Jones Lang LaSalle
Florham Park still hopeful on Jets training facility
Officials confident team will relocate to borough
BY NAVID IQBAL
DAILY RECORD
FLORHAM PARK -- Officials here remain confident the borough will land the New York Jets' new practice facility in spite of Gov. Jon Corzine re-examining an agreement with the Jets and New York Giants over a new joint stadium they want to build.
As part of the agreementwith the state, representatives said the teams would privately fund a new stadium at the Meadowlands. In turn, the state would purchase about 20 acres of land for each team to build a new practice facility. The Giants agreed to remain in East Rutherford.
The Jets, who previously had plans to build a stadium on Manhattan's West Side scratched by local opposition, selected five sites in northern New Jersey that they called ideal for a new practice facility. The team's current facility is on the campus of Hofstra University in Long Island.
The 423-acre former Exxon property, now owned by a joint venture between Gale Co. and the Rockefeller Group, was one of the five site the Jets had named earlier this year. The other places that Jets are considering moving to are the Wood-Ridge Industrial Park in Wood-Ridge; East Orange Water Works land in Millburn; a warehouse facility in Jersey City and a corporate campus in Berkeley Heights.
A decision through a joint announcement with the New Jersey Sports Exposition Authority had been widely expected March 1. It was later pushed back to mid-March. Borough officials previously said an announcement would be made March 16, but now expect it to be pushed back.
NJSEA officials had not returned phone calls and messages seeking comment.
Previously, Gale Co. had wanted to build 500 townhouses on the site, something which caused Florham Park to be sued by Madison and the Chathams.
The plan to build a stadium was overwhelmingly supported. The borough council even issued a proclamation "welcoming" the Jets to town. The Morris County freeholders even sent messages to the Jets saying the county would appreciate the team.
Florham Park Mayor Frank D. Tinari said Monday that he remains confident the Jets would find a comfortable new home in his hometown.
He said the team has already asked the borough and owners of the Exxon site for detailed site plans. Tinari said other towns also submitted similar plans earlier this month.
N.J. Senate President Richard J. Codey told The Associated Press on Monday that he considered the state's six-month-old agreement with the two teams to be "a moral and ethical contract."
Gov. Corzine last week questioned if the $1 billion cost of the stadium without a roof limits the stadium's use. He said he would like to see events such as a Super Bowl, Final Four championships or political conventions held there. On Monday, a Corzine spokesman said the acting state treasurer, Bradley Abelow, was reviewing the deal.
Published reports said the two professional football team's owners would pull out of the stadium deal if they were required to pay for a retractable roof, something that Corzine suggested they do.
If the Jets do move to Florham Park, the site they would be on would be purchased by the state. This means that the borough would not be able to collect taxes on the site. Instead, as the Jets do in other municipalities, the team would enter into an agreement called payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, with the borough.
When Florham Park and the other towns were named, the Jets had said the move would generate more than $10 million each year in taxes.
The five-year PILOT agreement would require the Jets to pay 75 percent of the amount they would have owed in taxes in the first year. By the fifth year, they would pay 50 percent of the tax and then the agreement would be renegotiated.
If the Jets do move to the borough, it would be the first time the municipality would have an organization that has the PILOT arrangement, Tinari said.
Some borough councilmen had expressed concern that Florham Park, a Republican town, may be overlooked because of its politics. But others disputed that notion.
"I think the decision now is going to be made on the top levels of the Jets and of the NJSEA,"Tinari said.
While the state assemblyman who covers three communities near or in the town the Jets may go to did not say where he would like to see the team go, he did say concern over the politics influencing the team's decision was not necessary.
"I think that the decision will be made by the Jets, and I don't think the Jets care whether there is a Democratic mayor or a Republican mayor, I don't think the Jets really care much about the political persuasion of the town," said Republican Assemblyman Jon M. Bramnick, who covers a district that includes Millburn, Berkeley Heights and Madison.
