City Center Sold to Chi Trust. Cappelli Retains Interest. Loans Paid Off

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WPCNR MAIN STREET JOURNAL By John F. Bailey. October 10, 2012 UPDATED 9:43 A.M. EDT: NEW EDITION UPDATE 3:22 P.M. E.DT. UPDATED October 11, 2012:

Developer Louis R. Cappelli has sold his company’s majority interest in City Center in downtown White Plains to a real estate investment trust based in suburban Chicago, while retaining a minority interest, a CB Richard Ellis spokesperson told WPCNR.

The buyer is identified as  Inland Diversified Real Estate Trust, Inc., of Chicago. 

Alyson Leiter of  Great Ink Communications, speaking for CB Richard Ellis, said in a statement to WPCNR,

“Basically, Mr. Cappelli sold his majority interest in the property to Inland, but he still retains a minority interest (in the form of two subsidiaries, White Plains Retail L.L.C. and White Plains Recreation LLC, each an affiliate of Cappelli Enterprises).

“The new joint venture ownership of Inland (majority interest) and Cappelli (minority interest) valued the City Center at $166.4 Million. The sales price isn’t disclosed in the press release.

Since Mr. Cappelli is still the minority holder, I assume the City Center Parking Garage is still owned by him, But I am confirming this.”

Thursday morning, John Callahan, the White Plains city Corporation Counsel in a written statement to WPCNR, wrote “Nothing relating to the ownership or operation of the garage has changed.”

The terms of the transaction according to the Form 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission are very complex. Inland Diversified has taken out a $99 Million loan from Bank of America (cash proceeds of $87 Million) and $42.4 Million of their own cash. The 8-K reports Inland will use the $139.4 Million to pay off Mr. Cappelli’s first mortgage on the property of $124.6 Million, maturing on October 7, 2016, and $4.8 million to repay a second loan Cappelli Enterprises holds from New York State Urban Development Corporation. The remaining $10.4 Million is going to pay “preformation expenditures and closing costs.”

The 8-K  states that “management of the property will be the sole responsibility of Inland White Plains. Inland Diversified Real Estate Services, LLC has been appointed by Inland White Plains (subsidiary of  Inland Diversified)to serve as property manager of the Property and will be paid a 4.5% annual fee.”

Complex finanical distributions to the majority and minority partners are described in the 8-K


 

City Hall has not answered WPCNR’s question as to whether Mr. Cappelli retains the parking garage. The air rights and the New York Sports Club and 24 apartments atop the garage ownership has been sold to Inland according to the CB Richard Ellis news release. (Cappelli Enterprises presently receives revenues from the parking garage up to $600,000 and invests the excess in garage maintenance.)

No connection, but the surprise deal comes after the city of White Plains  recently increased assessed value of the complex through to 2019, by $300,000 a year, after the original Payment In Lieu of Taxes Agreement with the city expires in January 2016. The extension of PILOT agreement means that the new buyer and the new minority interest will not be reassessed until the year 2019.

Councilman John Martin is the only city official to comment on whether or not the city knew Mr. Cappelli was in the process of selling majority interest when the city agreed to extend the assessment incrementally beginning in 2016.

Mr. Martin,wrote WPCNR today: I do not believe that the sale was made known at the time we amended the PILOT but also don’t think it would have changed anything. The decision remains valid based on the marketplace for large leasehold space.

The original news release from CB Richard Ellis follows: 

Jeffrey Dunne, Steven Bardsley and David Gavin of CBRE Group Inc.’s New York Institutional Group represented LC White Plains Retail, LLC, and LC White Plains Recreation, LLC, affiliated entities of Cappelli Group, Inc., in arranging the joint venture majority interest sale of City Center Retail in White Plains, NY. The team was also responsible for procuring the new joint venture partner, whose parent company is Inland Diversified Real Estate Trust, Inc. The new joint venture valued the center at $166.4 million.


 


City Center is a 381,905± square-foot, grocery-anchored, trophy mixed-use retail and apartment property located in the heart of downtown White Plains. The property is fully leased and anchored by a high profile tenant mix, including ShopRite Supermarkets, Toys ‘R Us (estimated occupancy March 2013), Nordstrom Rack, National Amusements (15-screen theater), Barnes & Noble and New York Sports Club. The Center is shadow-anchored by a 154,241±sq.-ft. Target P-Fresh store, which was not included in the sale. The sale included 99-year air rights over the parking garage, which houses the New York Sports Club and 24 fully leased, in-demand residential apartment units.


