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Shroud partially Lifted from Mystery Structure: “The New 189 Main Street”

WPCNR THE DEVELOPER NEWS. By John F. Bailey. July 19, 2007: Earlier this week, WPCNR reported exclusively new construction on the 189 Main Street site. Bruce Berg, Vice President of Cappelli Enterprises, in a statement today cleared up part of what the “Mystery Structure” is and how he is building it.  In a statement, Mr. Berg wrote:

John—there is no “Food Court” planned for 189 Main Street.

We are planning a café or retail store with a rooftop seating area.

We do not have a building permit. We applied and obtained a permit to erect the building structure only on the same footprint, which we can do. We have an application in to the Common Council for site plan approval which, if granted would enable us to request a full building permit mostly dealing with facades.

 

 

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WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. By John F. Bailey. July 19, 2007:  The Ritz Carlton 221 Main project, the recently remediated “Brownfield” (completed in December 2006) stands to be eligible to tap approximately $4 Million maximum in property tax rebates annually beginning in 2009.

As reported earlier this week by WPCNR, Cappelli Enterprises and its partners in 221 Main Street are eligible for the maximum “Remediated Brownfield Credit for Real Property Taxes,” adding to the $110 Million or $75 Million by Mr. Cappelli’s count, tax credits the developer has already been assured for having cleaned up and developed a Brownfield site.  Vice President of Cappelli Enterprises, Bruce Berg,  (shown above) confirmed to WPCNR today that the 221 Main project  expects 400 new employees on the entire site. WPCNR calculates that number of new jobs would earn The  Cappelli Team a maximum of $4 Million in property tax relief, depending on how the City assessed the project.

Bruce Berg, Vice President for Cappelli Enterprises, issued a statement to WPCNR today confirming that 221 Main Street (site of the Ritz Carlton Westchester) is located within an En-Zone that entitles the Cappelli Partners as much as $2 Million in property tax rebates, depending on how the City Assessor assesses the Ritz-Carlton property after it is fully occupied.

An En-Zone is an area designated by the New York State Commissioner of Economic Development  prior to December 31, 2003.  In order to be considered an En Zone, an area must have a poverty rate of at least 20% and an unemployment rate of at least 1-1/4 times the statewide unemployment rate as of the 2000 census.

How the Partners Get Property Tax Credits.

The Property Tax Credit is earned based on the number of new jobs Cappelli Enterprises brings to the former Brownfield area. Mr Berg explained, in his written statement:

We expect to have more than 200 employees on the entire site including the hotel, restaurants, garage operation and condos. We also expect that there will be another several hundred employees in the office portion of the project.

The property tax credit is not $2 Million (200 employees x $10,000 per employee). The tax refund for Brownfield sites with more than 100 (new) employees is 100% of actual taxes paid. The refund is CAPPED however at $10,000 per employee.

WPCNR had originally, based on previous statements by the Mayor of White Plains, conservatively put the property tax rebate maximum at $2 Million, figuring that the site would bring in 150-200 employees. At 400 employees, the Cappelli partners will be eligible for $4 Million maximum in property tax credits, depending on how the City of White Plains assesses the property when fully occupied.

WPCNR points out that the property tax relief is paid to the developer by New York  State, and is not refunded by the City of White Plains or the City School District. The city and school district will not lose any property tax revenue when the Cappelli organization applies for the Remediated Brownfield Credit for Real Property Taxes in 2009, as Louis Cappelli has said to WPCNR he plans to do.

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WPCNR CAMPAIGN 2007. By John F. Bailey, July 19, 2007 UPDATED July 20,2007 12:20 P.M. EDT:  Thursday was the last day to file petitions for council candidates nominated and otherwise for the Democratic Primary scheduled for September 18, 2007.

The Grand Avenue Board of Elections (former Post Office) to the left will be the scene of frantic last minute filing of petitions today. The Seat of Westchester County, the Michaelian Building is at right.

The five candidates vying for three seats on the White Plains Common Council: Arnold Bernstein, Benjamin Boykin,Jr., Candyce Corcoran, Milagros Lecuona and Dennis Power have to file papers containing signatures of White Plains registered Democrats totaling 5% of the party registration.

