Was soil testing conducted on the former Buffalo Shook property prior to Longwood University Purchasing it for future use as a baseball field?

Environmental testing was conducted on the land that will become the new Longwood University baseball stadium, according to both the buyer and sellers of the property.

Matt King, president of Walk2Campus Properties (W2C), said there was extensive testing done to the land prior to the company’s purchase back in 2015.

“I can’t comment for Longwood, but I can tell you before we purchase any land we have certified environmental consultants review the land, its history and in many cases take soil samples as the consultants recommend,” King said.

King said his company followed the same procedure prior to the acquisition of both the Buffalo Shook and W.C. Newman properties located on West Third Street.

“I don’t think any purchaser of any commercial land or property would move forward without this level of diligence,” he said.

King said all banks and lenders require environmental testing prior to approval lending finances for the project. He said because of the land’s manufacturing history, testing was especially important.  However, he also said lenders were satisfied with the results.

Longwood University Real Estate Foundation (LUREF) Executive Director Louise Waller could not be reached for extended comment due to the University being closed for winter break.

However, Waller did say in an email that “in- depth environmental testing was done,” but was not able to provide specific details about the testing results.

Waller will provide more information once the University reopens in January.

The land, used by Buffalo Shook Company during some of its 100 years in business, was sold to LUREF in November to be used in the future as a baseball field, according to Longwood’s Master Plan.

The property was purchased for $6.8 million by Longwood Riverview LLC from LU Eight LLC. According to a previous Herald story, two parcels were part of the transaction — one 1.419-acre tract and one 4.274-acre tract, making up the total 5.5 acres.

Originally the Buffalo Shook land was sold to W2C in 2015, along with the W.C. Newman property, following the closure of Buffalo Shook Company in 2013.