>From the info in the article, Somerset's plan sounds best.
--- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
>
> 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.Â
> 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 â" 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.
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
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