 


City Center’s epicenter location, with frontage on Main Street, Martine Avenue and Mamaroneck Avenue, is surrounded by several recently developed apartment and condominium projects totaling more than 1,000 units, including The Residences at the Ritz Carlton and Trump Tower at City Center. With population growth of more than 15% since 2000 within a one-mile radius and average household incomes of nearly $140,000 within five miles, City Center will continue to be a primary shopping and entertainment destination. 



Mr. Dunne commented: “City Center will provide the new partnership with stable in-place income due to anchor tenants’ long-term leases, while providing upside through contractual rent increases. The significant foot traffic generated as a result of ShopRite opening last year will be further enhanced by Toys ‘R Us opening at the Center in the spring of 2013.”


 



 

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Teachers and School District Negotiators Hammer Out Agreement on New Contract

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. October 9, 2012 UPDATED OCTOBER 10, 2012 11:15 A.M.: 


Dr. Christopher Clouet, Superintendent of Schools, did not provide any further information on the possibility of an immediate settlement in a new contract with the teachers union this morning. He issued this statement when asked if the Board of Education had arrived at any position on the contract:


“Regarding executive session last night – there is nothing to report, but we remain hopeful.” 


The President of the White Plains Teachers Association, Kerry Broderick, told WPCNR Tuesday night that her teachers union negotiators and the school district have reached a Memorandum of Agreement on a new contract for 2012-13, pending ratification by the teacher union membership.


As the meeting closed, Board President Rosemarie Eller asked for a vote to go into Executive Session, without explaining the purpose of the Session, a practice long in effect. Carl Albanese politely confronted Superintendent of  Schools Dr. Christopher Clouet, pointing out to him by law the district could not do that without explaining the purpose of the executive session. Clouet said, to discuss the White Plains Teachers Association.


Ms. Broderick told WPCNR she would release the MOA tomorrow after she had distributed the tentative agreement to her membership.


Previously the teachers union had rejected a mediator-suggested settlement, by a 52%-48% margin. Broderick at that time, said the next step would be fact-finding with a mediator, which would require extensive disclosure of financial positions of both sides.


It is unclear whether the MOA the School Board is considering in executive session is an improvement in the offer to the teachers.


 

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Absentee Ballots Available to Be Pick Up Now at Board of Elections

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WPCNR CAMPAIGN 2012. October 9, 2012:


The absentee ballots for the November 6 general election were available for the first time today at the Westchester County Board of Elections. If you requested one, you may pick it up from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. at the Westchester Couny Board of Elections on Quarropas Street, White Plains. If you are picking one up for someone else, you must have been named on the application for an Absentee Ballot by the person requested the ballot, and be able to present a I.D. (Drivers License) to pick up the ballot.


 

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Home Sales up in Region. Home Prices Continue to Sink

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WPCNR HOUSING NEWS. From Mary Prenon, the Hudson Gateway Multiple Listing Service. October 9, 2012:


Westchester and Putnam Counties enjoyed a second round of increased residential real estate sales during the third quarter, July 1 to September 30, of this year. 


Realtor firms participating in the Westchester-Putnam Division of the Hudson Gateway Multiple Listing Service (HGMLS) reported 2,243 closed residential transactions in Westchester, a 15% increase over the same period last year; in Putnam County the increase was 29%.  During the second quarter, the year-over-year increases were 13% and 24% respectively.  For Westchester, the third quarter volume was the highest since 2007, and for Putnam, since 2008.


 


While sales volumes have increased for two consecutive quarters, selling prices have not.  The third quarter median1 sale price of a single family house in Westchester was $630,000 or nearly 8% less than last year’s third quarter median.  The decrease in Putnam was a hefty 25% (although please note the customary caution in these reports that Putnam data are subject to large percentage swings because the overall base count is low). 


 


The lower average price in the region is mostly due to sellers’ price concessions in response to general economic conditions but also partly to a downshift in the proportion of high end (million-dollar-plus) properties that were sold.  In Westchester, such properties accounted for 22% of all house sales in the third quarter; in 2011 that ratio was 26%, and in 2010 it was 28%.  The only sector to enjoy price gains was Westchester condominiums, up by 4% to a median of $349,750.  The cooperative apartment median fell by 7%, to $155,000.



 


 


Taking into account the comparatively lackluster market performance of the first three months of 2012, the year-to-date sales rate in Westchester thus far is 10.6% above that of 2011.  If the current sales rate continues, Westchester will close the year with approximately 7,000 sales in all residential categories – single family houses, condominiums, cooperatives, and 2-4 family houses – resetting sales volume convincingly above the 6,639 unit level when our local market entered into real estate recession in 2008.  Putnam County will follow a similar pattern. 


