South Orange Close to a Settlement with Objector to Landmark Deal for Village Hall

At this past Monday's BOT meeting, Village President Collum reported to the Village Board of Trustees that she believed all sides were close to a settlement.

“I provided a public update on where we are with the redevelopment/adaptive reuse of Village Hall,” wrote Collum in a Facebook update. “The judge in our case encouraged the parties to try and talk again. When the judge says something, I always listen! I sat down with the objector last week and I *believe* we’re close to a settlement (I can’t share the specifics here). The next step is getting a quintuple agreement. The interveners (that’s us), the applicant, the objector, the planning board, and our parking authority who, as an autonomous agency, would need to agree to any settlement related to jurisdiction they have for management of public lots and enforcement. Please keep your fingers crossed and stay tuned.”

https://villagegreennj.com/towns/south-orange/collum-south-orange-close-settlement-village-hall-redevelopment-lawsuit/

How was Wainco supposedly harmed by the sale and development of this building?

He claims the loss of public parking next to his building hurts him.

FilmCarp said:

He claims the loss of public parking next to his building hurts him.

I don't what Wainburg (Wainco) said in his appeal, but in his appearances at BOT meetings he said he was only concerned about others and was objecting for the good of the town. He said he could care less if he doesn't develop his property.    

His argument was something like this: Presently, the Blockbuster space is vacant. If and when the Blockbuster space is developed, this will bring a lot of people to the downtown and if the Village Hall parking lot is used by Landmark, there won't be enough parking. Of course, what he failed to mention is a) if the Blockbuster space is developed, a parking deck will be required, and b) Landmark has agreed to shared parking in the Village Hall lot until 5 or 6 pm.  Landmark agreed to this probably a year ago in response to Wainburg complaints that he was concerned about parking for his tenants. It should be noted that no one joined with him in his appeal. 

eta - Let's just hope the settlement is signed. The Landmark deal for Village Hall is  vitally important to South Orange and should revitalize that part of the downtown. 

And @oots will have his beer garden. 

From what I have observed Wainburg is a self serving businessman who only intervened in the sale and development of the old Village Hall in order to get something for himself. I do not think he ever thought he could prevail during the original hearings. I believe that his plan was to hold the village hostage to get anything for himself. I do not think we should settle with him, he should get nothing. I urge the village to say to the judge that this was a frivolous suit and that they will not settle with him and go to trial. When he loses make him pay all of the costs.

smhollow said:

From what I have observed Wainburg is a self serving businessman who only intervened in the sale and development of the old Village Hall in order to get something for himself. I do not think he ever thought he could prevail during the original hearings. I believe that his plan was to hold the village hostage to get anything for himself. I do not think we should settle with him, he should get nothing. I urge the village to say to the judge that this was a frivolous suit and that they will not settle with him and go to trial. When he loses make him pay all of the costs.

If spiting him takes two years we lose big time even if we win.  The solution has to be a promise to maintain a number of public parking spots available within reasonable distance.

This lawsuit will subtract money from the budget that could have been used to educate their kids.

Formerlyjerseyjack said:

This lawsuit will subtract money from the budget that could have been used to educate their kids.

Are you one thread off?

It is not spit to do the right thing. When a child throws a tantrum you don't give in. I sat thru most if not all of the hearings. Wainburg is trying to game the system. He should not be rewarded for bad behavior.

smhollow - I agree with you about Wainburg. I don't know how you sat through all those meetings, with Wainburg's lawyer doing everything he could to block the deal. I watched his antics on the live stream at home and was yelling at him. 

Based on Sheena's comments on Facebook, it sounds as if the Village didn't give Wainburg much, other than perhaps what FilmCarp suggested above with regard to parking, although Sheena hasn't disclosed the actual terms.  Sheena has been pretty adamant in her responses to a couple of questions on Facebook about this. 

Cramer, I haven't heard of any settlement. Sheena said that the judge has asked all parties to try again to find an agreement.  Have you heard otherwise?

FilmCarp said:

Cramer, I haven't heard of any settlement. Sheena said that the judge has asked all parties to try again to find an agreement.  Have you heard otherwise?

No. Your comment about parking seems to be on the mark, particularly since the Parking Authority is a party to the settlement. We'll find out in due course.

Lost electricity so I have to conserve power. 

