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GREENBURGH, N.Y. – A group of Tarrytown developers were in Greenburgh this week, looking to set the record straight about a proposed sports facility.
Representatives from Game On 365 hosted an informal question and answer session with residents at the town hall Tuesday, hoping to assuage concerns about their plans for a clubhouse and indoor soccer field facility at 715 Dobbs Ferry Road.
Questions about the complex were raised after anonymous letters critical of the proposal began circulating the town over the past couple weeks.
“The main point is that we got the facts out,” Game On Managing Partner Vito Galasso said Wednesday. “We’re not trying to change anyone’s mind. We’re just trying to get correct information out.”
Game On’s plan for a Westchester Field House has become the town’s preferred option to occupy the abandoned lot. The nearly seven-acre area was left vacant after Frank’s Nursery went bankrupt and the town foreclosed on the property last year.
Game On's proposal includes an outdoor soccer field and 15,000-square-foot clubhouse attached to a 94,000 square foot dome housing four turf playing fields and two hard court surfaces.
Galasso said the facility would be a fit for Westchester because there is a shortage of year-round playing fields space throughout the county.
“Come winter, kids playing soccer and lacrosse can’t find field space,” Galasso said.
But in the past couple of weeks anonymous letters raised concerns about a lack of parking at the lot and the effect the facility would have on traffic in the area.
Both Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner and Galasso said the letters contained a number of inaccuracies. Galasso suggested it may be a competitor who sent out the information.
“People had their own agenda who are involved for competitive reasons,” Galasso said.
In the meantime, the town and Game On continue to work through negotiations of a 15-year lease. Galasso said any agreement with the town would be contingent on an environmental review and traffic study.
A timeline for the proposed deal is still unknown, but Feiner has said residents will have ample time to review the deal before anything is agreed upon.
Comments (8)
lohud (the journal news) has hired a reporter to act as a tax watchdog.
clearly he needs to set up shop on a permanent basis in greenburgh
feiner and his lemmings have abandoned all pretense of doing what is right by the town's taxpayers
from multimilion dollar loans from the A fund to the water district without a vote to the fiscal recklessness in the valhalla case to the fiasco of fortress bible to the phony scholarships at the TDYCC to this latest giveaway, what is needed in Greenburgh is a non-partisan elected town manager to act as a check on a runaway town board who is accounatable to no one in the one party political Feinerist state.
Alternatively, a slate of candidates is needed (just three votes really) to oust Feiner and his fellow careerists like diana juettner (20 years and counting) and reverse the disasterous state of affairs we find in Greenburgh.
RFR
Paul Feiner and the Town Council need to follow the reasonable requirements of the Greenburgh Zoning Ordinance.
This has not happened with reference to several land use projects including Fortress Bible, WestHelp, Westhab, convenience store/gas stations, Frank's Nursery etc..
Last but not least, Feiner and the Town Council continue to ignore the fact that the Mount Vernon Neighborhood Health Center still has not finalized plans for installation of an ADA compliant sidewalk at their site currently under construction at 295 Knollwood Road. NYS DOT has told the Town that NYS will not build the sidewalk before the health center opens for business. Under these circumstances the Town is required to take whatever actions are necessary to insure that a sidewalk is actually provided from Tarrytown Road up to and including the front lot line of the health center. Feiner and the Town Council have taken no action to remedy this potentially very dangerous situation. Feiner and the Town Council continue to ignore the repeated requests from Broadview residents for a meeting to discuss the urgent need for a sidewalk at the site before the health center opens for business
Robert Reninger, Chairman
Broadview Civic Association
Mr. Samis is correct that the RFP for the Frank's Nursery property is a sham, and that the Town really has no idea what the market value of the property actually is.
The Town had apparently settled on Game-On as the favored tenant as of the spring of 2011 when, without telling the community why, the Town Board held public hearings on whether or not to exempt itself from the zoning requirements for the Frank's Nursery property. The property was in a single family residential zone and the Town was looking to find a use for the property without being tied to that zoning restriction. No one except Town Supervisor Paul Feiner and perhaps one or more members of the Town Board knew the truth: that the Town had already secretly decided to lease the parcel to Game-On and that such a lease would of course require a zoning change. But rather than go through that process, which Mr. Feiner knew might prove troublesome, Mr. Feiner thought he could do an end-run around that by simply getting the community to accept an "exemption" to the Town's zoning law.
