McLaughlin and Barbato Remain Two Key Votes Needed to Pass SFC’s LDA

With the summer season upon us and a budget battle behind them, the City Council’s next big issue will be the Struever Fidelco Cappelli (SFC) $400 million development plan for downtown Yonkers. The council had been working for the past few weeks to amend and adopt a budget, and can now turn its full attention to SFC and the Land Disposition Agreement (LDA), which lays out the project’s terms, payments and benefits to both the city and the developers.

Currently, three members of the council — Council President Chuck Lesnick and council members Patricia McDow and John Murtagh —  appear to support the LDA, while councilwomen Sandy Annabi and Joan Gronowski are opposed. (McDow, however, has recently expressed concerns about the affordable housing component of the plan … more to follow.)

Republican council members Liam McLaughlin and Dee Barbato remain the swing votes, and the two votes needed to pass the LDA. Five council votes are needed because the LDA includes the sale of city property.

While negotiations continue between Mayor Phil Amicone, SFC and the City Council, both Barbato and McLaughlin remain on the fence with serious concerns.

“My concerns are all about the revenue streams in this project. This isn’t what we all signed on for, we thought this was going to bring in a definitive revenue stream,” said Barbato.

Both Barbato and McLaughlin’s concerns regard whether or not the LDA is a good deal for the people of Yonkers. Below are some of the pros and cons of the LDA, all of which are factors both Barbato and McLaughlin are considering.

Pro: The SFC project will create jobs, business activity and vitality to an economically depressed part of the city. The increased traffic could “lift the tide” of other businesses, creating more spending, and sales taxes, in Yonkers.

Con: The project is no longer a guaranteed $1.6 billion development plan. Due to economic conditions, a minimum development guarantee of $400 million is in the LDA.

Pro: The development of the SFC plan would give a boost to the downtown waterfront in Yonkers, the gem that remains underutilized. While there has been some development in the downtown/waterfront district there’s isn’t enough critical mass for a vibrant business and residential district. New office buildings on Main Street are up for sale, and other property owners are waiting and wondering what to do next. The SFC plan would give the boost to the downtown needed so that other projects can follow.

Con: SFC has to layout very little of their own money to move forward with the project under the LDA. Many of the upfront payments by SFC have been removed or modified in the LDA. 

Pro: The $400 million minimum development includes building River Park Center at Chicken Island, a new firehouse at the Cacace center across from City Hall and parking near and around City Hall and River Park Center. At least one residential tower will also be built, along with some form of Minor League Baseball stadium.

Con: One of the biggest pieces of city responsibility to the SFC plan is the $162 million in bonds the city will float to pay for the infrastructure improvements to the downtown. The total cost of the improvements is $212 million, with SFC using anticipated credits from the project to pay the $50 million.

Pro: The construction of residential housing, be it rentals at River Park Center, and/or condos on the riverfront, would bring in new residents, who live, shop and do business in downtown Yonkers. The residential component is currently lacking in the downtown, and a vibrant downtown has activity 24/7.

Con: According to the LDA, SFC has to attempt to secure financing for their project. If they cannot secure financing, they can sit on the two riverfront properties (H&I) that are considered the most valuable piece to the entire plan.

Concerns about how SFC intends to regulate the affordable housing portion of their residential plan have recently come to light. In the LDA, the affordable housing units would transfer to market rate housing after 15 years. McDow called the 15 years “absurd. Fifteen years is a blink of the eye, I was looking for 30 years, which is a good standard.”

“They [SFC] need to come back with something that’s workable for the city,” said McDow, whose vote for the LDA is crucial for passage.

Over the past few months of negotiations, SFC has remained silent, preferring to attempt to win over enough council votes behind closed doors. But the people of Yonkers are talking about SFC.

“I hear from a lot of people two recurring thoughts. One is that this a sweetheart deal for SFC. They are getting everything they want, but who is looking out for us?,” said an unnamed source in City Hall. “And two, how long will this go on for? When will the council vote on this, or when will SFC finally quit?”