Candyce Corcoran has been the hardest working signature collector garnering about 1,300 signatures  she reported to WPCNR Friday.  Corcoran has also chided fellow candidates for collecting signatures without dates of signature. She has pointed out that this is an irregularity leading to possible chicanery in falsifying petitions. According to reports received at WPCNR other candidates have been scrambling to acquire signatures in the last few days. Corcoran doubled the number of signatures needed for her to qualify for the Democratic Primary, (655) September 18.

Mix and Match

The party-nominated Democratic Council candidates, even should they not garner the appropriate number of signatures will appear on the Working Families party line on the ballot. The Democratic Party Leadership notes in a citywide communication that the Working Families Party is required to file a Wilson Pakula document to run the Democrat-nominated council candidates on their party line. A Working Families Party member could file a petition and challenge them on the Working Families Party line, however the handicapping experts said this is unlikely.

Candyce Corcoran, the Democrat Party primary challenger  is assured of a slot on the November ballot on the Conservative Party line.

Mr. Boykin and Mr. Power have been assured a spot on the November Ballot also on the Independence Party line.

Republican Presence

Cass Cibelli, Anthony Pilla and Augostino Zicca, Jr. will be appearing on the Republican line in November. Cibelli will also carry the Independence Party line.

Arnold Bernstein, the incumbent Councilperson who was not renominated by his party to run again, is the only candidate who will not be appearing on the November ballot automatically. He has to finish third in the Primary voting September 18 to assure a November ballot slot and a chance for reelection. Corcoran also has to finish in the top three Democrats to appear on the Democratic Party line. Candidates most ripe for picking off  by Bernstein and Corcoran appear to be Mr. Boykin and Ms. Lecuona, since Power’s seizing opposition stances to the Mayor’s policies appear to have gained him considerable support of late.

Bernstein’s Trump

Bernstein has another option though, he can join independents Robert Stackpole and Robert Levine in seeking signatures to appear on the November ballot. That signature-collecting interval began last week. Should Bernstein decide to go for that he and Stackpole and Levine each need to collect 743 signatures of registered voters, according to the Board of Elections.  That figure represents 5% of the total votes for Governor on all lines in the 2006 election, and petitions should be filed by the end of August in order to secure a place on the November election ballot

 Bernstein,Stackpole and Levine can choose their own party names should they collect the signatures necessary to get on the ballot

The November Election Ballot at this juncture looks like this:

Democrat for Council:     Benjamin Boykin   Milagros Lecuona, Dennis Power

Republican for Council:  Cass Cibelli, Anthony Pilla, Augustino Zicca, Jr.

Working Families Party for Council:  Benjamin Boyin, Milagros Lecuona, Dennis Power

Independence Party for Council: Cass Cibelli,  Benjamin Boykin, Dennis Power

Conservative Pary for Council: Candyce Corcoran, Cass Cibelli, Augostino Zicca, Jr.

Posibilities for independent candidates on November Ballot:

Arnold Bernstein, Robert Levine, Robert Stackpole

 

Ms. Corcoran has, at this time, opted not to attempt to get her name on the November ballot, since she already has the Conservative nomination.

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WPCNR THE DEVELOPING NEWS. By John F. Bailey  July 17, 2007:  Under state law, developer Louis Cappelli’s Ritz Carlton project at 221 Main St. in White Plains may qualify for a tax break on top of the $110-million to come Mr. Cappelli’s way, WPCNR has learned.

 

Louis Cappelli, May, 2007

Back in October, 2003, then-Governor George Pataki signed into law the Brownfield Cleanup Program legislation which had been passed by both the New York State Assembly and New York State Senate. The program offers developers who clean up a polluted site and then build a project there up to 22% of the development’s total cost in the form of New York State tax credits.

 

 

However, a developer also may be entitled to a second category of tax credits. These would be annual state tax credits of up to 100% of the real estate taxes they pay to a municipality on the property. While the developer would make real estate tax payments to the taxing municipality (such as White Plains), New York State would reimburse the developer in the form of tax credits. The real estate tax credits are pegged to the number of jobs created at a formerly-polluted site. The maximum credit is $10,000 per employee multiplied by the number of employees.