 


The end-of-quarter inventory of properties listed for sale through HGMLS decreased by 10% in Westchester, to 6,398 units, and by 11% in Putnam, to 945 units.  The strong sales volumes of the past two quarters have braked the growth of inventory, but it is also true that inventory remains low on account of the continuing reluctance of potential sellers to test the waters. 


 


Consumer confidence in the general economy just isn’t strong enough yet to propel the real estate market to its pre-recession vigor, even with the attractive forces of historically low prices (for this region) as well as mortgage interest rates that are as low as 3.5% or less for conventional 30-year loans.  However, the beneficial effect of low rates is being offset in part by the increasingly demanding criteria by lenders with respect to the credit worthiness of borrowers. 


 


  


The closings posted with HGMLS in the third quarter largely reflected real estate sales and marketing activity that took place during the late spring and summer months of 2012.  Other than low mortgage interest rates in that period there was not much supportive energy from other components of the economy that affect consumer confidence. 


 


For example, the local unemployment rate has remained stuck in the high (for here) range of 7.5-7.6% range; and most consumers probably believe it is more than 8% due to the focus on that persistent national rate in the presidential election campaigns.  The equity markets, which many consumers regard as an index of economic well-being, performed well over the course of this year, but with a pattern of volatility along the way that would intimidate all but sophisticated investors.


 


Still, posting two consecutive quarters of increased real estate sales in our region is encouraging because it occurred in the face of lackluster or even adverse economic circumstances.  We are probably close to the point where buyers and sellers see eye to eye on the bottom line for prices, and where an increasingly active market generates its own energy for renewed health.


 


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Mayhem, fun, dysfunction, and genius at the White Plains Performing Arts Center—

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WPCNR STAGE DOOR. Theatrical Review by Renee Marks Cohen October 6, 2012:


 


Don’t miss the White Plains Performing Arts Center production of “August: Osage County,” Tracy Letts’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony award winner (Best Play, and four more). “August” is the opener for the WPPAC’s special 10th anniversary season; this is the venue for the New York regional premier of the play.


 



 


 


A Taste of “August”


From left, the actors are Amanda Yachechak, Daniel Mian, Mark Lanham, Peter McClung, Derek Robert Smith, Laura Cable, Robin Lilly, and Suzy Kimball. Peter McClung as Uncle Charlie and Amanda Yachechak as the Native American housekeeper are extremely strong in their portrayal of wise individuals navigating amidst hellish chaos. Uncle Charlie protects his son, a late bloomer, from the verbal viciousness of others. The housekeeper is meditatively focused on doing her job with kindness.


Photo, Courtesy White Plains Performing Arts Center by Kathy Davisson.


 


 


All is not OK in a hot hot northern Oklahoma August. The Weston family is driven together to await the return of a missing father, who is a poet, professor, and openly alcoholic. The matriarch, Violet, is a long-time pill-popper. Three daughters, an aunt, significant others, a niece, and a household helper complete the Weston dance of dysfunction.


 


This is a semi-gothic household where the window shades are taped shut, because day and night do not matter. The scenery—three levels—is superb, as is, I stress, each and every cast member.


 


Will you judge this family’s dysfunction against your own experience? You will rivet your focus on scenes where the family sits at the dining room table, in ensembles of entropy. All the scenes are a funny unraveling of secrets and lies.


 


Congratulations to the cast and to Jeremy Quinn, who is the Director and WPPAC’s Producing Artistic Director.


 


When  “August” opened in New York in 2007, the New York Times called it “the most exciting new American play Broadway has seen in years.” Variety said it was “darkly delicious and ghastly.” Playwright


Tracy Letts’s father, Dennis, played the role of the patriarch in the original Chicago cast.


 


“August” is on stage at the White Plains Performing Arts Center. 8 p.m. Oct. 5-6 and 12-13; 2 p.m. Oct. 7 and 14. To order tickets call 914 328-1600; or go online at www.wppac.com or visit the Box Office at 11 City Place, City Center, 3rd floor, White Plains. Recommended for those ages 16 and older.


 


Yes, there will be a movie soon, produced by George Clooney and The Weinstein Company. Visit http://vimeo.com/12892186 to see and hear Howard Starks reading his poem “August: Osage County,” which inspired the play’s title.

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Paramount Center for the Arts Suspends Operations

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WPCNR STAGE DOOR. From the Paramount. October 4, 2012:



The Old Paramount, Peekskill, New York



The Board of The Paramount Center for the Arts in Peekskill, NY announced today that the non-profit arts institution is temporarily suspending operations while it explores opportunities to reorganize. The decision to suspend operations was made at a Board Executive Committee Meeting held Tuesday night.


