Thursday, August 17, 2006

Crafty Montclair Developers

From the Star Ledger:

Montclair developers win round on rezoning

Desmond and Susan Neill, the developers who tore down a century-old estate on Montclair's North Mountain Avenue, were there.

So too was Paul Cocoziello, the developer hoping to tear down a century-old, 9-bedroom Dutch Colonial on Upper Mountain Avenue to make way for five luxury town houses.

The developers, as well as investors saying the value of real estate holdings intended for retirement was at risk, argued against a "down zoning" of some 200 properties to prevent tear downs of Montclair's historic homes. And, for the mo ment, they won.

"The developers are crafty," said Geoff Shandler, a rezoning supporter who looked on Tuesday night as Montclair's council voted, 3-2, to table the measure amid an overflow and vocal crowd at town hall.
...
But Joyce Michaelson, an at- large councilor who voted against tabling the rezoning along with 3rd Ward Councilor Jerold Freier, said the opposite is true, as developers are tearing down large homes with affordable rental units and replac ing them with "ultra luxurious" ones open only to the well-to-do.

"We're looking at blocks that can be totally transformed," she said.
...
Yesterday, Shandler said the developers got the upper hand, forcing a re-examination of the or dinance in the coming weeks.

"In this case, they were able to tie together several issues, whether it's taxes, diversity and affordable housing, and create an argument that really doesn't have any bearing to the reality of the benefits of what this down zoning will offer," Shandler said.

13 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

What about crafty Mills?

8/17/2006 06:28:00 AM  
Blogger grim said...

Xanadu killing Mills, analyst says

Analysts' opinion is now unanimous: Don't buy stock in the lead developer of Meadowlands Xanadu.

The one analyst who was still endorsing Mills Corp. apologized Wednesday for his "terrible'' advice, saying the troubled entertainment and retail project in East Rutherford is destroying the company.

In a scathing criticism of Mills, analyst David Fick of Stifel Nicolaus wrote in a note to investors that Mills will be throwing "money down a hole" if it continues with Xanadu, and added: "We now believe that hole is deeper and wider than we anticipated."
...
Officials at the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which owns the land where Xanadu is under construction, had little to say Wednesday. Authority Chairman Carl Goldberg said board members need to "determine an appropriate strategy'' after an "analysis of all the new elements that have come up in the past few days.'' He would not comment further
...
NJSEA President George Zoffinger on Wednesday would only say that "Xanadu represents a very large investment in New Jersey, and we're going to do whatever we can to make it work while protecting the taxpayers' interest.''

8/17/2006 06:35:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's very sad, this project
is going to cost the taxpayers
of NJ, big time , at the end
of the day.

Grim, did you also notice
that Mills showed the president
the door?

8/17/2006 07:02:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Goldman is running this company
and will bring in a new company
to run the project at
a very reduced project.

Its been a bust right from the
get go.

8/17/2006 07:04:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Housing prices are dropping
faster than is being reported.

Many of these sellers do not
know what to do.

However, many sellers and
many builders are still in a
dream world.

The builders are in denial.

8/17/2006 07:13:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Now if we can only tear down some libraries and museums to make way for more car dealships....

8/17/2006 08:25:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I looked to buy in Upper Montclair for the past year and a half, but was REALLY turned off by the sleeziness of the RE market there. A number of the better houses I saw were flip projects being sold by sellers who were real estate brokers!! It was apparent that some of the best houses and lots had been snapped up by the real estate brokers themselves in order to sell to their clients at subtstantial profit.

Also, one of the named partners of the real estate brokerage firm I was using was a person I later found out was a big developer in Montclair. Sort of a conflict of interest, no?

So glad I did not buy in that town. Not to mention, taxes there are way too high to justify.

Potential buyers in Montclair, please be wary and research the history of any house you may want to purchase.

Just my thoughts, thanks.

EMU

8/17/2006 08:41:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

sounds like van note

8/17/2006 08:47:00 AM  
Blogger grim said...

From NJ.com:

Codey says 'pull plug' on Xanadu

Senate President Richard Codey said today the state should "pull the plug" on Xanadu, the massive retail and entertainment center now under construction at the Meadowlands Sports Complex.

The lead developer of the project, The Mills Corp. of Maryland, has been rocked by an accounting scandal that has caused its stock to plummet in recent months. The company has put itself up for sale, but its value remains unclear and the bidding process has not produced any enticing offers for the company's 42 malls and numerous developement projects, including the $2 billion Xanadu complex.

"It's obvious that Mills can't complete the job, so it's time to move on and come up with a new plan," Codey said in an interview this morning.

Codey suggested the state could dump Mills and its partner Mack-Cali Realty of Cranford without penalty, however such a move could prove costly for the state. Accorrding to the state's deal with the developers, if the state wants to get out it may have to return some $160 million in lease payments the developers have paid for the next 15 years and purchase for $55 million the parking garage the developers have already constructed.

8/17/2006 10:01:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

After seeing what it did to the careers of Gene Kelley, Olivia Newton-John, and ELO, who in their right mind would invest in Xanadu?

-Jamey

8/17/2006 10:28:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The developers fighting the Montclair ordinance want to tear down a large beautiful mansion in one of the wealthiest sections of town. To stir up antagonism against the proposal they sent out letters to residents in a much lower-income section nearby who have small lots and whose livelihood may depend on being able to turn their small houses into two or three-famiy dwellings. The letter urged them to attend the meeting and speak up against the proposal. The letter was sent by the wife of the developer--but she used her MAIDEN NAME so her vested interest was not readily apparent. Understandably these homeowners were worried and showed up en masse at the meeting to speak out against the proposal. Let's hope the council will have the good sense to revise the ordinance so that it targets only the intended properties--tear-downs of large historical houses on large lots--and doesn't interfere with the financial livelihood of residents of modest means. Otherwise Montclair will fall victim to greedy developers (again!).

8/17/2006 10:40:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I looked to buy in Upper Montclair for the past year and a half, but was REALLY turned off by the sleeziness of the RE market there. A number of the better houses I saw were flip projects being sold by sellers who were real estate brokers!! It was apparent that some of the best houses and lots had been snapped up by the real estate brokers themselves in order to sell to their clients at subtstantial profit.


What's the news? This has been going on since 1993 in Upper Montclair. Also, the same think in Hoboken. It will continue...just need to play the game.

8/17/2006 03:08:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Never said it was "news". Was just contributing some useful info for people who may not be aware of the practice. Go play all you want.

EMU

8/18/2006 08:13:00 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home