Mr. Feiner's proposal, however, was met with outrage. Numerous civic associations, including the Council of Greenburgh Civic Association and the Edgemont Community Council opposed Mr. Feiner's proposal as unfair and highly prejudicial to neighboring properties which, in this case, were mostly residential.
That the Town was considering leasing the property all along to Game-On became obvious when, on May 19, 2011, months before the Town issued any RFP for the property, Mr. Feiner issued a press release calling for a "community meeting" for May 25, 2011 at the Frank's Nursery site for the purpose of considering proposals to Frank's, including leasing the property to a company that intended to erect a "recreation bubble for recreation uses." That, of course, was Game-On -- the entity for whom Mr. Feiner had been shilling for all along.
In the teeth of opposition from residents to the Town exempting itself from its own zoning regs, the Town decided instead in late August 2011 to issue an RFP for the Frank's property, with the understanding that all decisions with respect to Frank's would be made by December 31, 2011. The rationale was that if the Town could enter into a lease with Game-On prior to December 31, 2011 or shortly thereafter, it could include some of the rent as revenue for the 2012 town budget.
All of this is reflected in town records which are available online. The reality though is that because the Town's RFP process for the property was a sham, there is really no way to know what the true market value of the property is.
Proceeding headlong into a long-term lease without knowing the true market value of the property being leased is a hallmark of incompetence. That Mr. Feiner would do so without even putting a copy of the lease on the table for all to see is likely a further indication that the lease is problematic. Thus, there is also the problem of who bears the cost of any environmental cleanup at the site. Based on Mr. Feiner's efforts in the past, including his last attempt to lease the Frank's Nursery site for a temporary library location, we know that Mr. Feiner may well shift that risk to Greenburgh taxpayers.
The devil, as they say, is always in the details, and Mr. Feiner, unfortunately, doesn't pay attention to the details, and his colleagues on the town board don't seem to either.
third and final part (for now)
This brings me to the most interesting part. How narrow is the marketplace when the Town seeks to sell or lease town property or even to hire consultant's. Not nearly as many as the nifty fifty.
Feiner and Commissioner Madden have allowed that there were few (less than five) responses to the RFP for this property. This may be a reflection of the market or it may be a reflection of a less than productive manner of seeking fulfillment. Obviously the Town staff is familiar with not committing any material to paper and thus creating presumably FOILable documents on those days the Town is in a friendly mode. However, the more you get involved with the Town, the more you learn how much business is conducted only on the telephone and committed to memory. Thus, it becomes possible if Feiner wanted to keep the RFP limited to a close, bunch of "friends" to do so.
it would require no great stretch of the imagination to see how such an intended result could be managed within a system very tolerant of patronage. For example, not making it known that property zoned as residential would allow commercial development would tend to discourage commercial proposals. It is also possible that GameOn, studying the map for potential locations for its business growth, might identify towns served by highways and congenial census data and approach, say the Town Supervisor, with a proposal independent of any RFP subsequently mounted by the Town. In fact it is conceivable that GameOn contacted Feiner earlier with an idea and that idea resulted in the production of a lip service acknowledgement to due diligence and create an RFP from scratch that few outside the loop would recognize as seeking the end accepted result.
But for certain, no all-out effort was launched to market this property; nor were even serious due diligence requisites attempted.
There was no paid advertising directed to real estate developers or investors. There were no real estate brokers employed. And, not knowing the true value of the property,this was not a roadblock or red flag which concerned Feiner. Indeed, receiving as few responses to the RFP for a prime, residential location should have been a clue that the marketing engine was not firing on all cylinders. By comparison, everyone in Westchester and beyond knows that Feiner wants to use the "old" Tappan Zee Bridge as a bikeway. Isn't it odd that Feiner, who spends his days courting all media so as to get out the word re aging dogs needing adoption, was unable to find any takers other than GameOn. Feiner, leaving Howard Stern in the dust as king of all media, spends his day blogging, tweeting, face-booking and sending out press releases to the press and tv, has no moments of doubt when he is unable to find more ready, willing and able open wallets?
What he could have done but didn't was to take the property off the market and regroup. Possibly questioning the why behind such a lack of response; reasons for everyone else but reasons apparently that didn't deter GameOn.
