issuance. The RAO confirms regulatory closure and supports transactions, financing, and redevelopment.

The Resource Renewal Business Park at 10 Lippincott Lane is itself a brownfield redevelopment project that moved through the same investigation, remediation, regulatory closure, and reuse process RCC and DSR deliver for clients. It is a working demonstration that contaminated parcels can move from environmental liability to productive operating real estate when investigation, remediation, regulatory strategy, and redevelopment are executed by an integrated team. Prospective clients are welcome to walk the site as part of project scoping.

Item descriptionThree factors are converging in Cherry Hill. First, mid-20th-century office parks along Route 70 and Route 38 continue to cycle through new ownership, mixed-use conversion, and medical campus expansion, driving Phase I ESA work. Second, the Garden State Park redevelopment district and the Cherry Hill Mall corridor support sustained commercial transaction activity. Third, lender ESG, climate, and PFAS-disclosure requirements have tightened expectations for environmental due diligence in South Jersey commercial real estate transactions — pushing more deals to require an ASTM E1527-21 Phase I with experienced local context.