SFC’s LDA Made Available to Public, But Negotiations Continue

To view the latest draft of SFC’s LDA, follow the link below: http://www.cityofyonkers.com/index.aspx?page=2025

This LDA is the one that the City Council reviewed over the weekend, but it is unlikely that it will be the final version, as the five votes needed for its passage have yet to be secured, even with recent SFC concessions to build a residential tower at Chicken Island and to build a more substantially complete stadium.

The votes of three on the council – Dee Barbato, John Murtagh and Liam McLaughlin — will be the deciding factors on whetheror not the SFC/LDA will pass.

The developers, and the mayor, need all three votes in order to secure five votes for its passage, which will be combined with Council President Chuck Lesnick’s and Councilwoman Pat McDow’s votes.

Barbato and McLaughlin have asked for detailed revenue figures from the minimum development proposed in the LDA of around $400 million. They have also asked for a detailed list of incentives and infrastructure improvements to be paid for by the city, in the hopes of making a informed decision on whether or not the project is good for the city.

Several on the council have also asked for more time to review the LDA, so the finanical deadline of May 20th from SFC is no longer an issue.

Several new developments were uncovered at the council’s Real Estate Committee meeting last night:

The council is not even close to voting the LDA out of the Real Estate Committee for a  vote up or down — time is needed to read and review the LDA, and to try tonegotiate terms that could win over McLaughlin, Barbarto and Murtagh — remember all three are needed, if, as expected, Sandy Annabi and Joan Gronowski vote no.

This will require serious negotiations and more concessions on SFC’s part. The sale price of city land and properties, and the two-year hold that SFC will have on the city before they are required to build are two issues of concern.

Eminent domain (ED) also came up at the Real Estate Committee meeting, with concerns raised by Gronowski and Murtagh (Murtagh has submitted a resolution against any ED use for devleopment projects with incentives). While Lesnick explained that this deal always had an ED component, if it’s inclusion means that Murtagh votes no on the LDA, the deal’s dead.

Several members of the City Council met with Mayor Phil Amicone earlier in the day, with no resolution. While the mayor wants the council to vote on the LDA, Lesnick realizes that there aren’t five votes, not even close to passing it at this time.

So we wait …

Council Approves State Grants Applications for Old Library/Mill Street and Greystone Condos Plans

The City Council, at their meeting on Tuesday night, approved two grant applicaitons for Restore New York grants totalling $10 million for two projects.

The first, to rehabilitiate the old library on Main Street and to redesign Mill Street, a semi-hidden dead end road behind the old library, and the creation of a pedestrian friendly ‘Italian Style Piazza’ on Mill Street, will cost $13.5 million. The Restore New York Grant application requests $5.4 million.

Sharon Ebert from the city’s planning department explained the grant proposal and said that the state has $150 million in restore grants that they are wanting to award and release over the next few months to help stimulate the New York economy. The grant applications are broken down by size of municipality and size of the grant request, those in excess of $10 million are separately reviewed. The total of both these applicaitons is just over $10 Million.

Ebert explained that the library would be cut into two parts, with SFC’s temporary HQ’s occuping the top of the old library, and displaced merchants and businesses from New Main Street occupying the ground floor. The appraised value of the old library and the Mill Street properties (not including a large property owned by Rising Development on Mill St) total $1.6 Million. SFC would be required to get financing for $4.4 million for thier share of this project.

City Councilwoman Joan Gronowski questioned whether SFC had show an ability to pay their portion of the old library-mill street rehab. The council voted 6-1 with Gronowski voting no to approve this grant application.

The Council next approved the Greyston NY Restore grant for their plan to build 100+ units of affordable condos along Warburton Avenue. A deal to preserve several buildings owned by Greyston at the proposed site and keep them as part of the Philpse Manor Historic District are very close to completion. This project total cost is $41.4 Million, with a $4.6 Million grant application. Of the two grants, the Greyston application is deemed to be a bit more attractive to the state because it provides housing to the workforce community.