How about the Town spending a few bucks on a DISPLAY ad to post the RFP? Ads cost money might be Feiner's response which, in turn,courts the response "penny wise and pound foolish". But that's Feiner's ace in the hole to hide all sins. He poses and dresses as a likable schlub whom nobody would suspect -- he wouldn't hurt a fly: would the real Norman Bates stand up? Odd too that Greenburgh, with less than 20 largish developable parcels remaining (including golf courses), located between Stamford and NYC, surrounded by highways, interstates, a Hudson river crossing, an airport, the 80th best place to live citation and an impeccable bond rating only elicited 3 viable proposals? Three that the Town Board "waded through" and found only one acceptable. And that was reason enough to proceed with the one that needed a zoning change, a height variance? etc.?
Methinks this is something that needs further looking into.
Then let's consider the announced 15 year lease term. Absolutely no to any renewal options? Or absolutely no to providing an answer to the question! By way of comparison, Ferncliff Manor is seeking a 50 year lease.
Finally, 'go look at our other locations' says GameOn. But what are you going to see? The broom clean and freshly scrubbed bubble with happy children or are you going to see a similar facility located smack dab in the middle of a residential zone? You need to know what to look at, which in this case is forests not trees.
What Greenburgh needs to do is stop, look, listen and exercise caution before proceeding. This is true of any idea originating with Feiner. Since he is not a hands-on manager, he glories in leaping without looking first (in either direction). I too suffer from male pattern baldness; let me assure readers that in Feiner's case ideas "off the top of his head" would serve the Town, his employer, better were they to be slowed down in their escape by the barrier of a healthy head of hair.
If this is read as an outrageous statement, consider the alternative which suggests a visit to the barber in the front chair: the NYS Attorney General.
Hal Samis
part deux
The over-riding issues that should have propelled this proposal to the same destiny as the town's leaves are being snubbed in favor of less informed residents who asked questions about what sports are being offered, how much will be charged for enrollments, what hours will it be operating and whether you can use the facility without being enrolled in a "program". These "naive" questions must have been of comfort to GameOn for they send a message that the "community" is resigned to their being open as a done deal; what remains is what products can you sell us so that we will be your good customer. Nevertheless an exit poll would have confirmed near 100% opposition.
Only a few of the participants at the meeting asked the smart questions that relate to killing the proposal.
Think about what is involved and then recognize that this proposal is the one-stop composite for all that ails Greenburgh under Feiner.
Zoning: R-30 residential only, height restriction that does not allow any structure approaching 79' high. Instead we have over 150,000 sf of commercial which includes on-site affiliated retail uses.
Comprehensive Plan: 5 years in the making, $400,000+ cost to taxpayers and if GameOn is the result, then Feiner need not even open the Plan once it is completed because he shall continue to do whatever he wants.
Revenue to Greenburgh: $260,000 rent for a for-profit commercial use vs. "$500,000" which Feiner alleges a non-profit (Ferncliff Manor) is willing to pay. Whereas neither use will be paying taxes (real estate, school, fire) taxes, this absent expense is one of great value (and competitive advantage) to a commercial tenant. Futhermore to a business which operates as a destination, the proximity (access and egress) to a highway is an added value not evident in the rent. The "playing field" for Ferncliff and GameOn is further leveled by the knowledge that both entities propose to build new ground-up facilities so the 2x rent disparity becomes an even more intriguing issue.
RFP (Request for Proposal): Feiner is making much of the story that there was a sign on the premises as though real estate site professional pass by the location on a daily basis. As for the other postings (town website, town email list, pro-active solicitations) much more information needs to be forthcoming as to how widely this information was actually disseminated? At this writing I have not pursued or challenged this representation through FOIL (there is an expense for such but the Town could voluntarily make this file available at no cost -- we shall see) but I suspect that the Town did no display advertising in likely real estate publications or newspaper real estate sections where commercial or residential developers/or tenants might be reached. i.e. Real Estate Weekly, New York Times Wednesday Real Estate pages, Property Shark, mailings to all commercial real estate brokers OR, for that matter, advising parties that although the property is zoned Residential (public record) that the Town would be amenable to exempting that condition such as it apparently is willing to do for GameOn. Perhaps, such knowledge would be an enticement to those having such inside knowledge.
