Midwest

Whether you are buying undeveloped land or assessing a property for potential redevelopment, thorough due diligence is critical to good decision-making. With the speed at which today’s commercial real estate market operates, you may face time constraints and you definitely want to limit expenditures related to due diligence — but you don’t want to cut corners. An incomplete understanding of the challenges at the site will limit your ability to scope out the project and could impact your ability to keep it on schedule and within budget. Even if you need to complete due diligence on an expedited timeline, make sure you check all the boxes. Here are six key items that should be on your checklist to ensure you limit unexpected costs and delays. 1.    Geotechnical and Environmental Investigations Depending on your project scope, some form of a geotechnical investigation makes sense. Prior to design, it’s important to find out if soil constraints pose risks or design challenges. Geotechnical due diligence will disclose information about the physical properties of the underlying soil including rock, historic fill, unsuitable organic layers, seasonal groundwater and/or buried debris. Environmental due diligence will provide information about existing site challenges including wetlands, floodplains, brownfields, archeological factors …