DING DING DING! Why would Christie try to TORPEDO the billion $ Fort Lee redevelopment

[pnwmom]

Last edited Mon Mar 31, 2014, 05:11 PM - Edit history (7)

with those awful traffic jams?

Probably not because the Mayor failed to endorse him.

More likely because David Samson, Port Authority head and founder of one of the biggest law firms in the state, has his thumb on every scale. He and Christie and Michele Brown have their fingerprints all over this.

What probably happened in Fort Lee was that the wrong developer won the proposal bidding process – wrong, as in a Chicago firm, Tucker Development, not a Christie/Samson crony.

Remember that Mayor Zimmer of Hoboken says Christie was pushing for the Rockefeller Group’s 3-block redevelopment plan to get expedited in Hoboken – at the expense of similar neighboring properties which would not be designated as needing redevelopment? The Rockefeller Group, which would benefit by being able to buy up adjoining properties more cheaply than if they were also upgraded to “redevelop” status (entitling them to special government benefits), is represented by David Samson’s law firm.

Well, it turns out that another player represented by Samson is involved in the Fort Lee development. A LOSING PLAYER. The 16 acres are owned in two parcels, one by the Chicago firm, Tucker Development, and another by Fort Lee Redevelopment Associates. The Borough of Fort Lee solicited proposals for either all or half of the site. The winning bidders – Tucker Development (for its project called “Hudson Lights”) and the Fort Lee Redevelopment Associates – are working on getting their properties financed.

Tucker was days away from getting approval for its millions in construction financing when someone in the Christie administration ordered the lane closures. The biggest selling point of both developments was easy access to the GWB, so daily traffic jams there – or Christie’s ability to do that at will – put in jeopardy all the financing. If the financing fell through, the Tuckers from Chicago and the Fort Lee Redevelopment Associates would join the list of developers over the decades who had tried and failed to develop the property.

Who would benefit? Silverstein Properties, whose losing bid contemplated developing the entire property, including the part owned by Tucker. And whom is Silverstein represented by? David Samson, attorney and head of the Port Authority. (And who is also a developer on NYC’s World Trade Center site? Silverstein. And who is in charge of the World Trade Center site? Samson, as head of the Port Authority.)

And to help facilitate this, Michele Brown, the completely unqualified Christie crony who Christie put in the job at the top of the Economic Development Authority – Christie’s eyes and ears.

Oh, what a tangled web they weave . . .

A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/18/nyregion/traffic-jam-investigator-offers-ulterior-motive.html
In the early 1970s, when Burt Ross was the mayor of Fort Lee, he was offered a $500,000 bribe by Norman Dansker, a developer who wanted zoning variances to build a retail and office complex on the 16-acre site. Mr. Ross alerted federal authorities, then wore a recording device in a sting operation that led to the conviction of Mr. Dansker and several other executives.

Harry Helmsley, the real estate mogul who owned the Helmsley hotels, later bought the land but did not build on it. His widow, Leona, sold the property in 2003 to a developer.

But that developer’s plans failed to materialize, too. By 2009, the elected official of Fort Lee had decided to press for something to be built on the site and solicited bids from developers.

They selected SJP Properties to construct the entire project. But Tucker Development, an Illinois builder that owned rights to the western half of the site, sued the borough and SJP.

The settlement of that suit left Tucker to build Hudson Lights, which will include 143,000 square feet of retail space and 247 apartments. Tucker broke ground in October, but construction has not yet begun.


THE COMPETING DEVELOPERS, TUCKER AND SILVERSTEIN

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/realestate/16njzo.html?adxnnl=1&ref=realestate&adxnnlx=1389907071-3WNpug1GJYB8z49lOo2ADA

Silverstein-Taubman, by contrast, envisions an upscale fashion retail center with a mix of restaurants, to attract “a large trade area of underserved New Jersey and New York shoppers.” There would be apartment units over the low-rise part of the retail center; two housing towers would be built in a latter phase.

SNIP

One obvious hurdle for the two proposals that would extend over the full 16 acres is Tucker’s ownership of the eight acres on the west.

Mr. Tucker made it clear in an interview that his company intended not to sell its property but to develop it — though perhaps in concert with partners.

The Tucker proposal, called Hudson Lights (for the green “necklace” of lights sparkling on the bridge at night), calls for 940,000 square feet of construction: 185,000 square feet of retailing, restaurants and a health club as well as 357 rental apartments and 170 condominiums.


TUCKER’S IN THE PROCESS OF OBTAINING FINANCING

http://www.msnbc.com/steve-kornacki/the-bridgegate-theory-you-havent-heard


There was good reason for the project to be on Sokolich’s mind. The redevelopment of the land has been laying out in several phases. Twin 47-floor towers are currently under construction on half of it, with residents expected to begin moving in late this year. But back in September, when the lanes were closed, financing had not yet been finalized for the redevelopment of the second half of land – a plan to build a mix of commercial, residential and parking facilities. Speedy access to the George Washington Bridge – and to those access lanes in particular – is what made the land particularly valuable, both to developers and potential tenants. A study commissioned by Fort Lee a year earlier had stressed that, once the site was redeveloped, anyone living or working at it would be able to drive to the bridge expeditiously even during rush hour. And in a brochure, the lead developer of the second half of the project – a development called Hudson Lights – played up its proximity to the bridge.