The restaurant /beer garden could open by Summer/Fall 2019. 

https://villagegreennj.com/towns/south-orange/collum-says-village-hall-restaurant-beer-garden-could-open-by-summer-fall-2019/

please change thread title to

‘Scumbag opportunist property owner about to get paid off’

Why is Landmark Hospitality proceeding as an entity named 101 South Orange Avenue Urban Renewal LLC?

Red_Barchetta said:

please change thread title to




‘Scumbag opportunist property owner about to get paid off’

The property owner made the largest campaign contribution in South Orange history to a candidate in the last BOT election - $2500. The candidate did not win. It was pay-to -play - he thought he could buy an official. 

Why is Landmark Hospitality proceeding as an entity named 101 South Orange Avenue Urban Renewal LLC?

truth said:

Why is Landmark Hospitality proceeding as an entity named 101 South Orange Avenue Urban Renewal LLC?

Why not?

Perhaps Cramer knows?

"Long Term Tax Exemption Law and Urban Renewal Entities Defined

The law defines an urban renewal entity as a limited dividend entity or a nonprofit entity.  These entities undertake redevelopment projects (both commercial and residential), relocation projects for residents displaced by the redevelopment area, and low and moderate income housing projects in return for tax exemptions (see N.J.S.A. 40A:20-3).

The Long Term Tax Exemption law authorizes municipalities to enter into financial agreements with urban renewal entities." 

http://www.state.nj.us/dca/divisions/codes/offices/urban_renewal.html

http://njparcels.com/property/0719/1909/8

https://www.superpages.com/bp/south-orange-nj/third-and-valley-urban-renewal-llc-L2709605303.htm

http://www.state.nj.us/dca/divisions/codes/forms/pdf_urban_renew/urb_renew_ent_disc.pdf

I looked up the name of the company on the internet, which shows that's what was used to agree with the Village to redevelop Village Hall.  This is a news item from 2015 -

"The Village Hall renovation and repurposing took a giant step forward at the South Orange Board of Trustees meeting on Nov. 23, when the board voted unanimously to designate 101 South Orange Avenue Urban Renewal LLC, a subsidiary of Landmark Hospitalities, as the redeveloper of Village Hall" 

https://essexnewsdaily.com/tag/south-orange-board-of-trustees/page/6

truth said:

Why is Landmark Hospitality proceeding as an entity named 101 South Orange Avenue Urban Renewal LLC?

I don't know, but perhaps the 101 S.O. Ave. entity has investor(s) who aren't involved with Landmark, so it might make sense for it to operate separarely

apple44 said:

I don't know, but perhaps the 101 S.O. Ave. entity has investor(s) who aren't involved with Landmark, so it might make sense for it to operate separarely

See my above post re "urban renewal entity." All of the redevelopment projects in South Orange and throughout the state which have long-term tax exemptions (and PILOTs) are with urban renewal entities, most of which if not all are LLC's. NJ law requires it. 

Maplewood Urban Renewal LLC: https://villagegreennj.com/tag/maplewood-urban-renewal-llc/   

Now that that is at of the way, I'm looking forward to the opening of the restaurant/beer hall. It will revitalize that part of the downtown.

truth said:

Why is Landmark Hospitality proceeding as an entity named 101 South Orange Avenue Urban Renewal LLC?

Truth - I'm very surprised here.  Over the years, you've commented on a variety of redevelopment sites, PILOTs, annual services charges, etc.  How is it that you are unaware what a URE is and entails?  This is the cornerstone of every project.  Having a URE establishes the correct entity that files with the state, produces audits to us (which we use to identify if there are "excess profits"), etc.  If it was a genuine question, what Cramer posted from google above is correct.  If there's something more to this that you're trying to inquire about, I'll answer.  

so what is the status of the landmark "beer hall"?  is this moving forward or have the demise of above/1 south and the new fox n falcon ( apparently doing well) factored in?

it's been a while  ( I may have missed something)

oots

back before the last delay, we we told we could expect some kind of weather protection for building by January (this month). I believe the step they would be taking would be a tarp. So far nothing but it is possible the last delay set the tarp placement into further delay. I’m sure that blue tarp will look sad and hope if they place one there, it will be removed someday and the building will be cared for. Sad sad national landmark.