Redevelopment Hype Not Valid
My take on Tuesday’s redevelopment presentation before the City Council is that it was misleading in terms of what has actually been accomplished.
The presentation leaned heavily on what might happen, but close observers will differ on the results so far.
The West Front Street office complex relied on a financing program whose terms were not met by December 2008, therefore no action hence. In addition, the developer has yet to acquire the two adjacent city-owned lots needed for the project.
Of the two Park Avenue Landmark projects, one still has a stop-work order and one has a big broken window that is not properly secured, but just has a piece of plywood behind the broken glass, which is still a potential hazard.
Unless Landmark has actually acquired the PNC Bank site, all talk of a Trader Joe’s and “hospitality” venues on the site are mere speculation and should not be included in a redevelopment report.
My biggest question is where is the Union County Improvement Authority in all this talk? The UCIA was designated in August 2006 as the entity in charge of Plainfield development, but nothing has been heard lately from the authority lately.
If anybody at City Hall can shed real light on these projects, please do so.
--Bernice Paglia
The presentation leaned heavily on what might happen, but close observers will differ on the results so far.
The West Front Street office complex relied on a financing program whose terms were not met by December 2008, therefore no action hence. In addition, the developer has yet to acquire the two adjacent city-owned lots needed for the project.
Of the two Park Avenue Landmark projects, one still has a stop-work order and one has a big broken window that is not properly secured, but just has a piece of plywood behind the broken glass, which is still a potential hazard.
Unless Landmark has actually acquired the PNC Bank site, all talk of a Trader Joe’s and “hospitality” venues on the site are mere speculation and should not be included in a redevelopment report.
My biggest question is where is the Union County Improvement Authority in all this talk? The UCIA was designated in August 2006 as the entity in charge of Plainfield development, but nothing has been heard lately from the authority lately.
If anybody at City Hall can shed real light on these projects, please do so.
--Bernice Paglia
posted by Bernice at 11:40 PM
8 Comments:
Us working for the City have no idea what ANY plans are, as nothing is written down, discussed with those working withs things and then what ever was told to you be changed the next time you hear about it. Bernice if it was not for you we would be TOTALLY in the dark of what happen, although we know is when they upper staff meets, they eat well.
The UCIA director Charlotte DeFillippo who is also the Union County Democratic chair,remains UNDER INVESTIGATION by the attorney general. In addition to being investigated for the no-show job as a legislative aide in the 20th Assembly district office of indicted Neil Cohen, whose former aide Roselle Council President Jamel Holley has also been indicted, she is under investigation for her interest in a title agency called Camelot she owned with Assemblyman Cryan, among others. So, any redevelopment project are "tainted" for now. Interesting that Jerry Green sold property to the UCIA under DeFillippo's leadership and pocketed over $700,000 for this project which has not come to fruition. These are the players, Bernice. It's not about redevelopment, it's about buying and selling properties at inflated prices for developments that will never get built.
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It's sad that the future of Plainfield seems to be in the hands of complete incompetents who are afraid of putting anything in writing. I'm positive that if they did, they're lack of leadership and organizational skills would be harshly evident.
Plainfield has many office spaces that are empty and in need of upgrading, so why are we trying to open new office complexes and where will the businesses come from to fill them? I'm sure we won't get any answers from this administration.
The City seems to be operating like a non-swimmer jumping into the deep end of the pool! Another analogy would be "jumbled confusion"?
So, you are going to vote for Pivnichy, Vastine and Marks, right? Remember, nothing changes if you keep doing the same old thing.
Jerry Green's buddy (and boss) Charlotte DeFillippo is busy raising money for the Charlotte DeFillippo Defense Fund since she will probably be indicted soon.
Leave it to Jerry and Sharon to continue to work with the UCIA when its head is under investigation. Who oversees the dealings of the UCIA, Bernice?
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