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Partner Engineering and Science, Inc.
Partner Engineering and Science, Inc.
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Los Angeles, California

Partner Engineering and Science, Inc. is headquartered in the Los Angeles area. Whether your property is located on the coast of Los Angeles or the hills, Partner fully understands the variances of these landscapes. The Partner Los Angeles team is experienced with multiple aspects of the environmental due diligence process and includes, but is not limited to, Jenny Redlin, REPA and Arcie Propster.

Solutions

Phase I Environmental Site Assessments
Partner has been serving the needs of the commercial and multifamily real estate industry since before the creation of ASTM standards. Partner is known as an industry leader in Phase I Environmental Site Assessments and often meets ASTM E1527-21 Standards in our reporting. Partner is able to create and meet customized client scopes.
Property Condition Assessment Reports
Los Angeles is rich in properties that are both historical and newly built. As such, it is important for anyone dealing with commercial or multifamily properties to gain an understanding of the immediate and future repairs of a property. Partner is able to perform Property Condition Assessments of the building's systems and provide a table that indicates the immediate and future investments that will be required for the property.
Probable Maximum Loss Reports
While Partner offers Probable Maximum Loss Reports (PMLs) to every seismic zone in the United States, Angelinos, or those that do commercial or multifamily transactions in Los Angeles, truly understand the importance of an accurate PML report. Understanding the local geology and correctly reflecting the math in a PML report is most important to those that purchase or lend on a commercial or multifamily property in Los Angeles. Joseph Derhake, PE, brings 15 years of experience performing PML reports as a registered engineer for Fannie Mae and CMBS Lenders to the Partner Los Angeles office.
Asbestos, Lead-Based Paint and other Industrial Hygiene services
As an add-on to a Phase I ESA or Property Condition Report or as a separate service, Partner offers assessments and solutions to address the risks of asbestos, lead paint and mold. While conducting a Phase I ESA, Partner is able to complete a visual evaluation of accessible areas for the presence of Asbestos-Containing Materials (ACMs) and Lead-Based Paint (LBP). If desired, or as part of a property due diligence assessment as required by a lender, sampling of suspect ACM and LBP can be conducted to determine if proper abatement should be conducted as part of project renovation and demolition. Partner offers a variety of Lead-Based Paint services including Inspection, Testing, Risk Assessments, and Clearance Inspections. Moisture and Mold issues can escalate quickly if not addressed promptly. We offer mold testing, assessments, and remediation to help owners address and mitigate this concern.
ALTA Land Title Surveys and Zoning Services
Partner is a coordinator and preparer of ALTA/NSPS Surveys, Boundary Surveys, Topographic Surveys and Zoning Reports across the United States for use in commercial transactions. We effectively handle and facilitate the coordination of land surveyors, title, ordering, process, product, and delivery. We manage the entire process of acquiring your survey and can effectively manage single-site or multi-site transactions. Our extensive network allows us the flexibility to provide a registered professional land surveyor for any site location—nationwide—with competitive pricing. We will coordinate all questions and comments from all transaction parties with the site surveyor and furnish reliable timely surveys all from one point of contact. A Zoning Report is a necessary part of many real property transactions because the current owner is responsible for existing zoning violations. Partner’s Zoning Reports take usage regulations into consideration, as well as local and municipality provisions and other regulations such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Digging Deeper

4 Reasons Why Phase I Environmental Site Assessments are Different in California.

  1. Regional Water Quality Control Boards: In most states the regulations are statewide rules with maybe some variations for cities and counties. In California, the State Water Board grants a lot of power and autonomy to the Regional Water Quality Control Boards. The regional water boards are organized generally by watershed and may split counties. Water boards may have very different regulations. For example, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board developed Environmental Screening Levels (ESLs) for soil and groundwater contamination, whereas the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board uses different screening levels including Soil Screening Levels, CHHSLs for soil-gas (see below), and Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for groundwater.
  2. CHHSLs: The California Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the California Human Health Screening Levels (CHHSLs) in 2005. The CHHSLs provide the user with a chemical-specific look-up table for what levels of soil gas or indoor air concentrations represent a threat to human health. CHHSLs are not intended to be regulatory numbers, but are often treated as such. CHHSLs are also famously conservative. You need an environmental consultant doing your Phase I ESA that knows how to interpret soil gas and indoor air data in relation to CHHSLs and this requires a lot of California experience.
  3. CUPAs: Certified Unified Program Agencies (CUPAs) have a lot of power in California. CUPAs are city or county agencies that have been more or less deputized to handle certain regulatory functions. An example of a CUPA is the City of Los Angeles Fire Department, which oversees releases from underground storage tanks (USTs), termed leaking USTs or LUSTs. To do proper regulatory due diligence during a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment your environmental professional must understand the California CUPAs.
  4. CEQA: The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is California’s equivalent of the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA). A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment sometimes has to deal with CEQA/NEPA issues like wetlands, endangered species, and/or historical resources as additional scope items.

Southern California Experience

Some recent projects and experience that provide insight into our robust Southern California consulting practice include:

Equity Property Condition Assessment, Los Angeles, California

Partner performed a complex multi-disciplinary Property Condition Assessment in support of an acquisition of a 14-story office in downtown Los Angeles. Partner assisted the client in fully understanding the asset and negotiating appropriate allowance for some serious deferred maintenance conditions.

Phase I Environmental Site Assessments, Asbestos Survey, Restaurant Development, Riverside, CA

Partner has a national master service agreement with one of the country’s largest quick server restaurant organizations. Partner was engaged to do a rush Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) and an ALTA Survey. The Phase I ESA included an asbestos survey on a building scheduled to be demolished.

Site Characterization, Soil Remediation, CVS Development, Los Angeles, CA

Partner provided site characterization and soil remediation on a former gas station and former car dealership in support of a complex development in a dense area of Los Angeles. Partner characterized soil, soil vapor, and groundwater contamination from an old fuel release. The project was done under the supervision of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board and proceeded to remediation. The soil remediation project was particularly difficult due to complex shoring requirements. Partner received closure on the soil and groundwater ahead of client expectations.

Environmental Due Diligence on 330 Gas Stations in Southern California

Partner performed environmental due diligence on 330 gas stations located in the six large Southern California Counties: Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside. The gas stations had a lot of subsurface data and over 100 open cases. Partner reduced a large amount of data and quantified the portfolio’s environmental liability for our client.

PNAs and PMLs for a 16-Site Portfolio, Los Angeles and Orange County, CA

Partner completed a 16-site portfolio of physical Needs Assessments (PNA) and Probable Maximum Loss (PML) reports on multifamily properties throughout the Los Angeles metro area. Property locations included: Inglewood, Garden Grove, Gardena, El Cajon, Hawthorne, Harbor City, and Anaheim.

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