Jones Lang LaSalle
Bayonne Bay gets tentative developer
BLRA gives okay to Horton/Trammell in $100 million deal
By Al Sullivan
Reporter senior staff writer
In a move that could generate $100 million in sale of land, the Bayonne Local Redevelopment Authority unanimously approved a resolution conditionally designating D.R. Horton/Trammell Crow Residential as developers of the Bayonne Bay District at The Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor (the former Military Ocean Terminal).
But critics blasted the BLRA demanding to know what criteria was used in selecting the firm and questioning whether or not the BLRA violated the Open Public Meetings Act by deciding the developer behind closed doors.
The Bayonne Bay section of the former Military Ocean Terminal is about 65 acres with almost 33 acres of waterfront property, and designated for residential development.
The resolution passed at the April 6 BLRA meeting Executive Director Nancy Kist to negotiate a final redeveloper agreement with D.R. Horton/Trammel Crow Residential. The approved proposal includes 1,769 units of age-restricted and age-targeted for-sale and rental housing organized around a sweeping waterfront park and walkway that will be open and accessible to all Bayonne residents.
"The D.R. Horton/Trammell Crow proposal pairs two of the nation's leading real estate companies," said Howard Fitch, Chairman of the BLRA Board of Commissioners. "They met all our criteria in terms of experience, financial strength and willingness to build and market age-restricted housing."
In requesting proposals for the site, the BLRA gave strong preference to those proposals that offer age-restricted sales to people whose head of household is 55 years or older. Although Gerry McCann, representing one of the nine other rejected proposals, claimed the Horton/Trammel failed to meet the requirements of the development plan in providing age restricted housing, Kist said the company has plans to provide more than 900 of the units as age restricted.
The district is intended for low- to mid-rise buildings that are organized around a waterfront park. The redevelopment plan called for 12.15 acres of open space, including the 4.39-acre Crescent Green neighborhood park facing the water, and the 1.38-acre Village Common located in the interior of the peninsula.
The BLRA had set a minimum purchase price for the Bayonne Bay section at $60 million, sources said the deal will likely bring the BLRA $100 million.
D.R. Horton, the number one homebuilder in America, constructs and sells high quality single-family and multi-family homes through operating divisions in 26 states and 77 metropolitan markets of the United States. Trammell Crow Residential is the nation's premier multi-family real estate firm operating in more than 50 cities nationwide. With combined assets of $14 billion, the two firms have sold and rented 190,000 homes in the last five years.
"This proposal reflects our redevelopment plan's vision for a mixture of waterfront and urban living in a park-like setting," said BLRA Commissioner and City Council member Maria Karczewski.
The BLRA conducted public information sessions on August 29 and 30 at the Bayonne City Council Chambers where each of the ten respondents introduced their project team and described key elements of their proposal, including site concepts and phasing. The presentations were open to the public and media and were broadcast on the local government access channel.
McCann questioned the decision, saying that the matter should have been open to the public so that the criteria was clear and that changes were made to the criteria during the closed door sessions.
Kist, however, in a phone interview, said no changes were made and that the details of all ten proposals are considered confidential, because if the BLRA cannot come to agreement with Horton/Trammell, the BLRA will select another developer from the remaining nine.
"We received high quality proposals from many of the nation's leading real estate developers. This clearly demonstrates the value and marketability of The Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor," said Nancy Kist, Executive Director of the Bayonne Local Redevelopment Authority.
"Coming less than a month after the BLRA approved plans for development of Harbor Station North, the Bayonne Bay proposal "signals the fact that development of The Peninsula is in full swing," said BLRA Commissioner and City Council President Vincent Lo Re, Jr.
"Once again," said Bayonne Mayor Joseph V. Doria, Jr. "we have achieved our original objectives - improving quality of life by extending our community onto the Peninsula, creating jobs, and creating new tax ratables that will provide tax relief to all of Bayonne's homeowners."