Florham Park still hopeful on Jets training facility
Officials confident team will relocate to borough
BY NAVID IQBAL
DAILY RECORD
FLORHAM PARK -- Officials here remain confident the borough will land the New York Jets' new practice facility in spite of Gov. Jon Corzine re-examining an agreement with the Jets and New York Giants over a new joint stadium they want to build.
As part of the agreementwith the state, representatives said the teams would privately fund a new stadium at the Meadowlands. In turn, the state would purchase about 20 acres of land for each team to build a new practice facility. The Giants agreed to remain in East Rutherford.
The Jets, who previously had plans to build a stadium on Manhattan's West Side scratched by local opposition, selected five sites in northern New Jersey that they called ideal for a new practice facility. The team's current facility is on the campus of Hofstra University in Long Island.
The 423-acre former Exxon property, now owned by a joint venture between Gale Co. and the Rockefeller Group, was one of the five site the Jets had named earlier this year. The other places that Jets are considering moving to are the Wood-Ridge Industrial Park in Wood-Ridge; East Orange Water Works land in Millburn; a warehouse facility in Jersey City and a corporate campus in Berkeley Heights.
A decision through a joint announcement with the New Jersey Sports Exposition Authority had been widely expected March 1. It was later pushed back to mid-March. Borough officials previously said an announcement would be made March 16, but now expect it to be pushed back.
NJSEA officials had not returned phone calls and messages seeking comment.
Previously, Gale Co. had wanted to build 500 townhouses on the site, something which caused Florham Park to be sued by Madison and the Chathams.
The plan to build a stadium was overwhelmingly supported. The borough council even issued a proclamation "welcoming" the Jets to town. The Morris County freeholders even sent messages to the Jets saying the county would appreciate the team.
Florham Park Mayor Frank D. Tinari said Monday that he remains confident the Jets would find a comfortable new home in his hometown.
He said the team has already asked the borough and owners of the Exxon site for detailed site plans. Tinari said other towns also submitted similar plans earlier this month.
N.J. Senate President Richard J. Codey told The Associated Press on Monday that he considered the state's six-month-old agreement with the two teams to be "a moral and ethical contract."
Gov. Corzine last week questioned if the $1 billion cost of the stadium without a roof limits the stadium's use. He said he would like to see events such as a Super Bowl, Final Four championships or political conventions held there. On Monday, a Corzine spokesman said the acting state treasurer, Bradley Abelow, was reviewing the deal.
Published reports said the two professional football team's owners would pull out of the stadium deal if they were required to pay for a retractable roof, something that Corzine suggested they do.
If the Jets do move to Florham Park, the site they would be on would be purchased by the state. This means that the borough would not be able to collect taxes on the site. Instead, as the Jets do in other municipalities, the team would enter into an agreement called payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, with the borough.
When Florham Park and the other towns were named, the Jets had said the move would generate more than $10 million each year in taxes.
The five-year PILOT agreement would require the Jets to pay 75 percent of the amount they would have owed in taxes in the first year. By the fifth year, they would pay 50 percent of the tax and then the agreement would be renegotiated.
If the Jets do move to the borough, it would be the first time the municipality would have an organization that has the PILOT arrangement, Tinari said.
Some borough councilmen had expressed concern that Florham Park, a Republican town, may be overlooked because of its politics. But others disputed that notion.
"I think the decision now is going to be made on the top levels of the Jets and of the NJSEA,"Tinari said.
While the state assemblyman who covers three communities near or in the town the Jets may go to did not say where he would like to see the team go, he did say concern over the politics influencing the team's decision was not necessary.
"I think that the decision will be made by the Jets, and I don't think the Jets care whether there is a Democratic mayor or a Republican mayor, I don't think the Jets really care much about the political persuasion of the town," said Republican Assemblyman Jon M. Bramnick, who covers a district that includes Millburn, Berkeley Heights and Madison.
posted by Jones Lang LaSalle NJ News Blog at 11:12 AM
<< Home