Councilman Murtagh commented that on a visit to the historic buildings, he found one filled with garbage and excrement on the first floor. Stephen Brown of Greyston assured Murtagh that the property was being cleaned up. The council voted 7-0 voted for the Greyston grant application.

Wild Turn of Events With SFC’s LDA — Five on Council Now Support Modified LDA

SFC project and stadium-alive and kicking

It has been a wild, and wildly unreported, last 72 hours in Yonkers politics, specfically concerning downtown development. As of Monday, six members of the City Council had serious concerns about the Land Disposition Agreement, LDA, negotiated between Mayor Phil Amicone and developers SFC.  It appeared that the LDA would not be passed, and that the entire project was in jeopardy.

On Monday, SFC attorney Al DelBello wrote a memo to the city council in response to their letter by 6 opposing the LDA. Were are in the process of obtaining the letter, but the gist of it was that while SFC viewed all of the council’s concerns and LDA suggestions, over excessive, that SFC wished to negotiate directly with the council, new LDA terms. Mayor Amicone was not CC’d on the letter, nor notified by SFC of its origin.

On Tuesday, this sent the Mayor through the roof, and he called SFC representatives to tell them, in no uncertain terms, how PO’d he was about their efforts to divert his involvement.

later on Tuesday, the Mayor gets a call from Louis Cappelli. Cappelli claims that he knew nothing of the council letter, and offers to come to Yonkers immediately. Note: Cappelli has only been to Yonkers/City Hall on two other occassions over the past 3 years of SFC negotiations.

Cappelli rushes to Yonkers to save the project and win back the Mayor’s support. He lays his cards on the table, saying that he need this project in Yonkers, above and beyond his Catskills plan.

Negotiations ensue, with a plan that they hoped would win a majority of the council’s support. The two major details of the plan, are to add the following to the minimum development requirements in the LDA.

I-build the entire stadium, or at least a roof to the shell proposed.

II-to build a residential component, and construct one of the proposed towers, presumably at River Park Center/Chicken Island/Getty Square

Note: The specific details of this revised LDA have not been released to the public, but these two pieces above have been confirmed to Rising Times.

The Council is briefed on the revised LDA before their meeting on Tuesday. The council meeting on Tuesday night ran long, and was heated, with councilmembers exchanges shouts and accusations, most notably between CCP Lesnick and Councilman Murtagh.

The debate covered a proposal to provide SFC with a sec 108 housing loan of several million to help float their project while they obtain their multi-hundred million bank loan. After the debate the vote for the loan to SFC was 5-2 with Councilwoman Sandy Annabi and Joan Gronowksi voting no.

Several sources have confirmed their belief that the revised LDA now has 5 votes for approval. The Council will hold a public hearing on the LDA on May 5th.

Yonkers Developers, Listen Up!

Many Yonkers residents believe that the $1.6 billion redevelopment plan currently proposed for downtown Yonkers could be the answer to their prayers for a much-needed area renaissance. I believe that to be true, but along with great improvements come great waiting periods, so in the meantime, I also believe there are reasonable steps that could be taken to make Yonkers the commuter-friendly, much-happening hotspot that young professionals who moved here from Manhattan had hoped it would be:

1)    Going Postal – The oppressively long lines at the Yonkers Post Office offers those of us in the BlackBerry-wielding set the chance to have the life sucked out of our lunch hour while we fantasize about that magical “Brigadoon”-esque time of day when the lines disappear and we get service that is speedy and not Harlem-like (I’ve lived there, so I know). Young professionals are fast-moving and enjoy crossing tasks off our to-do lists, so why not install an Automated Postal Center for those of us self-reliants who have our envelopes and packages (and our debit cards) ready to go and just need the official USPS stamp of approval?

2)    Coffee (Money) Makers – As corporate as it is, Starbucks is uber-popular because people enjoy having more choices when it comes to their morning java. Opening a Starbucks or a Dunkin’ Donuts (if American runs on it, why not Yonkers?) would infuse the area with caffeinated commerce, and give workers an extra boost before they clock in, making for an all-around perkier neighborhood.