Metz Reservoir: Due process thrown out of few years back along with the then unbagged, unmulched leaves. The new dome over an existing water basin was already a fait accompli by the time United Water completed its work along Ardsley Road. No proscribed hearings; no notice to the natives because Water is Water and perhaps more valued than a Sports facility. However, after the fact, (no one knew what was intended) residents become involved and were eventually bought off by the addition of a few trees and shrubs to "hide" the unsightly outcome. None of the trees supplied were of 79' in height variety. Greenburgh residents would do well to drive by the Metz Reservoir after the tree "mitigation" and then imagine what GameOn's exposed dome will look like.
Catch as Catch Can: Feiner claims this is advancing at its current pace (lease commencement September 2012) because the "Town" (A Budget) needs money to counter rising taxes. What is not as apparent is what money is heading the Town's way AND WHEN. It "appears" from what residents are being told that the costs of SEQRA, soil mitigation, any roadwork needed will be "fronted" by GameOn should it be in receipt of a binding lease executed by the Town. Such a lease will doubtless contain "outs" should GameOn reconsider or find these costs to be too burdensome. These "subject tos" may indeed be the basis for reconsideration of terms. However the Town will not have the same advantage. Oftentimes the Town Board when trying to fool the public on unpopular signings that the Town Board "reserves the right to cancel on notice" but the gimmick here is that the Town Board is not going to exercise this right: witness the tolerated defaults of the Federal Credit Union lease or the contract with Renew Greenburgh. What the Town avoids is spelling out the conditions that it MUST proceed with cancellation. This is known as "fooling some of the people all of the time". Then, when does the unadorned payment of rent commence? Certainly not with the lease signing but perhaps as long into the game (2-3 years) until construction begins. Not much help, even to the A budget, of 2013.
Perhaps arriving along with those anticipated dollars from the Waterwheel "sale".
Competition: Feiner talks often about the benefits of competition but seldom are these benefits realized. Think Cablevision and Verizon for example. Will gasoline be cheaper at the Cumberland Farms station when it opens? We'll have to wait and see. However, Feiner also talks about the presence of vacant stores and how it presents Greenburgh in an unfavorable light. Which perhaps explains why Mr. Feiner is doing all he can to put out the welcome mat to GameOn despite his assumed concern (as Town Supervisor) for the welfare of the existing new sports facility investment in bordering Ardsley. Apparently Mr. Feiner is a marketing expert and knows what population bases are needed to support two similar facilities operating within the same market. A market which Feiner repeatedly invokes his sympathy for those residents who contact him weekly that they can longer afford to live in Greenburgh, pay taxes and eat much less joining Sports facilities. A market which Feiner has decided also deserves offseason tennis run by a for-profit operator which demands that the Town jump through all kinds of hoops before signing a lease. A lease (Sportime), which by the way, will reward Greenburgh with upwards of $225,000 (have I got that right) for just 6-7 operating months vs. GameOn's 150.000 sf facility bringing in $260,000 for 12 months. And for Sportime, they want Finneran struck down BEFORE they sign, GameOn, in turn, wants the Town to sign BEFORE GameOn commits.
Whatever you call Feiner's turf, Greenburgh, Hochberg or Denmark, I smell something rotten.
halmarc45 makes many excellent ponts about this looming monstrosity. Ardsley village residents should be incensed that Feiner is pushing this when House of Sports is building a magnificent indoor sports facility in a properly zoned non-residential area in Ardsley. House of Sports is also renovating the community center in Ardsley that serves residents in both the incorporated villages and portions of unincorporated Greenburgh.
Feiner's comments about favoring competition are nonsense. This facility will only serve to cannibalize the market while severely impacting the local residential neighborhood - and all for what - a mere $260, 000 a year? Further any long term lease will tie up the potential of developing the site for either new municipal facilities or other more compatible and legal uses.
The hurdles Feiner is willing to jump over to push for this unecessary and excessive project raises a serious question? why? the proposed tax revenue is miniscule and the harm to the local neighborhood is great? why is feiner so solicitous of Game On?
The writer of ths comment has no association with House of Sports.
the studies the town's traffic consultant relied upon in the fortress bible case where determined by the trial court to be riddled with fraud. the town's own professionals (as well as those of the county and the state) found the church's traffic mitigation efforts satisfactoiry. Feiner and the then town board hired a new traffic consultant who shamelesslly manipulated the data against the church and then used these fraudulent studies to deny the church's applications to build.
if the town's appeal fails, there should be a loud chorus from everyone in Greenburgh (both incorporated and unincorporated) demanding that juettner and feiner resign for violating their oaths of office in supporting and defending the united states constitution and the laws of the state of new york.