 


 



“The Paramount apologizes for the inconvenience we have caused to our members, all those who purchased tickets for shows that will have to be cancelled or delayed and to the friends of the Paramount who have been supportive of our efforts to provide a diverse menu of high quality performances and visual arts exhibits over the years. We ask for all of our patrons and supportes to bear with us as we dedicate our efforts towards reemerging as one of the premier performance venues in the Hudson Valley in the not too distant future.”


 



Updated information will be provided on the Paramount website at www.paramountcenter.org as it becomes available.


 


Less than a month ago, the Paramount Board said it needed $300,000 in new funding to continue operations.

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Independent Report Concludes shooting at Kenneth Chamberlain totally justified.

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WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE.  October 4, 2012:


After receiving the Analysis of the White Plains Police Department  Wednesday evening from the Mayor’s Office by e-mail, WPCNR found it also contains an analysis of police conduct in handling the Kenneth Chamberlain incident in November of 2011, in which Chamberlain died after being shot by police.


The Chamberlain death prompted the city to commission this report to analyze the police department procedures in their entirety: training, selection, operation, staffing, standard procedure in handling incidents, etc.  The Chamberlain family is currently suing the city over the shooting.


On pages 35 and 36 of the Haberfeld report, Professor Michael Walker presents his analysis of “200 pages of documents along with crime scene photos, audio-video clips filed as a result of the situation on November 19, 2011 involving Kenneth Chamberlain and members of the White Plains Police Department.”


The report describes Professor Walker as having “taught police use of force in academies throughout Northern New Jersey and has been accepted as an expert witness in cases where Patterson (N.J.) Police Officers have resorted to the use of deadly force.”


Professor Walker’s analysis of the material notes,


 “the officers used a Haligan tool from the fire department to hold the door (to Chamberlain’s apartment) open while using a pair of bolt cutters to cut the snap lock. As this was being attempted, Chamberlain threatened to kill anyone who came into the apartment. Chamberlain then took a meat cleaver and struck at the officers through the door opening and, at an opportune instant, the officer using the bolt cutters to latch onto the cleaver and rip it (the cleaver) from Chamberlain’s hands. Chamberlain then used a butcher knife to cut at the officers through the door opening.”


Walker describes, “At one point an officer was sent to the outside rear of the apartment to bang on the windows and distract Chamberlain so that entry could be made while he was away from the door; this failed to get the desired result.”


“The officers on scene used a novel combination of implements to keep the door wedged open while attempting to stay back from Chamberlain’s knife slases; the axe that originally held the door open was replaced with a Halligan tool connected to the officer controlling it by a length of rope.”


“When the door was finally breached at approximately 6:30 A.M. it fell into the apartment but at a tilt since a chair had been placed behind the door. Initially the officers attempted to deploy a Taser to incapacitate Chamberlain, but only one dart lodged in him and the device was ineffective.”


“The officers then decided to use less-than-lethal bean bag rounds to disable Chamberlain, who was still gripping the butcher knife and threatening to kill the officers; the first round was intentionally aimed at Chamberlain’s upper thigh because officers felt that a shot to the chest might cause a heart attack. The shot hit its mark and Chamberlain was unaffected by it and still held the knife; three more (bean bag) shots followed into Chamberlain’s chest but these too were ineffective — they knocked him back but he still gripped the knife.”


“As Chamberlain advanced on a sergeant in the room, an officer fired two rounds to stop Chamberlain: one hit him in the top of the arm which held the knife but traveled into Chamberlain’s chest and turned out to be the fatal round, the other (shot) missed.”


“Chamberlain fell backward onto the floor and began to use the knife in an attempt to cut his own throat; the knife was knocked free with an ASP baton and Chamberlain was restrained and given medical assistance. He was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead at 7:09 A.M.”


The report prepared by Dr. Maria (Make) Habergeld, Dr. John DeCarlo, Dr. Robert Vodde and Professor Walker concludes this analysis with the following comment:


“Based on Professor Walker’s assessment of the documents presented to us, his law enforcement training and experience it is his belief  that the shooting of   Mr. Chamberlain was totally justified and took place only after negotiations and all non-lethal means were unsuccessful and Mr. Chamberlain came at a police sergeant with a knife.”


The report has two recommendations for the police department in handling such barricaded situations: “Purchase additional equipment, like cameras that can be slipped under doors, in order to assess the gravity of given situations,” and “ensure that the hydraulic ram (which enables the breach of a door typical of one found in a housing development) be available at all times for members of the White Plains Police and Fire Departments”



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Independent Report on Police Department Management, Procedures Released by City

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WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. From Karen Pasquale of the Mayor’s Office. October 3, 2012:


The City of White Plains has received the report prepared by independent consultant, Dr. Maria Haberfeld, on the White Plains Police Department at a cost to the city of $25,000, approved by the Common Council last May.