The developers estimate that the total Bayonne Bay development will be valued in excess of a half billion dollars.
Since the U.S. Army transferred complete ownership of the former military base in 2002, the BLRA has raised more than $50 million in government grants and interim lease payments to make infrastructure improvements needed to attract development. These improvements include new bulkheads along the base's south side and environmental remediation that was completed this year, ahead of schedule.
Other projects include the installation of a new sewer system and planning for a new electrical grid and new roads.
The private Trammell Crow company -- which is owned by the Crow family, but does business on a local basis through partners -- opened a mid-Atlantic office two years ago in Rockville, Md., is developing two rental projects, the 504-unit Avalon Cove and the adjacent 269-unit Tower, on the Jersey City waterfront.
"We're very lucky that we got to choose from among 10 very qualified entities," Kist said. "What it came down to it the size and experience of the joint venture. What we were looking at was the ability to handle a project of this size and the revenue to survive an economic downturn."
Kist said the BLRA felt comfortable that Horton/Trammell had the experience and the financial background to deal with the project.
"We liked the professional team and the fact that they had a proven record with waterfront development," she said. "The board was impressed with all of the proposals and it was a tough decision to make. But the board conditionally designated Horton/Trammell as the developer. If we can't come to an agreement then we will have to go back to the other nine."
Kist also said the other proposals impressed the BLRA board enough that they will be sought out for proposals for the remaining development sections when they come on line.
"We like these guys, we still would like to do business with them, and there will be opportunities down the road for that to happen," Kist said.
McCann, however, claimed the BLRA should have held discussions in public.
Under Open Public Meetings Act, citizens have a right to attend meetings at which any business affecting the public is discussed or acted upon.
Public bodies, however, can exclude the public for closed sessions under certain conditions. Although McCann and attorney Mike M--- claimed the BLRA violated the law, state officials said matters that involve the purchase, lease or acquisition of real property with public funds - under which the BLRA was operating.
©The Hudson Reporter 2006
Bayonne Bay gets tentative developer
BLRA gives okay to Horton/Trammell in $100 million deal
By Al Sullivan
Reporter senior staff writer
In a move that could generate $100 million in sale of land, the Bayonne Local Redevelopment Authority unanimously approved a resolution conditionally designating D.R. Horton/Trammell Crow Residential as developers of the Bayonne Bay District at The Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor (the former Military Ocean Terminal).
But critics blasted the BLRA demanding to know what criteria was used in selecting the firm and questioning whether or not the BLRA violated the Open Public Meetings Act by deciding the developer behind closed doors.
The Bayonne Bay section of the former Military Ocean Terminal is about 65 acres with almost 33 acres of waterfront property, and designated for residential development.
The resolution passed at the April 6 BLRA meeting Executive Director Nancy Kist to negotiate a final redeveloper agreement with D.R. Horton/Trammel Crow Residential. The approved proposal includes 1,769 units of age-restricted and age-targeted for-sale and rental housing organized around a sweeping waterfront park and walkway that will be open and accessible to all Bayonne residents.
"The D.R. Horton/Trammell Crow proposal pairs two of the nation's leading real estate companies," said Howard Fitch, Chairman of the BLRA Board of Commissioners. "They met all our criteria in terms of experience, financial strength and willingness to build and market age-restricted housing."
In requesting proposals for the site, the BLRA gave strong preference to those proposals that offer age-restricted sales to people whose head of household is 55 years or older. Although Gerry McCann, representing one of the nine other rejected proposals, claimed the Horton/Trammel failed to meet the requirements of the development plan in providing age restricted housing, Kist said the company has plans to provide more than 900 of the units as age restricted.
The district is intended for low- to mid-rise buildings that are organized around a waterfront park. The redevelopment plan called for 12.15 acres of open space, including the 4.39-acre Crescent Green neighborhood park facing the water, and the 1.38-acre Village Common located in the interior of the peninsula.
