Phase 1 ESA for Dry Cleaner Properties
Dry cleaning operations, past or present, are flagged in nearly every Phase 1 ESA because of the solvents historically used in the process, which carry a well-documented groundwater and vapor contamination risk.
A property that currently houses, or ever housed, a dry cleaning business gets specific attention in a Phase 1 ESA, and it carries one of the higher cost premiums among property types, reported around 40% above a standard commercial parcel in published cost guides. The reason comes down to one chemical: perchloroethylene, commonly called PCE or perc, the solvent that was standard in the dry cleaning industry for decades before newer, less hazardous processes became common.
PCE is a well-documented soil and groundwater contaminant, and it's also a vapor intrusion risk, meaning it can migrate as a gas from contaminated soil or groundwater into the air inside a building sitting above or near it. That's exactly why ASTM E1527-21 requires evaluating vapor migration risk as part of every Phase 1 ESA, and why a dry cleaner property gets extra attention on that specific point.
What this means for a shopping center or mixed-use deal
Dry cleaners are common tenants in strip malls and mixed-use commercial buildings, so a Phase 1 ESA on a shopping center has to check the tenant history of every unit specifically, not just the overall property, for a current or past dry cleaning operation, even a small one that operated decades ago and left no obvious trace today.
If a dry cleaner turns up in a property's history, expect the report to recommend closer investigation of soil and groundwater near that specific unit, potentially a Phase 2 ESA, rather than a blanket statement about the whole property. The finding is usually localized to where the operation actually was.
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