The City contracted with Dr. Haberfeld, Chair of the Department of Law and Police Science at the City University of New York, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, in May with the charge that she and her team take a top to bottom look at the Department and provide their analysis to the Mayor and Common Council.

The report contains an overview and analysis of the White Plains Police Department based on four months of research that included site visits, interviews of police personnel, including the Commissioner of Police, David Chong, as well as the Chief of Police, James Bradley, examination of the departmental policies and procedures, a host of documents related to the organizational and operational structure of the department and a variety of open sources that added a comparative angle to the knowledge gathered by the researchers themselves. The report states that,



“Overall, the panel of researchers found that the White Plains Police
Department is an extremely professional and well run police
organization, a credit to its leadership and the leadership of the City of White Plains.”

Statement from Mayor Roach (on Dr. Haberfeld’s report):



“I would like to thank Dr. Haberfeld and her team for the time and
effort they put into this analysis of the White Plains Police
Department. When we contracted with her, I made it clear that the report should include a top to bottom review of the Police Department.


The report that we have received provides an in-depth review of all aspects of the department, including training, policies and procedures. The recommendations are thoughtful, informative and valuable. Some of the suggestions have already been adopted; some are in the process of being implemented, and others we look forward to discussing further with Dr. Haberfeld.


I was pleased to see that the White Plains Police Department was viewed positively by these criminal justice experts and I take the
report’s recommendations seriously. I know that they will assist us in
continuing to improve the Department, just as we look to continuously
improve all of our departments and operations throughout City government.”

Copies of this report will be made available to the media upon request.



Please contact Karen Pasquale, Senior Advisor to the Mayor, at (914)
422-1411 / kpasquale@whiteplainsny.gov to obtain a copy of this report.

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Should the Open Space Recreation District Ordinance Be Passed?

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WPCNR MR. AND MRS. AND MS. WHITE PLAINS VOICE. October 3, 2012:


With the closing of the Open Space Recreation District hearing Monday evening, the fate of the ordinance, which has receivcd very little community support from citizens outside the neighborhood effected (along Ridgeway Street, adjacent the defunct Ridgeway Golf Club and the still-operating Westchester Hills Golf Club, the council has to decide whether to revise it or pass it, or conveniently ignore it.


Considering the lack of support the measure got in hearing two Monday night, and the all-too-possible lawsuits if the ordinance is passed (a threatened one from the French American School of  New York, and the possibility of one from Westchester Hills Golf Club), the Council might still pass it.


In a nutshell the ordinance exacts setbacks from the edge of the property of 100 feet, effectively making it almost impossible to build out the present buildings on the property; it allows building of 58 homes on the property, and preserves the rest of the property as open space, and suggests a possible usage by a sports complex with ballfields and tennis courts and an indoor facility.


It was suggested on the part of the Gedney Association President that the ordinance was not the answer, that a new comprehensive open space management plan be developed by the city for all remaining open space, private and city owned in the city.


What does everybody think about this ordinance? Vote at the right.


 

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Governor Touts Property Tax (Levy) Cap As Success in its first Year

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WPCNR NEWS & COMMENT. From the Governor Andrew M. Cuomo Committee. October 3, 2011:



When Governor Cuomo took office, local property taxes were higher in New York than anywhere else in the country. Understanding that the rapid growth in already-high property taxes was driving businesses and families from our state, the Governor fought to enact the state’s first-ever property tax cap, which was passed by the Legislature in June 2011.

 


One year later, the property tax cap has proven to be a tremendous success. A report released last week found that the cap held average property tax growth to 2 percent – 60 percent less than the previous ten-year average. In addition, 95 percent of school districts chose to stay within the cap rather than exceed it by a supermajority vote.

 


The Daily News commended the Governor in a column yesterday, explaining that the reduction in property tax increases “add up to millions of dollars staying in New Yorkers’ pockets.” The article declares, “after its first year of operation, the cap is delivering as advertised.”

 


In addition, the Daily News also points out that the tax cap has forced fiscal discipline on local politicians since the vast majority of local governments have chosen to live within the cap.

 




The property tax cap is saving hard-earned money for New York families. The cap, along with the Governor’s public pension reforms and mandate relief passed by the Legislature this year, are saving billions of dollars for New York taxpayers.

 


By working together, we’re making sure that government works for the people.

 

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