Commercial – Residential

Continuing their trust in Athenica, the developers of this site retained Athenica to navigate them through the Voluntary Cleanup Program (VCP) under the direct supervision of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Environmental Remediation (NYCOER).

As done for numerous similar projects, Athenica was able to expeditiously obtain all NYC Department of Buildings (NYCDOB)-required NYCOER approvals, allowing our client to meet the 421-a tax incentive deadline and also get reimbursement for most of the investigative costs.

Athenica has performed a large number of Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs) of various types of commercial and residential properties including multi-story residential buildings, shopping centers, and other buildings for banks seeking to refinance or obtain a mortgage for these properties.

Athenica performs these services on behalf of various banks, such as Investors Bank, as part of their typical environmental due diligence process prior to issuing a loan.

This project won the Sustainable Remediation Award from the NYC Brownfield Partnership in 2015 for successfully implementing a range of sustainable practices during redevelopment. The site was developed as a new mixed-use commercial and residential building. Athenica’s environmental engineering consulting services included the site investigation, soil characterization, and remedial oversight.

Additionally, in conjunction with the NYC’s Mayor’s Office of Environmental Remediation (OER), Athenica established the first ever Clean Soil Bank transfer which resulted in significant savings to both the developer and the City of New York. Savings to the developer exceeded $100,000. Following the successful completion of the transfer from this site, the Clean Soil Bank has become a program that developers seek out in order to provide an economical soil disposal alternative.

Following the findings of our Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) that found evidence of vapor encroachment from surrounding contaminated sites, Athenica performed a vapor intrusion study at this building.

The study found evidence of elevated volatile organic compounds in the soil vapor throughout the basement of the residential building. This led to the design and installation of a sub-slab depressurization system (SSDS) in the basement of the building. Athenica’s engineering team designed an easy to implement and economical solution that eliminated the hazards of vapors entering the building.