October 26, 2008

End of Intermission

But first check out Nick K column today. In particular the following part that I have been thinking myself for what was months but now years:


Careful for what you wish for, boys and girls, because Mr. Park and company might just tell you all to go pound sand.

After all, Berkeley Investments, not the city, owns the CitySquare development site, which includes the former outlet mall, the two office towers and the parking garages. In 2004, Berkeley paid $30.3 million for the property, and it has been paying property taxes on it since. The city has no ownership or control over the property.

True, Berkeley is partnering with the city on CitySquare — the city will be providing public money for the demolition of the mall and the construction of new roadways and infrastructure — but should the City Council be telling Berkeley whom to negotiate with or criticizing the company for not moving quickly enough?

If Berkeley just wanted to sit on the property, wouldn’t it be well within its right, as long as it continued to pay property taxes to the city?

Berkeley is a successful development company and one would think it knows what it is doing. They certainly aren’t going to rush into something just for the sake of making some local elected officials happy. They want to make sure that whatever they do makes the most sense for them and the project. It is, after all, not the best economic climate for major development projects.

9 comments:

Paulie's Point of View said...

well there is no doubt in my mind that our City Council is losing it's mind..they expect this developer to sign a deal with UNUM for the sake of a deal..a long term deal for the sake of a deal..

It is my understanding that the property as is is financially self supporting and this city expects this developer to make a long term deal for the sake of a deal...what cards do they expect Young Park to lay on the table that are any different than in June? Since June we have had to adopt a 700 billion dollar federal bailout, the state is cutting back 1 billion, we have had no new business locate here, low income house is of course being developed on every urban cornah..

This is the mentality in this city..bailout here, bailout there..everywhere a bailout...now I know why for years I along with many other small property owners trying to do the right thing were just left to rot in the neighborhoods with all the cockroaches swarming over us..

The problem really is that this is the only deal we have and our Councilors have surely let this be known

Bill Randell said...

It is bad enough that the CDC's have become our dominant developer in the downtown not it looks like we are moving into the commercial real estate.

What this city need more then anything is pure private investment.

Anonymous said...

Nick K fails to mention the quid pro quo (Thank you Mr Murray) that basically enabled Berkley to finagle a free parking garage out of the city in exchange for making the project a union job.

Also, I have to wonder, did the city significantly reduce and/or eliminate the real estate taxes on the structures to be razed as part of the overall deal? Someone help with this question

Mr Palmieri is the point man for the councils subcommitte on economic devolpment? Who would put a former career courthouse gov't employee (was he possibly a probation officer?) in charge of Worc's economic dev'ment? The same people who would put a school teacher in a key position at the airport?

Agreed, Mr Palmieri shouldnt be throwing his weight around on this one.

The same city council that handed nice subsidies to Gateway Park is now weeping & moaning about Gateway soliciting UNUM as a potential tenant and who knows possibly underbidding City Sq. with the help of these subidized building constr. costs. Kinda like the council subsidizing the over abundance, proliferation and dense constr. of low income housing in Main South and then having to enact a knife carrying ordinace as a result of the low lifes & Paulies Pajama People (PPP's) who sometimes populate this newly built housing.

In addition to Paulies Pajama People (PPP's) being out and about certain sections of the city on this nice sunny Sunday we also have Pilot Payment Palmieri (PPP) headling the T&G for a second time this morning.

Anyone care to also discuss the Pilot payment issue. At this time, Jahn is vehemently opposed PPP's position on this issue.

Bill Randell said...

For the 1001th time!!!!

I was on a task force that Mayor Murray initiated with State Rep being the overall manager. i was somewhat skeptical, but the end product was awesome and ended with the formation of the InCity Partnership.

At that point we hired a guy who did not do any of the recommendations and within two years it was shut down. Versus wasting our time again, blow off the dust from our report and hire someone or reposition someone who can take the recommendations and make them a reality.

My biggest fear is that the current city council we request another task force!!

Anonymous said...