Rewards

In the case of the Ritz-Carlton project, Cappelli has said in the past that the total cost of the Ritz complex was $550-million, and the state tax credits to which he is entitled have been widely reported as being $110-million. Any real estate property tax credits would be on top of the $110-million.  The real estate property tax credit is $10,000 maximum per new job created, directly applicable to property taxes paid.

Cappelli Enterprises, in a statement issued last week, said that the $110-million tax credit figure is incorrect, and that the correct figure is $75-million. The statement also said that the cost to clean up the pollution at the 221 Main Street site was $50-million.

 If Mr. Cappelli’s cost of cleanup is less than the $110 Million he is entitled too, he will receive a check from the state tax department for the balance, which according to last week’s statement from Cappelli Enterprises is $75 Million.

The Scenario

In connection with the Ritz-Carlton project, Cappelli retained Al Pirro’s firm, The Pirro Group, for assistance with Brownfield Cleanup Program matters. Pirro, as you know, is the husband of former Westchester District Attorney Jeanine Pirro. The Pirro Group has a number of developers as clients in connection with the Brownfield Cleanup Program. Their web site lists the clients and describes how the Brownfield Cleanup Program works at  http://www.pirrogroup.com/bfr.cfm  

Cappelli told WPCNR on Monday that “No monies have been paid on tax credits yet. You only receive credits when you complete the project and get a Certificate of Occupancy. The credits for us will be phased in over a three year period starting in 2008.”

Cappelli also noted that he expects the Ritz-Carlton to open October 10^th.

Cappelli  confirmed that he is receiving a Brownfield Cleanup Program tax credit for cleanup at his project in Ossining: “Ossining is in the program and the credits work the same way.”

Site Remediation

The Department of Environmental Conservation Press Office in Albany confirmed to WPCNR that the 221 Main Street Ritz-Carlton Development site was declared completely remediated of pollution seven months ago in December 2006, when Cappelli Enterprises was given a Certification of Completion, signed by DEC officials.

 Yancey Roy of the state DEC press office said that Mr. Cappelli’s tax credits earned by the cleanup of the gasoline-polluted site would be paid by the state tax department after Mr. Cappelli applies for the credits.

City & Council Silent

City officials and city councilpersons who approved the 221 Main Project June 7, 2004, did not respond to WPCNR queries as to whether the council and the city knew the developer was going to apply for Brownfield Cleanup Program  and its credits at the time the 221 Main Street project featuring the Ritz-Carlton was approved June 7, 2004. Mr. Cappelli, and a series of partner sattelites received approval for 221 Main when a Brownfield Cleanup Agreement was awarded six months later in December, 2004.

At the June 7 approval, three parcels of land were sold for Cappelli to use in building the 221 Main Street project, making it possible. They were a municipal parking lot, the land of the former White Plains police headquarters, and a parcel controlled by the Urban Renewal Agency.

Legislation approving the project put a value of $1,706,410 on the parcels. The $1,706,410 was to be paid by Cappelli as follows: “First, for the environmental clean up of all environmental contamination on the Agency parcels,…” and “Second, for the construction of the Court Street Extension from Main Street to Hamilton Avenue…” and, “Third, the payment of any amount of the Disposal Price not expended on (i) and (ii) (cost of clean up, and construction of Court Street) to the Agency.”

 

Municipalities Cannot Partner in the Tax Credits

WPCNR asked Louis Cappelli Monday if he had paid anything to the city for the 221 Main land, and whether he had advised the city he was applying for the brownfields program and the subsequent tax credits at the time of approval.

Cappelli issued this statement: “Tax credits can only go to a “partner” they cannot go to a municipality. Tax credits are only earned when you spend the development and construction money and get a Certificate of Occupancy for a building.”

 

Saves the Cost of Cleanup to the City

He pointed out the advantage of the cleanup to the city in the same statement:

“We took the entire environmental liability from the city when we got the property. This was a substantial liability that could only be satisfied if someone excavated the entire property 50 feet down to bedrock ON THE ENTIRE SITE. We even had to clean up the adjacent parcels on the Power Authority Building up to 50 feet down.”

