Subprime Fiasco Claims Glenwood Power Station Developer By Hezi Aris

YONKERS, NY – Hoboken, New Jersey-based real estate development firm REMI Companies, designated developer of the Glenwood Power Station site has been caught in the fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis. “Hey, we are still afloat,” said Kaiser.

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“We are starting to turn around and we have seen most of the worst,” said Kaiser, divulging that his loan portfolio has shrunk to $150 million from the $211 million last year. The subprime crisis has hit the meteoric rise of the REMI Companies, exacting REMI Chairman Erik A. Kaiser to pull away from his “development option” for the Glenwood Power Station property. He earlier this week closed offices in Paterson, Union City, Plainfield, and Elizabeth and consolidated his REMI Home Loans mortgage operation at its Hoboken, New Jersey headquarters. Furthermore, the company laid off 70 people, including 50 commission-based sales agents, and now has 10 staffers and 20 sales agents.

Coincidentally, at the same time as the Community Development Agency advises the public of the Alexander Street Development Project, the northernmost focal point of the development site is in limbo, stalled by Kaiser’s inability or desire to pay owner Kenneth Capolino’s price to develop the project thereby slowing an aspect of the project until a new buyer, a future neighbor to the Hudson River Museum, may be found.

REMI Companies and RiverOak Investment Corporation in July 2007 announced that construction had begun at Velocity at Greystone, also known as the Millenium Tower Project. It is a nine-story, 79-unit luxury rental apartment building located at 1077 Warburton Avenue. Velocity at Greystone is a fully funded project. The YIDA Website lists the completion of this project in 2007.

The $24 million project, located adjacent to the Greystone Metro-North train station is to offer nine studio apartments, 54 one-bedroom apartments, 13 two-bedroom units and three three-bedroom apartments. An underground garage is to contain 112 parking spaces for residents. The site sat vacant for more than two years after several other projects stalled during construction.

Velocity at Greystone is REMI Companies' second project in Yonkers. In May the company presented plans to the community for Better at Glenwood, a mixed-use development that was to be built on the former site of the Glenwood Power Station. Velocity at Greystone is made possible through the financial assistance of the Yonkers Industrial Development Agency (YIDA). YIDA is providing REMI Companies with partial real property tax abatement through a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreement, an exemption from construction-related sales taxes, and an exemption from the New York State mortgage recording tax.

When Yonkers Tribune / Westchester Times Tribune’s editor weeks ago asked Lamont Blackstone if he had incorporated subprime figures and financial circumstances relevant to the financial climate regarding the SFC Yonkers Project, he said he did not. The relevance of that inquiry has been made salient by the very circumstances delineated above.

Yonkers City Council President Chuck Lesnick advised that he had heard rumors to the difficulties REMI Companies were experiencing yet was unaware of the companies most recent state of affairs. Lesnick stated he was aware that there are developers interested in the purchase of the property.

Robert MacFarlane, President and CEO of Homes of America Housing today advised that he is interested in purchasing the property. MacFarlane specified his interest in salvaging as much of the historic relevance of the property as may be saved.

City Hall spokesperson Amanda Modugno advised that Mayor Phil Amicone was  unaware of the REMI Companies’ difficulties..

Yonkers Industrial Development Agency, and Majority Leader Patricia McDow, Councilwoman representing District 1, in which the project was to have been built, have not returned telephone inquiry.

Comments

Hezi, you asked the "64 thousand
dollar question" and from the
comfort of my home I stood and
cheered. I have a question myself:
do these elected officials live in a parallel
universe? Do they watch the news
and read the financial pages?
This mayor likes to brag about
being an engineer. Well I
thought that engineers were good
at math and logic...did he miss
that class. They had better
wake-up this financial mess is
going to get a lot worse before
it ever gets better. Time to
start saving our pennies.

3:11 Don't blame the mayor for a developer having financial problems.The smartest guys in world finance did not see the crisis coming and the scariest part is they don't know how to fix it and how bad it could turn out to be.As an investor I have lost all confidence in the decision making of CEOs of large financial institutions and the federal reserve.

7:01 Don't blame the mayor? He ran a campaign based on development, education, and crime.
Check out the paper today. Didn't he say the schools were doing SO much better? The residents of Riverdale Avenue will give you the crime views.
Yes, I voted for him BUT.. the mayor has to take some of the blame if he wants to take all of the credit.
I do expect some positive signs within the next few months, not just rhetoric and pictures.

“Robert MacFarlane, President and CEO of Homes of America Housing today advised that he is interested in purchasing the property. MacFarlane specified his interest in salvaging as much of the historic relevance of the property as may be saved.” The Landmarks Board has recommended that the Council Landmark this property. They have not acted out of difference to REMI’s statement that they would preserve the base of the building. MacFarlane has stated on other occasions that he would preserve most of the building including the smokestacks as he has on his project in Hartford. The Council ought to act now to landmark the building before the current owner sells an option to someone else.

The council should also landmark the block accross the street from Philpse Manor Hall.

Post 3:11 I am not blaming the mayor for not
seeing this crises coming. I'm blaming him
for denying it's here. He should start to look
at things as they are and not the way he wants
them to be. The party is over.