The BLRA had set a minimum purchase price for the Bayonne Bay section at $60 million, sources said the deal will likely bring the BLRA $100 million.
D.R. Horton, the number one homebuilder in America, constructs and sells high quality single-family and multi-family homes through operating divisions in 26 states and 77 metropolitan markets of the United States. Trammell Crow Residential is the nation's premier multi-family real estate firm operating in more than 50 cities nationwide. With combined assets of $14 billion, the two firms have sold and rented 190,000 homes in the last five years.
"This proposal reflects our redevelopment plan's vision for a mixture of waterfront and urban living in a park-like setting," said BLRA Commissioner and City Council member Maria Karczewski.
The BLRA conducted public information sessions on August 29 and 30 at the Bayonne City Council Chambers where each of the ten respondents introduced their project team and described key elements of their proposal, including site concepts and phasing. The presentations were open to the public and media and were broadcast on the local government access channel.
McCann questioned the decision, saying that the matter should have been open to the public so that the criteria was clear and that changes were made to the criteria during the closed door sessions.
Kist, however, in a phone interview, said no changes were made and that the details of all ten proposals are considered confidential, because if the BLRA cannot come to agreement with Horton/Trammell, the BLRA will select another developer from the remaining nine.
"We received high quality proposals from many of the nation's leading real estate developers. This clearly demonstrates the value and marketability of The Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor," said Nancy Kist, Executive Director of the Bayonne Local Redevelopment Authority.
"Coming less than a month after the BLRA approved plans for development of Harbor Station North, the Bayonne Bay proposal "signals the fact that development of The Peninsula is in full swing," said BLRA Commissioner and City Council President Vincent Lo Re, Jr.
"Once again," said Bayonne Mayor Joseph V. Doria, Jr. "we have achieved our original objectives - improving quality of life by extending our community onto the Peninsula, creating jobs, and creating new tax ratables that will provide tax relief to all of Bayonne's homeowners."
The developers estimate that the total Bayonne Bay development will be valued in excess of a half billion dollars.
Since the U.S. Army transferred complete ownership of the former military base in 2002, the BLRA has raised more than $50 million in government grants and interim lease payments to make infrastructure improvements needed to attract development. These improvements include new bulkheads along the base's south side and environmental remediation that was completed this year, ahead of schedule.
Other projects include the installation of a new sewer system and planning for a new electrical grid and new roads.
The private Trammell Crow company -- which is owned by the Crow family, but does business on a local basis through partners -- opened a mid-Atlantic office two years ago in Rockville, Md., is developing two rental projects, the 504-unit Avalon Cove and the adjacent 269-unit Tower, on the Jersey City waterfront.
"We're very lucky that we got to choose from among 10 very qualified entities," Kist said. "What it came down to it the size and experience of the joint venture. What we were looking at was the ability to handle a project of this size and the revenue to survive an economic downturn."
Kist said the BLRA felt comfortable that Horton/Trammell had the experience and the financial background to deal with the project.
"We liked the professional team and the fact that they had a proven record with waterfront development," she said. "The board was impressed with all of the proposals and it was a tough decision to make. But the board conditionally designated Horton/Trammell as the developer. If we can't come to an agreement then we will have to go back to the other nine."
Kist also said the other proposals impressed the BLRA board enough that they will be sought out for proposals for the remaining development sections when they come on line.
"We like these guys, we still would like to do business with them, and there will be opportunities down the road for that to happen," Kist said.
McCann, however, claimed the BLRA should have held discussions in public.
Under Open Public Meetings Act, citizens have a right to attend meetings at which any business affecting the public is discussed or acted upon.
Public bodies, however, can exclude the public for closed sessions under certain conditions. Although McCann and attorney Mike M--- claimed the BLRA violated the law, state officials said matters that involve the purchase, lease or acquisition of real property with public funds - under which the BLRA was operating.
©The Hudson Reporter 2006
posted by Jones Lang LaSalle NJ News Blog at 9:55 AM
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