Cappelli told WPCNR in a separate statement  he would apply for the tax credits after he receives the Certificate of Occupancy for the Ritz-Carlton in 2008 for the 2007 tax year.

Albany Times-Union

The story that Cappelli and other key New York state developers would be eligible for the Brownfield Cleanup Program tax breaks  appeared on June 10^th in the Hearst newspaper, the Albany Times-Union, written by reporter Brian Nearing. Nearing told WPCNR a source had advised him to look into the state Brownfields Cleanup Program tax credits.

Nearing said he went over the applications for the program on file with New York State and developed the story showing the full extent of how much in tax credits developers were going to earn from cleanups of polluted sites. The story revealed publicly that developers would get back up to 22% of the total construction cost at their Brownfield Cleanup Program sites, not just cost of cleaning them up.  Nearing’s report revealed the tax breaks far outstrip the cleanup costs.

Mr. Nearing’s story may be read at http://www.timesunion.com/ASPStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=596668.

The Brownfield Cleanup Program was hailed in October, 2003 as  a vehicle to develop many of the state’s contaminated sites by offering incentives to developers (i.e., tax credits) to take on the cleanup and resurrection of the sites.

 

Soil, Tanks, Dirty Water Removed.

A DEC Fact Sheet describing the 221 Main Street remediation agreement and the Certificate of Completion was faxed to WPCNR by the DEC press office. According to that document “remedial measures were taken at the site to remove all former sources

of contamination and related contaminated media (soil, groundwater) within the site boundary. This was accomplished by excavating and removing all buried underground storage tanks (USTs) from the site, which were the source of soil and groundwater contamination, and were also a potential source of soil vapor contamination.”

The fact sheet reports the remediation began and the spring of 2005 and was completed in the summer of 2006. It included remediation at the New York Power Authority garage where, according to the document, “some groundwater contamination existed.”

The DEC laundry list of the results:

 9 underground storage tanks were removed.

 Approximately 23,720 tons of contaminated soil were removed from the site.

 Approximately 22,832 gallons of contaminated groundwater were removed from the site and the adjacent New York Power Authority Site.

 Potential soil vapor contamination was remediated by removing these sources.

                                        

WPCNR asked a construction expert what the 23,370 tons of dirt represented in terms of truck loads. He said most truckers use standard 10-wheelers which based on a checking of dump truck specifications would carry 14 yards  per trip. The source mentioned that a Triaxle rig would carry 20 yards per trip.  The 23,370 tons of contaminated soil by rough estimate amount to 1,581 truck loads in a standard 10-Wheeler dump truck, and about  800 truck loads if the larger truck the Triaxle was used, based on a WPCNR examination of truck capacities at truck dealerships.

The 22,832 gallons of  contaminated ground water are equivalent to roughly two thirds the capacity of a 40 x 20 x 6  foot swimming pool which contains 36,000 gallons of water.

All Clear

The Fact Sheet remarks “Previous site investigations verified that abandoned underground storage tanks (USTs) existed at the site, and there was evidence of soil and groundwater contamination as well. A Remedial Investigation completed under the BCP (Brownfield Contamination Program) indicated that soil was the principally impacted medium for this site, but appeared to be limited to the areas where the USTs were located. Contaminated soil was excavated as the USTs were removed during the IRM, and confirmatory end-point samples indicate that recommended soil cleanup objectives have been achieved for the site.

 

Governor: Tax Credits as Excessive.

 

In a news release June 5, Governor Eliot Spitzer called for reforming the Brownfields Cleanup Program so developers would not receive tax credits over the actual cost of cleanup. The release finds “An analysis of the first 25 projects certified and approved under the program (since 2003) indicates that only a small fraction of the tax credits granted were related to remediation costs.”

The news release quotes Governor Spitzer: “The current law contains no protections to ensure that the funds directed toward economic development are wisely used or bear any relationship to the number of jobs created, leaving the state with an open-ended liability while failing to achieve the law’s intent of cleaning up contaminated sites.”