I don't think this mayor ever had an erector
set as a kid. It seems he is hell bent on
tearing this city apart and rebuilding it.
t

Can't stand Glenwood. Landmark smoke stacks? Wow, that's twisted. Why not landmark Indian Point next? It's an ode to pollution, landmarking the smoke stacks.
The bottom part of the building looks elegant, but the stacks - give me a break!

An "investor" above said he/she doesn't have faith in CEO's anymore. Well, what else is new that they are not connected to their clientelle. There's a major disconnect. Those "corporate leaders" insulate themselves from the rungs of society that must borrow. So now they have to pay for that arrogance and greed. It truly was/is predatory lending. Can't blame the consumer every time for getting in over their heads - terms weren't fully illustrated for a reason - a trap was set that way.

HELP!! Someone please call Scenic Hudson
before our view is completely blocked by ugly
cement structures.

7:19 You lose the arguement of blaming the mayor for a world financial crisis and now you want to blame the mayor for the social meltdown of blacks nationwide.Low test scores and high crime rates in areas heavily populated by blacks, is not a Yonkers problem, it is problem created by the leftist extremists in the Democratic Party who excused black racial riots, drug use,out of wedlock births and disrespect for all authority.

Guy named Marco was shot in the knee in a driveby shooting Thursday night near 195 Hoover Road, Homefiled. Is this story being withheld from the press by Phil???

I agree with the above. Not a word on Snooze 12
or the JN only by a blogger on this site.
The homeowners in that area should demand
answers or the situation will only escalate.

Whoever thinks that the Glenwood power plant smoke stacks are ugly needs a lesson in history and in aesthetics.
They are THE Yonkers Landmark on the River, can be seen for miles, and yes, are a testament to Yonkers gritty past as an industrial giant.
The railroad and Yonkers factories it served, including Otis, Alexander Smith, Waring Hat and the sugar factory, attracted immigrants and others to Yonkers, leading to the diverse population and neighborhoods we enjoy today.
They gave us jobs and created wealth which helped many a family climb from poverty up through the working class and beyond.
Most of Yonkers long time families had relatives working in these factories, or for Con Ed and Yonkers Power when the Glenwood plant was helping fuel our prosperity.

The industrial revolution is a reality, and cutting the smokestacks off doesn't change that reality or the history they represent.
Why not celebrate that history instead, as other cities have successfully done, keep the smokestacks and create an exciting destination out of the old power plant?

to 2:15

well said!!

Here is a really dumb comment:

"it is problem created by the leftist extremists in the Democratic Party who excused black racial riots, drug use,out of wedlock births and disrespect for all authority."

Sounds like Hickabee to me.

In fact the problem is created by the morons who write stupid bigoted comments.

******* ATTENTION MAYOR AMICONE ******

Phil,

The Daily News reported that Streit's Kosher Factory is looking to expand outside of NYC where it's been since 1929 or so. This is major, major manufacturer. So maybe you can give a call to the Rabbi down there and attract them to Yonkers industrial sites.

Col Von Ryan

How much will the rabbi have to pay him? To get all of the bonus money from yonkers. At the cost to us taxpayers

3:50 No more excuses COMRADE for country after country, that have sufferred under communism.Without the black vote, the leftists in the Democratic Party would not have the power they now have.

WHAT????

SFC is at its strong arm tactics again, trying to bully the City Council. It didn't work last year and it won't work this year.

Now Apicella claims if the environmental review "takes one year, we are out of there."

Well Joe maybe if you had proposed a reasonable community friendly project that didn't make mincemeat of the current downtown Master Plan it wouldn't take so long!

As for "Apicella said SFC has found widespread support for the project in a series of community meetings," Joe's nose must have grown noticeably longer. There was actually widespread opposition voiced at all the community meetings. The reporter should have and could have checked out that claim.

More proof why it is so important to have a public record of all these meetings.

i think yonkers should
have taller larger buildings.

the plan presented calls for
a 25 story building. It is much
better looking than the collins
apts on the waterfront.

there are many in the community who
like what they see and want to see
it built

Oh yeah, poster 2:15, you think the smoke stacks symbolize Yonkers? The past of hard working families is tied to their presence? Ugh, I don't think so. Rapsodize all you want about it, they are ugly and falling down, ready to collapse. They have as much beauty as a dumpster, which was their function anyway for pollutants to spew. And you are so happy so see them from far far away? Wierd. Just move next to Indan Point and admire the "beauty" of that contraption while you're at it, and start planning to landmark that since it also fuels a lot of hard working families....blah blah blah. Utterly outrageous.

poster 4:03 you are right. Some of the city hall activists are so mean and tough, that it's hard to speak up without them coming after you. They want it that way, so it looks like they are the majority, when they are not. Many I have spoken to want the developments but don't want the hassle of the city hall stuff. I watch from my house, and some of those community members are really mean and extreme. Probably some of them post on this site to keep up the nasty opposition. OK, so come after me now. Guess thats what they want to do with people who disagree with them.

The ones people see speaking on ch78 at meetings don't represent the community.

I would like to know what groups they are speaking for?

You think SFC is at strong arm tactics?
You ain't seen anything yet.
just Wait till Jan. 02, 2008