"Questions about the complex were raised..."
Yes, Matt, thanks for an article detailing everything you might want to know about the meeting EXCEPT for what was discussed.
OK, you don't get enough space to provide the meat, only enough to serve up the fattening potatoes.
So once again I take up the slack. In several sections beginning now (as they announce on tv).
About 100 people attended the meeting (144 seating capacity). Mostly from the neighborhood. And perhaps only 1 or 2 of those attending favored the proposal. The picture above is worth a thousand words but let me address some issues that are unique to Feiner's sloppy and SUSPECT groundwork.
1) The site is zoned Residential. "Frank's" was a non-conforming use which ended upon its closing. The current proposal is for commercial use by a for-profit entity. The Town (Feiner) can either allow the parcel to comply with the process to change its zoning or it can force the change by calling it "exempt" from zoning laws.
2) The site, foreclosed for non-payment of taxes, is owned by the Town entire (unincorporated and incorporated). Any revenue derived from a sale or lease should first be deployed to replenishing the tax arrears (town, school, fire district etc) and then what's left paid into the A budget for A budget use. There ain't gonna be much left to aid B budget taxpayers even though the site is located within unincorporated. Thus, by foisting this mess (appearance, town services, traffic, etc.) upon unincorporated residents, the tax reducing aspects (Feiner's raison d'être) are likely to benefit incorporated (the villages) residents to a much, much greater degree.
Villages outvote unincorporated and thus Feiner tends to prioritize his efforts.
3) The site, once looked at as a possible new home for the Library years ago, was eliminated from consideration due to the potential of soil contamination (Frank's stored chemicals, fertilizers) and the Phase 1 study indicated a strong need to proceed to the next round, a costly Phase 2 study which was never done. Children are known to frequent libraries and are the targeted market for GameOn.
Indeed, no one outbid the Town's bid (the taxes then owed upon the property) because of concerns as to the extent of mitigation requirements and the cost to achieve.
4) What is required (before incurring the BINDING conditions (upon the TOWN when it signs a contract to sell or a lease to rent; note that the buyer or lessee will obtain "outs" not allowed the Town) is the mandatory SEQRA review which would include an environmental review AND new traffic studies. Traffic studies long ago performed for The Fortress Bible Church site a quarter of mile away all argued that traffic would increase substantially upon the completion of its construction (delayed by a Court Ruling in favor of the Church, nasty words about the Town and its Supervisor who ordered the destruction of evidence, a final determination of the dollars to be awarded (not covered by the Town's insurance) and the Town's subsequent Appeal. Nevertheless, traffic will be horrific with both constructions completed and road widening and new traffic lights a likely and costly palliative burden for someone (Town? GameOn?).
5) The Town, as owner, has no idea of what this property is worth -- no recent appraisal at hand. Feiner, in his rush to appear concerned about rising taxes (caused by his own mismanagement), is seeking any proposal which brings home bacon -- health issues of a 100% bacon diet never being considered. Thus his quicktime charade to lease the former WESTHELP property and replace the loss of $1.2 million annually in rent (Feiner refused to renew WESTHELP'S September 2011 expiring lease for churlish reasons) which is accented by the $800,000, so far, that isn't coming in since the expiration while the property remains vacant. Providing an unacceptable tenant isn't the solution as made clear to him Tuesday (for the third time) by the County Board of Legislators. Even though his choice would not qualify, Feiner keeps insisting that the rent the proposed tenant (Ferncliff Manor) would pay (down from his original misdirection of $900,000 and revised further downward to a still misdirected $500,000+), the question for taxpayers remains why that property is worth either $900,000 in rent, or $500,000 in rent, or whatever but a lease of Frank's to a FOR-PROFIT TENANT, GameOn, is only worth $260,000 to the Town which Feiner is in a rush to nail down. Both the proposed tenants, Ferncliff Manor and GameOn, are leasing land while both need to demolish the existing and construct new facilities while, of the two, Ferncliff's will be the far more costly to construct yet willing to pay "according to Feiner" 2 to 4 times higher ground rent than the for-profit. Neither properties, one owned by the County and one owned by the Town, will be paying real estate or school taxes. This fact, makes the GameOn rent of $260,000 curiously low, especially for a location just off a highway exit which makes it especially valuable to a business which will need to draw customers from more than the immediate area.
to be continued...
Hal Samis