The release reports that any revision of the Brownfields Cleanup Program would not apply to developers with Brownfield Cleanup Agreements (BCAs) already in place, to wit, “remediation plans approved by the Department of Environmental Conservation and actual remediation underway will be governed by the existing tax credit structure.”

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WPCNR NOTEWORTHY. From White Plains YWCA. July 14, 2007: Jackie Ramos-Calderon will serve as one of 50 delegates to represent the United States at “Ignite the Promise: Global Advocate Summit” in Budapest, Hungary, Sept. 29-30, 2007. Organized by Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the leader of the global breast cancer movement, the summit will connect 25 U.S. breast cancer advocates from 21 states with representatives from 30 countries.  The overarching goals for holding this international summit are to elevate the dialogue on breast cancer’s global impact and to share the strategies used to combat breast cancer in delegates’ local communities.

“Each year, more than 1 million women worldwide receive a breast cancer diagnosis,” said Nancy G. Brinker, founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. “The need to provide these women-regardless of race, nationality, or socioeconomic status-an equal opportunity to beat a breast cancer diagnosis has never been greater. This summit will enable advocates to share outreach tactics that have been implemented in the U.S. and elsewhere to meet our collective goal of saving lives and ending breast cancer forever.”

Jackie Ramos-Calderon, Director of the YWCA’s Encore Plus Program, was selected by Susan G. Komen for the Cure to represent the foundation’s Greater NYC Affiliate.

“The YWCA is extremely proud to be part of this seminal global symposium and delighted that Jackie Ramos-Calderon was chosen as a delegate for Susan G. Komen For The Cure”, stated Lori Stanlick, Associate Executive Director.  Jackie has been a leading advocate and champion for breast cancer education for low-income women of color for over 10 years.  She is one of the extraordinary advocates selected by Susan G. Komen for the Cure for her record of activism and success in the fight against breast cancer. She has contributed to breast cancer detection and treatment advances through community outreach, shaping public policy, offering health education, and providing survivor support.

The YWCA’s Encore Plus Program stresses the life-saving potential of early breast cancer detection and helps un- and under-insured women obtain high-quality breast cancer screenings, free of charge, in Westchester County. This community-based outreach program targets low-income women of color over 40 who, due to a lack of adequate health insurance, are at greater risk of having breast cancer detected in later stages.  Screening services are provided by the Westchester County Department of Health, Healthy Living partnership.

Komen Global Summit Honorary Co-Chair Laura Bush, a longtime Komen volunteer and breast cancer advocate, recognizes that breast cancer affects millions of families around the world and is a priority in America’s healthcare diplomacy efforts. To honor the U.S. delegates in advance of this historic meeting, Mrs. Bush hosted a luncheon on June 1, and extended her appreciation for their tireless efforts to increase awareness and education about breast cancer. “Eradicating breast cancer is a challenge for every country, and too many women around the world are still too embarrassed or too uninformed to seek the treatment they need in time to save their lives,” said Mrs. Bush.

The Global Advocate Summit will be held in conjunction with the Breast Health Global Initiative Consensus Conference, of which Komen for the Cure is a co-founder, taking place Oct. 1-4, also in Budapest, Hungary.

About Susan G. Komen for the Cure

Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen for the Cure and launched the global breast cancer movement. Today, Komen for the Cure is the world’s largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures. Thanks to events like the Komen Race for the Cure, nearly $1 billion has been invested to fulfill the promise, becoming the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world. For more information about Susan G. Komen for the Cure, breast health or breast cancer, visit www.komen.org or call 1-800 I’M AWARE.

The mission of the Greater NYC Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen For The Cure is to eradicate breast cancer as a life-threatening disease by offering breast health grants to non-profit organizations that provide screening, treatment and education programs to medically under-served women in NYC, Westchester and Rockland Counties, and Long Island.  Encore Plus continues to be a recipient of Susan G. Komen For The Cure Grants for the seventh year in a row. Grants are made possible through donations, corporate support, and its signature run/walk, The Komen NYC Race for the Cure.

To schedule an Encore Plus educational seminar or to request information about screening services, contact Jackie Ramos-Calderon at the YWCA Residence at 914-428-1130, ext. 306.