Sustainable Development: Robert Shinn
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Published in U.S. 1 Newspaper on July 12, 2000. All rights reserved.
Cleaning Up In Every Sense: Sadat Associates
Oh yes, there are deals to be made out there,” says
Jeffrey Entin of Sadat Associates Inc. at Forrestal Village.
“Buy land dirty (and cheap), clean it up, and great profits can
be realized. Real estate, after all, is an elastic commodity.”
For those interested in the technical, legal and financial aspects
of site cleanups, Entin will be moderating a panel to examine “Is
Brownfield Redevelopment Economically Viable” for the New Jersey
Technology Council on Wednesday, July 19, at 5:30 p.m. at Johnson
and Johnson’s New Brunswick headquarters, 410 George Street. Representing
environmental, legal, and real estate interests are Terri Smith,
brownfield coordinator for the state department of environmental protection,
Joseph Schmidt of Drinker Biddle & Shanley on College Road and
Bob Cahill, senior vice president of the Advance Group, the
Bedminster-based firm that is developing the Bovis building at Alexander
and Vaughn Drive. Cost: $70. 856-787-9700.
Entin insists that brownfields (property with soil or water contaminated
to some degree by previous owners) are something that every wise investor
must consider. He should know. While the 45 scientists and engineers
of Sadat Associates range as far abroad as Morocco and develop solid
waste sites on Palestine’s West Bank, Entin is the regional expert
for Princeton’s turf. Raised in Hightstown, he holds Rutgers’ Cook
College degrees in environmental science and environmental engineering.
As Sadat’s senior manager and assistant vice president, he guides
land buyers through site selection, cleanup viability, remediation,
and on through to profit.
One of his success stories can be found in Bayonne, where on summer
weekends golfers vent frustrations on the pure green links. Beneath
them once stood buried a host of leaky oil drums that all confirmed
“rendered the property beyond investment.” All except Jeff
Entin, who found safe cleaning and transporting methods.
The Elizabeth Metro Mall boasts another enviable “stolen deal”
story. With Sadat’s advice, investors purchased this old landfill
for a virtual song and placed their shopping mall on city-view property
one would happily pay triple for next door.
Altruism rarely drives brownfield redevelopment; profit remains the
major mover. But a prospective buyer must always weigh the cost of
the cleanup and the time involved against the cost of other already
clean land — and factor in the return that investors will expect.
Fortunately, Entin points out, there are some rules of thumb.
Redevelopment works best, he notes, in a healthy, buildingeconomy, with interest rates under 9 percent.Location, as in all real estate, is prime. Building aclean oasis amidst a pool of pollution is a poor investment. Entindisagrees with the adage that redevelopment is strictly a high-price,urban game. It works throughout the least populated parts of Mercerand Middlesex, all the time.A total clean-up may not be required before you can build.Here the labyrinth of law envelopes you, and specialized guides area must. “We love good lawyers,” notes Entin. “and havequite a cadre we recommend.”Take advantage of New Jersey’s 1998 Brownfields Act, whichhas modified many previous cleanup statutes. Now you may be able tostabilize your land’s contamination for a period. You might applythe D.E.P.’s “Hammer,” forcing the seller to share costs.Do not depend on funding and incentives, however abundantthey may seem. The Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund, forinstance, offers both grants and loans to redevelopers. Federal andstate tax incentives can be gleaned. But do not factor them into thebusiness plan, because if the state determines that your land hasonly partially been cleaned, you might have to pay remuneration. Onething government will not deliver, Entin says, is a done-and-paid-forcleanup.Know when to hold, fold and walk away. A good assessmentwill show you that some sites are just not worth it. Conventionalwisdom says “stick with bad soil, run from bad water.” Zincfound in industrial soils may be static and can possibly be pavedover. Gasoline drums leaking into the water supply entail a costlycleanup to avoid poisoning your downstream neighbor. The trick isknowing who can do the undoable.The final rule for the business person and venture capitalistis to be flexible. That old piece of clean, green farmland on whichyou have been envisioning your Young Ladies Country Day School probablycosts more than your investors are willing to pay. If you can enlistthe help of Sadat Associates or other environmental firms, they mightsteer you toward a hidden and much cheaper site.Though landsite cleanup technology has changed greatly in the pasttwo decades, the real estate industry still winces at a “contaminated”lot, and many brokers dismiss brownfield parcels before even mentioningthem to their prospects. Granted, brownfield redevelopment will entailsubstantial hassle, but it frequently provides the savings that cangraduate a business from dream to reality.In the short run almost everyone will agree that redeveloping ourbrownfields is economically worth considering. It might save a few(or a lot of) bucks when building a business. But a bigger questionis, can we afford not to clean up after ourselves? Sadat Associatessees redevelopment as an integrated part of revitalizing our communities:We can’t go on merrily fouling our own nest and walking out of town.— Bart JacksonTop Of PageSustainable Development: Robert ShinnSustainable development” is the new catch phraseamong politicians and environmentalists alike, and to that end, RobertShinn, commissioner of New Jersey’s Department of EnvironmentalProtection, has played a major role. Since his appointment in 1994,Shinn has instituted a handful of programs aimed at getting businessesto act more responsibly about pollution.Business development and land preservation, says the commissionerand former head of the New Jersey Pinelands Commission, are not atodds. “It’s symbiotic,” he says. “Open space preservationfurthers development in town centers and urban areas, and DEP hasmany programs to further remediation of brownfields.”Shinn speaks at the Princeton Chamber meeting on “The Impact ofGrowth and Development on the Environment,” on Thursday, July13, at 11:30 a.m. Call 609-520-1776. Cost: $30. (For a Wednesday,July 19, meeting on cleaning up brownfields, see below).Shinn, the 11th commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection,has held the position since 1994, longer than any commissioner inthe 29-year history of the office. A former mayor of Hainesport andBurlington County Freeholder, Shinn has devoted 26 years as an electedofficial to open space, Pinelands and farmland preservation, watersupply, and solid waste management issues.At the time of his nomination, he was a state assemblyman, representingparts of Atlantic, Burlington, and Camden Counties. Shinn authoreda New Jersey law that gave the state the necessary authority to managethreatened surface and ground water resources. He also guided thepassage of a mandatory recycling act and wrote the law regulatingthe disposal of medical waste in New Jersey. In support of farmlandpreservation, he authored the law that allows farmers and privateowners of undeveloped land to be compensated for restricting theirproperty from development.By all measures, says Shinn, corporate responsibility and complianceon environmental issues continues to increase, thanks to successfulpollution prevention programs, and “the growing realization thateconomic and environmental objectives are not by any means contradictory,and that waste and inefficiency are costly.” One of the DEP’sprograms, the Silver and Gold Track Program, gives businesses greaterregulatory flexibility in exchange for committing to high environmentalgoals. “In many sectors,” he says, “environmental awarenessis becoming part of the corporate culture. This is one of the objectivesof our new Gold Track Program — to further this movement by offeringregulatory incentives for achieving environmental goals.”Furthermore, research on environmental technologies is taking off,especially in the Princeton area, says Shinn, and to further the developmentof that technology, the DEP has established the Office of InnovativeTechnology and Market Development, and the Corporation for AdvancedTechnologies (609-984-5418).”More and more people are realizing the costs of development,”says Shinn. “Governor Whitman in particular is leading the chargefor more sensible development to protect the quality of life for presentand future generations. The DEP is a full partner in the governor’sagenda for creating a sustainable state.”Next StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
