One Point Street, a 14.6 acre parcel located along the banks of the majestic Henry Hudson River in Yonkers, was since the 1890‘s a manufacturing site. It was used from 1999-2007 as a stage for the film industry, and eventually became a vision for economic development that would promise its transformation would become the northernmost jewel of the much talked about Alexander Street Waterfront Development. The vision for a mixed use development site (residential, retail, and recreational) has long been espoused.for the property. Five years later, the land cleanup has been completed. The challenge now is to complete the underwater dredging . The exact depth has not yet been surmised, neither has the distance from the shoreline. Further, the cost to dredge the sludge, dry it, and transport it off the property was not mentioned. When asked by this reporter if the $15 - $20 million allotted for the final phase was sufficient for brownfield mediation, Paul Adler of Blackacre Partners Ops, LLC, a firm retained as the General Contactor to oversee and manage the remediation process, asserted the funds are sufficient for completion. That begins the hurdles that must be overcome; one greater than the next.
Mr. Adler advises that a firm that will undertake the dredging operation will have been chosen during the first weeks in March 2010. Should Mr Adler not be able to conclude a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) contract with such a company, the cost of the dredging process may exceed the Cost Cap insurance policy issued by AIG, now known as Chartis.
The cost of extracting the PCBs, lead, and other contaminants is crucial to the saleability of the site. The purchase price for the property is slated to be in the $25 million range. If an underwater cleanup firm will not agree to a GMP, any and all potential buyers of the property are likely to flinch. This is because costs may exceed the liability cap. Once the cap is reached, less approximately $5 million to pay for stewardship of the property until the brownfield mitigation is completed, a suit to pry loose some of the funds set aside by Freeport-McCormack, successor to the original contaminantor, BICC Cables.would stall the project for years.
Mr Adler further pointed out that his firm will soon send out Request for Proposals (RFPs) to potential buyers of the property. In an article published January 27, 2010 in Real Estate Weekly, Blackacre Partners is said to have contacted Robert DeNiro, who along with Harvey Weinstein, were the previous owners of the Hudson River Stage (The Blue Cube) whose structure resides within the One Point Street property.
Mr Adler may not remember that it was the Yonkers Tribune that was one of the first to divulge the purchase consummated by Mssrs DeNiro and Weinstein with BICC Cables in London. The purchase was not accepted by Yonkers Mayor Phil Amicone and his economic development guru Ed Sheeren. City Hall promised Mssrs DeNiro and Weinstein no cooperation.
K. Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc., the home builder and developer was designated the owner of the property after the departure of Mssrs. DeNiro and Weinstein, but Hovnanion’s own corporate mission statement forbade them development of such a site. This was another scoop divulged in the virtual pages of the Yonkers Tribune.
After Hovnanian departed the scene, Robert MacFarlane, of the now defunct Homes for America came forward. He was also despised by City Hall and Ed Sheeren.
No matter what, City Hall would advise its minions to bring MacFarlane to his knees. The brownfield mitigation was stalled. The Community Development Agency (CDA), at the behest of Commissioner Lou Kirven, caused the environmental impact study that was supposed to be concluded by AKRF to atrophy for over 1 1/2 years, exhausting MacFarlane’s nearly $1 billion Point Street Landing project to implode under Homes for America’s imminent collapse.
It must be noted that Ed Sheeren, shamed in Ireland by a golf course project that failed, upon arriving in America, with former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer’s assistance talked the talk of development in Yonkers. Little was accomplished under his tenure. He was cast out of City Hall only to be a “hush hush” consultant spoken to from the back door at Mayor Amicone’s insistence. He is very active in Yonkers economic development projects still.
Prior to Mr Adler sending out an RFP for purchase of the property, Mr Sheeren is desperately trying to work out a deal with Excelsior Packaging Group, a firm whose specialty is printing on flexible material, such as plastic, who employ almost 300 people at 159 Alexander Street. The owner, Ron Shemesh, has for many years been wooed by South Carolina to relocate with various inducements. Mr Sheeren, recognizing the cost of retraining staff, and the lengthy and cumbersome relocation process, is attempting to cajole Mr Shemesh purchase the One Point Street property. Such a purchase would extend Mr Sheeren’s influence and Mr Shemesh’s waterfront acreage. Mr Sheeren’s promise to Mr Shemesh is to relocate Mr Shemesh’s operation to some inland location in Yonkers, mitigating the need to retrain staff, shortening the transition time, and smothering the entire transaction at no cost to Mr Shemesh with a sweet PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes)..
City Hall is also most interested in inducing Bruce Ratner’s, Forest City Ratner (FCR) to make an investment for the property. They are comfortable working with FCR.FCR is very interested.
Louis Cappelli, gasping to survive under a $1 billion plus debt once expected to be given the nod is no longer part of the equation.
Interestingly enough, reaching the final phase of the brownfield mitigation process was not the catalyst that brought a Who’s Who of those invited to cast niceties upon one another. There was NYS Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis, Assembly Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions Chairman Richard Brodsky, NYS Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, NYS Assemblyman Gary Prelow, NYS Assemblyman Mike Spano,Yonkers Mayor Phil Amicone, Yonkers City Council President Chuck Lesnick, Yonkers City Council Majority Leader Patricia McDow, among those of lesser prominence.
Satellite Asset Management LP, Mr MacFarlane’s backers, maintained ownership of the property during and after Mr MacFarlane failure to meet the milestones agreed. Satellite Asset Management surviving the loss of Mr MacFarlane is on its last legs. It’s only asset is the One Point Street property.
One Point Street has been micromanaged by many people whose interests do not coalesce with tenets suggested are best to revive Yonkers’ waterfront and financial wherewithal.
The same elected officials, the same developers, and the same lobbyists were present. The ineptitude of past performance is unlikely to change for the public good in a city desperate to realize and celebrate success.
The February 18, 2010 press conference was as satisfying as blowing kisses across a room.
Stay tuned, there is so much more... I promise.
