One does not have to be a real estate expert to see how suave the current
leaders of Asbury Park are. Last council meeting in October, the public was
told the beachfront triangle was sold to Asbury Partners for $490,000 with a
minimum fee of a dollar a year for the new mansions to have patios on public
green space. The ten multi-- million tri-plexs will have views of the ocean,
lake and sewage plant.
Reading this article, it seems like Uncle Phil screwed Asbury Park tax payers
once again from the grave.
Anybody else want to buy or sell land to people in charge of running the city.
Thank god the state of New Jersey believes in Asbury Park leadership and keeps
giving state aid.
My other comment, would less expensive, out of county, lawyers have gotten us
the a higher price for the beach front and retrieved the Springwood Ave lots
free with eminent domain or time of essence letters for lack of payment in
full.
Does anybody know why the lots of Springwood Ave became the subject of a long
law suit? Was it the past city leaders or the city lawyers who dropped the ball.
In any case, at least the Westside will have fresh start, even if the tax
payers don't know what going on.
ASBURY PARK — The city and the company of the late power broker Philip Konvitz
have reached a court agreement for Asbury Park to pay $700,000 to get back 50
vacant Springwood Avenue lots on which Konvitz failed to build on from 1990
until his death at age 95 in 20
05.
Superior Court Judge Louis F. Locascio oversaw the settlement between Asbury
Shores and the city, which was agreed to late last month and the City Council
approved Wednesday night.
The city will tap into the $2 million it has received so far for affordable
housing and community projects from beachfront developer Asbury Partners, to
buy back the land located on approximately three blocks of the Springwood
Avenue corridor.
"The vote you just witnessed is a historic resolution for this city," said City
Manager Terence J. Reidy.
"Since July 4, 1970, Springwood Avenue has either been blighted or
underdeveloped, and this had a significant social impact on our city," Reidy
said, referring to the date of civil disturbances.
Councilman Ed Johnson said, "This settlement is living proof that the past is
over and we are moving on to the future."
There could be a holdup on the sale going through if a third party, Somerset
Development Corp. of Lakewood, decides to pursue an appeal of litigation over
the Springwood sites that started in 2002.
Somerset had contracted to buy the property to build market rate housing. But
Asbury Park residents in 2005 objected to the plan and the city developed a new
Springwood Avenue Redevelopment Plan under Councilman Johnson for the entire
seven or eight block-length of Springwood from Memorial Drive to the Neptune
boundary.
Robert D. Broege, the attorney for Konvitz's estate and companies, said
Somerset has 45 days to make an appeal. Ralph Zucker, Somerset's president,
declined20through a spokeswoman to comment.
"I do think everyone's happy that it's done," Broege said. "We hope it will do
some good for Asbury Park."
When negotiations to settle the continuing litigation began in September in
Locascio's chambers, it appeared at first that Somerset might make a new deal
to pay off Asbury Shores and start building on the land according to the new
city plan.
But the city responded with certain financial and performance assurances for
such an agreement and Somerset walked away.
Somerset had sought in 2007 to get Superior Court Judge Lawrence M. Lawson to
force the city to transfer Asbury Shore's rights to Somerset. But Lawson ruled
against Somerset. It is that decision, after a series of mediation and
negotiation attempts, Somerset may still appeal.
"We want to get construction going," said Deputy Mayor James Bruno. "Now that
we've got the land, it's time to do the plan."
Konvitz, a friend of the late Asbury Park Mayor Thomas Smith, started building
small two-bedroom town houses on Springwood in 1990. He built 15 of 75 homes
priced in the neighborhood of $75,000, but could not sell them. He shut down
his efforts and said many years later he had lost more than $300,000.
Konvitz was to have paid the city $750,000 for the land, but that never
happened. Instead, he was given a credit for infrastructure work to offset the
price of the land. He certified in April 1998 that the amount of money he had
spent for infrastructure was $139,848.
Asbury Shores did start payi
ng taxes on the 50 lots after they were transferred to the company in 1999 in
anticipation that Konvitz would build.
In the 1990s, when Konvitz did not build, the barren landscape of the
once-popular Springwood continued to be marked by poverty and drug dealing. It
is only in the past few years that the avenue is taking a new direction under
the city's new development plan and the interest of such groups as Interfaith
Neighbors and its partner New Jersey Natural Gas to help rebuild the city's
west side.
Konvitz's last agreement in 1998 with the city required him to build at least
18 new town houses and a food market, neither of which he did. The agreement
also stipulated that if he died, the city could end its contract with his
company at that time with no penalty.
Konvitz, however, assigned his rights and property first to a company called
Waterfront Conservation Commission, which in turn by 2005 assigned the rights
to Somerset.
None of the assignments were approved by the city as required. Later, William
Northgrave, a lawyer for the city, said in court documents that "the assignment
of the property in breach of the redevelopment agreement" is the essential part
of this litigation.
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