Notably, a Bergen Record report from last September 16 announced that financing had – after an unexpected delay – been finalized for the Hudson Lights portion of the redevelopment. That date – September 16 – came three days after New York officials at the Port Authority intervened to put an end to the lane closures.

SNIP

And that September closure, we can now say, didn’t simply complicate the everyday lives of Fort Lee residents. It potentially jeopardized the value and the future of a $1 billion redevelopment plan that has been the centerpiece of Sokolich’s mayoral agenda for years.



WHO IS DAVID SAMSON AGAIN?

The (former) Chairman of the Port Authority, David Samson is one of the people who showed up in the bridgegate emails. When the executive director of the PA ordered the lanes to the bridge opened up again, Wildstein sent an email saying that Samson was helping him "retaliate." But Samson says he has no idea what Wildstein meant and Christie says he believes him.

He was also, at the same time, a partner of the Wolff and Samson law firm, which seems to have its tentacles all over NJ.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/chris-christie-appointee-david-samson-resigns-bridge-agency/story?id=23103051

Whether Samson was aware of the politically motivated traffic jam was brought into question by an email that Wildstein wrote to Kelly after the lanes were reopened. In the email Wildstein wrote to Kelly saying in part, , “Samson helping us to retaliate.”

Christie said in a January news conference that neither he nor Samson knew what Wildstein was referring to. The governor repeated today that he had “no idea” what Wildstein meant in his email.

The governor defended Samson today, saying the former attorney general insisted he was not involved in the decision to shut the bridge lanes.

“I spoke to General Samson on Jan. 8. I asked him what he knew about this...He said ‘absolutely not,’” Christie said.


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/16/nyregion/post-scandal-future-unclear-for-port-authoritys-low-profile-leader.html?hpw&rref=nyregion&_r=0

He has been a close adviser to three New Jersey governors and was appointed state attorney general by a fourth. He was a co-founder of one of the state’s largest law firms. And for two years he has led the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Yet outside of New Jersey political and legal circles, David Samson, 74, has steadfastly maintained a low profile.

That appears likely to change. After Mr. Samson spent decades as one of the state’s most influential behind-the-scenes power brokers, his role in the aftermath of the bridge scandal and his ties to Gov. Chris Christie, who appointed him, are expected to receive close scrutiny.

SNIP

Last year, Wolff & Samson was among several firms selected for possible use by government agencies to audit the spending of Hurricane Sandy relief money, which has come under federal review for its spending on commercials that featured Mr. Christie.

“It would be like if Major League Baseball appointed A-Rod to audit their drug testing program,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey branch of the Sierra Club. “The law firm is so close to the Christie administration that there’s barely any line of separation.”



HOW ELSE IS SILVERSTEIN CONNECTED TO SAMSON?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Center_site

The World Trade Center site (ZIP code: 10048), formerly known as "Ground Zero" after the September 11 attacks, sits on 16 acres (65,000 m2) in Lower Manhattan in New York City.[1] The previous World Trade Center complex stood on the site until it was destroyed in the September 11 attacks; Studio Daniel Libeskind, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Silverstein Properties, and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation oversee the reconstruction of the site. The site is bounded by Vesey Street to the north, the West Side Highway to the west, Liberty Street to the south, and Church Street to the east. The Port Authority owns the site's land (except for 7 World Trade Center). Developer Larry Silverstein holds the lease to retail and office space in four of the site's buildings.[2]

While the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is often identified as the owner of the WTC site, the ownership situation is actually somewhat complex and ambiguous.[3] The Port Authority indeed owns a "significant" internal portion of the site of 16 acres (65,000 m2), but has acknowledged "ambiguities over ownership of miscellaneous strips of property at the World Trade Center site" going back to the 1960s. It is unclear who owns 2.5 acres (10,000 m2) of the site, being land where streets had been before the World Trade Center was built.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704483004575524730536657048

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday nominated as chairman of the Port Authority David Samson, a prominent attorney who for years had as a client World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein, the bi-state agency's most high profile tenant and frequent adversary.


HOW IS THE ROCKEFELLER GROUP (property owner in Hoboken) CONNECTED TO SAMSON?

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/politically-connected-real-estate-firm-stalled-hoboken-article-1.1584451

The Rockefeller Group’s most obvious tie to Gov. Christie’s administration was its law firm, Wolff & Samson, which is home to partner David Samson, who was appointed chairman of the Port Authority by his friend Christie — and whose name has surfaced in the Bridgegate scandal.

WHY WAS CHRISTIE’S GAL PAL MICHELE BROWN (to whom Christie once lent $46K and forgot to report it in his taxes), APPOINTED THE HEAD OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY? i.e., the person in charge of all this redevelopment?

http://www.njbiz.com/article/20120924/NJBIZ01/120929960/&template=printart

Lesniak (D-Union) is feuding with Gov. Chris Christie's administration over the appointment of Christie appointments counsel Michele Brown to replace Caren S. Franzini as CEO of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority. Lesniak said it was a political pick to lead a nonpartisan agency.
"Did they do a search to replace Caren Franzini and Michele Brown's resumé popped out as number one in this search? Of course not," Lesniak said.

MORE ON MICHELE BROWN:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024326360