Bill, in Worc. reports, studies, blue ribbon commissions, and the like are similar to the college term paper you once wrote.

You put an inordinate amt of time into your research, you document your sources, your logic, your conclusions, your recommendaitons, etc.......then your college profs (the city councilors) look it over, make a few comments, & grade it (e.g. nice work Worc, Municipal Research Bureau)...........and then they shred it......or in the case of the council deep six it.

And they wonder why people could care less about serving on boards, commissions, etc. in Worc.

Bill Randell said...

The one thing that bothered me about this task force was that it was promised that we would get together annually (or something like that) to review our initial recommendations and see how we were doing.

We never got together once. Think was disrespectful to all the people that served on the task force.

Anonymous said...

“What the colleges are doing is not enough, and they know it,”

“If college presidents and those in the college community don’t understand the need to invest more in our community, there’s something dramatically wrong with this picture,”

The above are quotes from Councilor Philip Palmieri in the October 26, 2008 Worcester Sunday Telegram.

An individual named Phillip P Palmieri is, according the City of Worcester Treasurers website, behind in property tax payments to the city on two properties which I shall not specifically identify.

This is what I have read on the city treasurers website regarding two properties owned by a Philip P Palmieri

a. previous years taxes totaling 345.88 on one property

b. interest for 2008 & 2007 ( comment: interest could be indicative of late payment)

c. previous years taxes totaling 14.44 on another property.

d. the August 1st, 2008 payment received August 29, 2008

e. unpaid water sewer charges for ........7-30-08 119.46


Now I will readily admit these are not earth shattering amounts, but what example does it set and what message does it send when an individual named Philip Palmieri is listed on the city treasurers website with the above items IF the indivudual is also a city councilor and IF the individual is pressuring others who have no legal obligation to pay monies to the city (colleges) and IF the same individual has made the above quotes to the effect that colleges are not doing enough and the college community needs to invest more in the city.

Maybe the city treaurer possibly had a Spellane moment and commited a bookkeeping error?

Maybe there's a reasonable explantion.

The blogging commuity awaits a response...to again quote from Councilor Palmieri, per the T&G re pilot payments....."there's something drastically wrong with this picture" ...........

Anonymous said...

I am religious about clearing snow from my sidwalk. The worse that could ever be said is that on ocassion I have just not been able to clear it w/in the mandated time frame. Sometimes it may have taken me 24 hrs after teh end of the storm to clear it when the law mandates 10 hrs, I think. Working in Boston for 9-10 hours a day plus a 2+ hour commute can sometimes crimp ones ability to get things at home done in timely fashion.

But what really frosts my ASS is WTF should one shovel their sidewalk when the god dam ++++'ing sidewalk can not even be traveled on in the middle of July unless you're on 34 ton Caterpillar D-9 bulldozer b/c the dam sidewalk surface is basically impassable.

I implore the city council to define exactly WTF a sidewalk is before they pass this ordinace. What if the side walk area is merely grass or overgrowth...does one still have to clear it?

Will the city be exempt from the ordinance as they are from the nuisance ordinance they passed last spring. The old do as I say not as I do.

Can we get the firemen off their collective asses to help out with city owned sidewalks? Shut off Huckleberry Hound Dawg and turn on a snowblower.

Sorry..bad Monday morning here.

Anonymous said...

I sincerely hope that Nick K can crank out a piece next Sunday about police dept paygate. The citizens, tax payers, and de facto shareholders of the city need a progress report.

Chief Gemmes silence is becoming more & more bothersome as time goes by.

Basically. I'd like to know

a. how far back have they gone thus far

b. Total dollars "damage" thus far discovered

c. # personnel who allegedly have stolen from the city.

Why dont they just hire forensic accountants. No way shoulod police internal affairs be investigating this.........we need some jack booted thugs from Washington to unravel all of this.

Geee, I saw 5 or 6 staties in the thick of Main South at midafternoon, complete with tracking dogs, and it appeared they were about enter the RR tracks area (no pun)..........