When I read that the demolition permit had a June, 2008 date crossed out and
handwritten in was a January, 2009 date, and, in addition, that the original
L&I supervisor's name (Gallagher from the Western District) had also been
crossed out and replaced with the name Perry Cocco, who works out of the 11th
and Wharton office of L&I, I smelled a rat and decided to do a little
googling. I think that the neighborhood now has good reason to fear what will
be
proposed for that site when the historically-contributing building there is
demolished. Just a few facts to ponder:
-The site was bought by Thylen Associates, a New York-based developer in
Jan., 2008 for $3,500,000.
Can you imagine what kind of a project they need to assure them of a decent
return on an investment of this magnitude?
-Thylan, Campenella and a man named Sean D. McDougall jointly developed
a site at 13th and Race called the Lithograph Lofts, the renovation of an old
factory structure into residences.
-Sean McDougall is the owner of a company called Minsec Corrections
Corp., based in Wallingford. Their business is in what they call "Community
Corrections Facilities", which are essentially privately-run jails located in
,
guess what?, "communities"! They also run drug re-hab facilities. Their web
site (_www.minsec.com_ (http://www.minsec.com) ) explains how their expertise
lies in locating and purchasing sites and building these correctional
facilities in co-operation with local government. (Are we starting to have
any
flashbacks yet to the deal Campenella worked out with Jannie Blackwell over the
proposed shelter at 45th and Chestnut St., a deal that was astonishing in its
attempt to circumvent city laws, but only defeated because of local
opposition.) The Minsec website also touts Mr. McDougall as the head of a
multi-million dollar real estate enterprise.
-Campenella has a drug distribution conviction from 1993 ( a youthful
indiscretion no doubt - he was only in his forties at the time) and most
recently (2007) was charged with paying a $20,000 bribe to a city tax assessor
to
lower the assessments on 4 different properties he owns by millions of
dollars. The news accounts suggest that he pled guilty to the charges but I
haven't
been able to confirm that. He appears to be a free man, so I guess he
didn't get the full 5 years that was the maximum for this crime of corrupting
a
public official.
It seems pretty clear to me that the current owners of 4224 Baltimore had
requested a permit to demolish last year with the expectation that the hotel
project was close to a done deal, that the precedent for large non-residential
projects had been established and that their project would thus be likely to
win approval. Of course, the tough fight against the hotel upset their
timetable and they had to get a new permit, one starting in January this year.
I
think one would have to be awfully naive not to suspect that the fix is
probably in on the hotel project and that these guys have gotten the word.
They
are now set to proceed on whatever they have planned for two
nineteenth-century
structures and one of the last plots of open land in our community.
Mary
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