3)    More Food Choices – There’s a reason why Andiamo, at 61 Main St., is always crammed at lunchtime (other than its close quarters) – Yonkers professionals care about what they put in their bodies. We need more places like that and Pass Me Not International Green Market (15 Main St.); otherwise, it’s a choice between McDonald’s and pizza. Not to mention the fact that there is no supermarket in the downtown area. I’m all for supporting the mom-and-pop markets, but I can’t expect them to be open at 8 or 9 p.m., when I’m craving mint chocolate chip ice cream or reduced-price sushi. And can I be so bold as to suggest a Jamba Juice?

4)    A Little Help for the Car-less – Speaking of hours of operation, much like NYC’s Wall Street/Battery Park area, most merchants and services in downtown Yonkers shut down around 6 p.m., which leave those of us without a car virtually stranded. For example, the Bee-Line doesn’t offer a through-line bus after 5:30 p.m., so if I want to take a trip to Stew Leonard’s after work or hit the mall or a movie, my options are rather limited. Now if the MTA would offer evening buses out of Getty Square, I’d be a happy camper … er, commuter.

5)    Movies, Anyone? – A movie theatre downtown would be the perfect solution to finding ample after-work options in the downtown area. The Yonkers Downtown Waterfront BID had it right this summer when they offered outdoor movies, but we need our flicks fix year-round! Build a movie complex and model it after the Cinema de Lux at National Amusements City Center 15 in White Plains: Include comfortable couches in the lobby and a bar and restaurant, so cinephiles can grab a drink or a bite beforehand — a bite that doesn’t involve nachos and Goobers (don’t worry, junk mavens, they have those there as well).

Certainly, with $1.6 billion of development, the City of Yonkers will be given a real opportunity to flourish. But until the ribbons are cut, I urge our city services and merchants to consider making the above adjustments. We need a Yonkers that can keep up with the multitask-happy pace of a resident looking to maintain career, wellness and a social life on a day-to-day basis.  

Make YonkersRising.com your local resource.

 

Amicone vs. Gronowski: “Can’t We All Just Get Along …”

    The political relationship between Mayor Phil Amicone and Councilwoman Joan Gronowksi has quickly deteriorated over the past 11 months, ever since Gronowski was elected to the council from the 3rd District.

    While there was never a chance for the two to invite each other over for dinner, the hope was that they could peacefully coexist. But those hopes are dashed with both the Gronowski and Amicone camps exchanging barbs, both in the media and off the record to Yonkersrising.com.
    Let’s remember that Gronowski worked in city government for 20 years before being fired by former Mayor John Spencer. Gronowski sued the city for wrongful termination and won.
    Amicone, who served as deputy mayor under Spencer, has had to deal with the baggage from the Gronowski-Spencer battle in his administration once Gronowski won the council seat.
    On the record, Gronowski told the Home News & Times that she had not been invited to a recent council briefing by the mayor over the Struever Fidelco Cappelli (SFC) development project.
    While the mayor has publicly admitted that Gronowski was not invited, officially the briefing was for the council leadership of President Chuck Lesnick, Majority Leader Sandy Annabi, and Minority Leader Liam McLaughlin. Councilwoman Pat McDow was also invited because of her role as co-chair of the Council Real Estate Committee.
    Off the record, the Rising Times blog has heard a lot of grumblings from both sides. They include:

I-From the Mayor’s Camp: “Joan will never forget and forgive her firing, which she now blames on the mayor. With this as a backdrop, it’s impossible for them to work together on anything. Her vote against the FEIS was the last straw.”

II-From a City Council Source: “The mayor’s latest episode with Councilwoman Gronowski is another example of how bad relations are between the mayor and the council. While the mayor has some allies on the council, there’s no one willing to carry his water and go to bat for him, partly because of his treatment, by him and his staff, of council members like Joan. The mayor should realize that the council needs to work together, and they can’t support his shunning of her.”
     Back on the record, the mayor did hold a separate meeting with Gronowski to update her on the progress of drafting a Land Disposition Agreement (LDA) for the SFC project. (See our other entry entitled “SFC update.”)
     Another thorn between the two is Gronowski’s inquisitions into the use of city-owned vehicles and the civil service hiring practices of the Amicone administration. And on both issues, Gronowski’s actions are supported by the vast majority of Yonkers residents, and by Yonkersrising.com.
     To the mayor’s credit, his administration has reduced the size of the city’s car fleet and has reduced the number of non-civil service employees in City Hall.
     While tensions between the two remain strained, let us end with the hope that during this holiday season, “Can’t we all just get along?”

SFC Update

     Tonight, the Yonkers City Council Real Estate Committee met and set a date for next Wednesday, November 5, to vote on the Findings Statement for the SFC redevelopment project. While the council has reviewed the massive $1.6 billion plan for downtown Yonkers for more than one year, the vote next week will be the first in which the people of Yonkers find out where the council stands on this project.    

     A previous vote last month to accept the Final Environmental Impact Statement as complete was not a vote for or against the project, just a vote to conclude the environmental review. The council vote on accepting the FEIS was 5-2, with Councilwomen Sandi Annabi and Joan Gronowski voting no.

     Whether or not Annabi or Gronwoski’s “no” vote is a prelude to their opposing the project is anyone’s guess, and it is still unclear what the final vote is on the Findings Statement, which outlines some of the details of what the council would like to see as part of a final agreement between the developers and the city.
     But it is expected that there will be at least four votes to approve a findings statement next Wednesday. This would move the project along to the next step, which would be for the council to approve a Land Disposition Agreement (LDA) for the SFC plan.

     The LDA is where the details of the project are finalized, after negotiations between the mayor, the council and SFC. Mayor Amicone, in an effort to move along the process, has begun to draft an LDA and has had briefings on it with the City Council (these meetings are the subject of our other blog entry — mayor and Gronowski).
     Eventually, all parties must get together and negotiate the term of the LDA. These sessions have not yet begun, in part because parts of the Findings Statement will determine the details of the LDA.
     Look for LDA negotiations to take some time, because the council and the developer remain far apart on a few issues. They include:

I-Affordable housing — SFC has proposed that 6 percent of the residential units they build be set aside for affordable housing. The City Council has proposed 20 percent, led by Councilwoman McDow on this issue. The developers claim that 20 percent won’t work. An agreement north of 10 percent is the most likely outcome.

II-Yonkers Fire Department (YFD) — Yonkers Firefighters Local 628 President Hugh Fox has commented again and again at council meetings on his concern about the ability of his members to safeguard the community if the SFC project is built, without more manpower and equipment. We’re hearing mixed messages from within the Fire Department on SFC, and while Fox is opposed to the project, without increases to the YFD budget, others claim that SFC is already doing enough (building a new firehouse and fire headquarters) to more than adequately protect the public. More on this in next week’s Home News & Times.
    The issue remains unresolved, with several councilmembers questioning the SFC plan for the YFD, based on Fox’s comments.

III-Sale of land by the city to SFC — In order to build their project, SFC must acquire several parcels of land from the city. This includes parcels in and around Getty Square and Chicken Island, and riverfront property downtown.
    It’s the riverfront properties, known as parcels H&I, that are the most valuable asset. With a looming budget deficit facing the city, look for the City Council to try and negotiate a multimillion-dollar payment for the H&I parcels to ease next year’s budget pain.

    The issue of the landmarking of 87 Nepperhan Ave. appears to have fizzled, with a majority on the council not in favor of landmarking. No council vote has been planned to designate 87 Nepperhan a landmark, an indication that council may take a pass on this issue.

Councilwoman Gronowski Explains ‘No’ Vote on SFC FEIS

Read this week’s Home News & Times to read our interview with Coucilwoman Joan Gronowski concerning her “no” vote on the SFC Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS).

You can download the full paper in PDF format at www.RisingMediaGroup.com. The story is on page 3.

 

 

Councilwoman Joan Gronowski